Introduction

Listen to the song “My Land” by Cherokee Rapper Litefoot.

Identify the musical elements that sound familiar to you that you normally hear in your favorite songs. Listen to it again and identify parts of the music that seem different than what you usually hear. Listen to the lyrics (you can also read them with “My Land” – lyrics.)  How do the lyrics compare to song / rap lyrics of the music you enjoy?

Litefoot is a Cherokee rapper from Oklahoma who also produces and markets the music of other artists. In 1992 he founded the record label Red Vinyl Records to record and promote music of indigenous musicians. He maintains close ties to his traditional community through music, and while he does not often include traditional Cherokee sounds in his own songs, he does include both traditional and contemporary music on the albums that he produces. His 1996 album Good Day to Die included not only his song “My Land”, but a traditional Cherokee Stomp Dance as well.

In this chapter we will explore some of the musical world of today’s Cherokee Nation by analyzing the Lightfoot song “My Land” as well as the traditional Cherokee Stomp Dance he included on the same album.

Who are the Cherokee?

Like all indigenous people, Cherokees live in two worlds: the modern American world common across the nation, and an older, traditional, local world within their own Nation. An excellent window into Crossroads of these two worlds is the television magazine Voices of the Cherokee People at Osiyo.TV. This series, which began in 2014, presents articles that cover “the rich traditions and compelling modern advancements of the Cherokee people” (Osiyo.TV). For example the segment “The Future is Cherokee” from 2019 shows a glimpse into the daily life of two Cherokee college students, while the segment from 2018 about Elder Croslin Smith, focuses on ancient spiritual traditions and their role in today’s world.

The segments page of the website contains thumbnails of all of the segments shown in the six years of this series. When you put your computer cursor over a thumbnail you can see the title of the segment, and you can watch the segment by clicking on the picture. Scan the thumbnail pictures and titles and choose a couple of segments to watch. As you watch, take notes on what you see and hear that is the same as what is common in your own life, and what is different.

One of the topics that this show presents regularly is Cherokee history, and this link leads to a complete timeline. Cherokee history, like that of all indigenous nations, is filled with great struggle, adversity and strength. When the Europeans arrived in what is now the United States Cherokee lived in small farming towns in the southeast – the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama and Georgia. During the first decade of the 19th century, A group of Cherokees moved west, eventually settling in Arkansas; their descendants moved to Oklahoma and became the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee. In 1830, the United States legislature passed the Indian Removal Act which gave the government the legal authority to move Native Americans off of their traditional tribal lands regardless of previous treaties. While this legislation originally intended peaceable resettling with compensation, by the end of the decade it led to forceful removal of people who did not want to leave their home. In 1838, soldiers marched 16,000 Cherokee to what is today Oklahoma; the descendants of these people became the Cherokee Nation. During the seven-month forced journey, which is called The Trail of Tears, about four thousand people died. Some Cherokee hid in the mountains of the southeast and did not move to Oklahoma; the descendants of these people became the Eastern Band of Cherokee.

Today there are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. The Eastern band of Cherokee Indians have their headquarters in the Qualla Boundary in Western North Carolina. The Cherokee Nation, one of the largest tribes in the United States, is in North Eastern Oklahoma. This map shows the location of their reservation. The reservation of The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians is located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, inside the Cherokee Nation’s reservation.

From the beginning of the European settlement, Cherokee traded with, and married, European immigrants. Traits and items from European culture became part of Cherokee life, supplementing, not replacing, traits of Cherokee culture. In the early 19th century Cherokee had become a written as well as spoken language, with both a Cherokee-language newspaper and constitution. Many Cherokee converted to the Christianity that European missionaries brought to the Americas. Today many Cherokee do not see a conflict between European and indigenous religious and cultural traits. For example, Gary Davis, also known as the rapper Litefoot, was raised Christian and sees no conflict between that and the spiritual beliefs from his Cherokee roots.

“I believe my mother got me into Christian schools in order to know the teachings of Christianity … Later, I would then take those understandings and worship in a way that was more in keeping with who I am as a Native person. When I took those understandings and went to our Cherokee Stomp Dances, … , I’ve been able to pray and appreciate the magnificence of the Creator. … I would never say one was better than the other, because they are all of the Creator. … They are all the best, because they come from the Creator.”

