Saturday, November 15, 2008

Navajo heavy metal?

Yeah. It exists.

The white man messed up them Indians all kinds of ways, didn’t he?

The name of this band is Ethnic De Generation. It’s based in Kayenta, Arizona... part of the Navajo Nation.

I happen to believe that no piece of America is more invisible than the Navajo rez. Some 200,000 people live there, and the rest of us have no idea what they’re about.

Well... that’s why God created teh internets.

9 comments:

Brian Lindenmuth said...

There is a great monthly comic series called Scalped by Jason Aaron. It's a crime fiction/noir story that takes place on a Lakota reservation. It's been described as The Sopranos on a reservation.

Its got a large cast or great characters, and really shows the underside of "The Rez". Honestly, and I don't say this lightly, it shares a lot qualities with The Wire.

Right now, there are three collected trade volumes and if you want to catch up on a great read then now is the time.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Much thanks, Brian. The TV industry needs to start telling these stories.

From what I understand, violent crime is a serious problem in the Indian nations. (In Navajoland, to be sure.)

Anonymous said...

Yeah, SCALPED is the business. It is so depressing to read, but I can't stop.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Now I know it's you!

;^D

Anonymous said...

If you're talking only about Native American life, great post, but for awhile heavy metal hasn't been strictly a category for whites only . Check out bands like God Forbid, Cavalera Conspiracy, Sepultura, Puya. Ride a bus in LA and see all the first/ second generation Mexicans with Metal T-shirts on. All across South America 100,000 seat soccer stadiums fill up for the biggest names in Metal. I remember reading an article where the members of Metallica said one of the members of Boys To Men loved them. Boys To Men! It's worldwide and not just for white boys anymore.

Nope said...

The Indian nations maybe ignored, but they are hardly one dimensional. Heavy metal bands aren't really that out of the ordinary. There is also Indian Hip Hop, Rock and Country.

Personally, I prefer Indigenous, an all Indian blues band with smooth vocals and some nice guitar.

Undercover Black Man said...

anon: Had no idea about South America. But I did take notice of Latino metalheads as soon as I moved to L.A. 14 years ago.

Undercover Black Man said...

Personally, I prefer Indigenous, an all Indian blues band with smooth vocals and some nice guitar.

I'll keep an ear out, NunaOni. And I'm preparing to post some funkier American Indian rock 'n' roll.

klak said...

i run a small indy radio show over the net at blogtalkradio.com, which i play alot of American Indian, Canadian Aboriginal, Mexican Indio, etc. bands that play metal, punk, hard rock, etc.

the show is called Tribal Force