Southern Cree
Indigenous in the News Featured Artist Review

Thunder & Lightning

The Dogg is a dumpster diver. I’ve furnished my entire apartment in dumpster deco. When I ride the alleys of the south side I pull a small trailer that started life as a child cart. I can haul a lot of salvage and recycling if I have to. Furniture is not out of the question. The Southern Cree reside in Rocky Boy, Montana and their CD Thunder and Lightning is loaded on the I-pod and I’m ready to ride.

The CD Thunder & Lightning starts appropriately with a thunderstorm sound byte followed by the title trac. I am met with a lot of young men’s voices singing strong and precise. The trac Longhouse Rocker really does rock and is a reference to the architecture of these people. The longhouse is the place where the people would socialize and gather.

Strutter is a reference to how a mating bird walks during the mating ritual and could be a connection to what young men do when they are trying to attract the attention of their intended.

The song Wandering Spirit is evidently a favorite with Southern Cree as it is sung with incredible passion and from the sound of the whoops and whistles the singers are really enjoying the feel of the drum at which they’re sitting.

Without really knowing to what the titles actually refer, the song Doo Wops might be referring to another form of vocalizing that this drum circle relates to as well as the people that sing that sound. A lot of classic rock can be categorized as doo-wop. It’s the back up vocals for numerous 50’s popular music.

The cut Baby-Girlz is obviously a song sung for the community’s female children.

When the song The Horseman starts playing, I can visualize those traditional warriors and their mode of transportation. Hey, I’m a horseman on a pedal horse in a different time but I can relate. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I pull up to a dumpster but there’s nothing in it so I stop and pull out my water bottle and hydrate.

The trac Buffalo Spirit is a song to the animal that fed and clothed so many of us for so many years. I know the buffalo are not all gone and they are being brought back through extensive herd revitalization efforts all across the US. It is important to us that we regain our traditional dietary habits since it is healthier for us. Obesity and diabetes are cutting us down like shooting those ducks in the barrel at the county fair. The answer? Rejecting the US Government’s handout carbohydrates and starches and reverting back to our healthier traditional foods. Remember, more fruits and vegetables, poultry and fish, less red meat. When you do eat red meat it better be buffalo or venison. Hell, moose even!

The remaining tracs are all of similar caliber and although these are younger men, they are all about the passion and joy of the music.

There is one thing about winter riding. As long as the trails are clear of snow and ice, I am one of the only riders out here riding in the cold like this. Being from the old school, I am proud of my toughness because you’ve got to be hard in order to ride under these conditions.

Riding alleys looking for salvage and recycle is not like riding trails or street wolfing but, rather a long low and slow time for reflection, meditation and daydreaming. I cherish the alley shopping for those reasons and salvage just becomes the excuse that I use to compel me to ride as the sleet and freezing rain begin to fall.

I taste the damp dusty taste of the flakes as they land on my extended tongue. I’m sure that the guy taking his garbage out to his dumpster thinks I’m extending him a heartfelt greeting but, really it’s just me out here in this weather playing. If you can’t come out here in this weather and have a good time, you might as well just stay home and leave your flannels on because out here only the hard core survive.

Contact Southern Cree  -  http://www.myspace.com/southerncree

Reporter
Jamison Mahto
jamison@iicoc.com
www.iicoc.com

If you would like to republish this article, please feel free to.

Hosts Larry Knudsen and Annette Joy bring you our "Indgenous in the News" program. Indigenous in the News Welcomes Annete Joy to the show!

↑ Grab this Headline Animator for your website, and enjoy our "Indigenous in the News" feeds!

The Elk Way

The ride I listened to Elk Soldier the first time, I was hooked immediately by the sheer joy of listening to them have fun at the drum. It led to something of an epiphany and insight to who I am and what I am becoming. Listening to them sing with such exuberance with the women’s voices stepping lightly over top the men’s made me a better version of myself. I look for that in music.

The CD begins with a spoken word piece spoken in traditional Nakoda language with courting flute in the back that talks about maintaining those values that have been the foundation of our tribal cultures. It is beautiful to hear the language spoken and extremely important that we as a community publish and produce in the traditional languages of our people.

The song Cree Love impresses me because it shows this drum’s versatility and range doing a Cree love song when there are no Cree that sit at this drum.

Another particular favorite song, Lightning McQueen, is reference to the anthropomorphic racecar and the main protagonist in the 2006 animated Pixar film Cars. Also another stand out is Oscar The Grouch who as we all know is a Muppet character on the television program Sesame Street. There are several songs that are obviously inspired by the children that sit at this drum.

Stomp The Yard must be a grass dance and is a clear reference to the “film that centers around DJ Williams, a college student at a fictional historically Black university who pledges to join a fictional Greek-letter fraternity. The film's central conflict involves DJ's fraternity competing in various stepping competitions against a rival fraternity from the same school.” It is a clever and smart metaphorical reference to the dancing that goes on around the drum.

The Raven Strut refers to dancing as a reflection of the mating rituals of birds and we must not forget how important the Raven is to most tribes in our traditional stories and legends. The last trac The Way of the Soldier speaks to the issue of the traditional ways of the Elk Soldiers.

When I started out, I headed west down the green way bike trail toward uptown to my favorite ride racing rush hour traffic northeast toward Hennepin Avenue and downtown. Out here one minor mistake could be your last. A car pulls up next to me and hesitates before going around me as if they think I’m stupid enough to pull in front of them. I give them the finger that represents their IQ or mine and the race is on. At each red stoplight I reach their back just enough for them to see me signaling their lack of driving skill in their rear view mirror. These old legs still have some steam left in them and I keep up with them enough to pass them and reach the Lowery hill before they do, jump off the bike, turn around, take my hat off, and give the BMW a big dramatic sweeping bow. At which the woman laughs and claps her hands with a gleeful smile on her face.

When it comes to listening for healing, Elk Soldier is the absolute bomb and everything is going to be all right! I started out with some very high expectations and the latest Elk Soldier CD/The Elk Way delivers the goods. The old guy with the gray hair has still got it!

Contact Elk Soldier  -  www.myspace.com/elksoldier