-Litefoot, The Medicine of Prayer.

Because the cultural traits that the Cherokee acquired from Europeans and supplemented rather than replaced Cherokee culture, the newer traits became Cherokee. For instance, the clothes they wore in the nineteenth century included European-American shirts and dresses, but their Cherokee identity never changed, so these items of clothes became Cherokee. Today the identifiably-Cherokee clothes worn at cultural events does not look stereotypically ‘Indian’ with feather headdresses, but looks more old-fashioned American pioneer, as can be seen in the video performances at Cherokee Days at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C, linked below. These clothes are now expressions of Cherokee identity. Similarly, European-and African- American types of music have supplemented but not replaced the older types of Cherokee traditional songs, as Cherokee people have added outside hymns and popular songs into their own repertoires. When sung in the Cherokee language, any song becomes a Cherokee song.

The Cherokee National Youth Choir is a vibrant illustration of Cherokee living traditions that mix European, American, African-American and traditional musical traits. This performance group began in 2000 specifically to preserve and promote Cherokee language and culture; the music that they sing includes traditional Cherokee songs, Christian hymns and twentieth-century popular songs. They sing at major Cherokee Nation events, such as when the new tribal chief was sworn into office in August 2017. They have sung at the Annual Cherokee Days at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.; they have won five Native American Music Awards: four for Gospel music (2002, 2003, 2007, 2008) and most recently for Best Popular Album in 2017 for their album “Celebration” of R&B hits. Their recorded songs include “What a friend we have in Jesus,” “Amazing Grace,” “My Girl” and “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough” – all sung in Cherokee. As the young Miss Indigenous Northern Arizona University defined the piano as a Navajo traditional Instrument by incorporating it into her own musical world (see chapter 3), these songs all become part of the Cherokee culture when they are sung in the Cherokee language by the nation’s youth choir. As their director Mary Kay Henderson told the audience at the group’s performance in the 2019 Cherokee Days at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., their music, from “Amazing Grace” to Motown and Elvis Presley is all ‘Cherokee Musical History.” [Cherokee Days 2019 – Cherokee National Youth Choir 4] You can use this link to hear the group sing “Can’t help Falling in Love” (made famous by Elvis Presley) in Cherokee at 19:00 and “Stand by Me” (made famous by R&B singer Ben E King) in Cherokee at 21:31.

The music Cherokee people make today reflects the music they have made through time. The oldest, most traditional music, like the “Stomp Dance” discussed below, shares traits with the indigenous traditional songs discussed in previous chapters and consists of one melody accompanied by percussion. Christian Hymns sung in Cherokee, like “Amazing Grace,” an eighteenth-century song, and “What a Friend we Have in Jesus,” a nineteenth-century song, testify to their musical expansion through time. Contemporary commercial music, such as Litefoot’s “My Land” discussed below, continues to demonstrate contemporary Cherokee musical activities. Of course Cherokee make all other types of music. The links to the right will take you to short Osiyo TV segments on some fascinating Cherokee musicians.

As all music everywhere is connected to context, sounds of Cherokee music always connect to their contexts. When the context is centuries old, such as the Stomp Dance ceremonial grounds (discussed below), the music made today is the same as what was made centuries ago. When the context is a European-American style concert, like the Cherokee National Youth Choir concert linked above, the music is more varied. In a completely commercial context, we hear contemporary commercial music such as rap songs by Litefoot.

Traditional Instruments, Ceremonies, and Songs

The material objects of Cherokee musical culture originate in their woodland locations first in the East, then in Oklahoma. They use a wide variety of instruments made from many different natural and more recently commercial, materials. In addition to the turtle shell leg rattles discussed below, they use many hand-held rattles made from shells, gourds, and tin cans filled with pebbles and attached to sticks. A water drum has a pot that is made of wood or, less common among the Cherokee, clay. The pot has some water in it to regulate timbre and pitch, and is covered with a skin, or more recently, a rubber inner-tube membrane stretched on top. Frame drums, which are shallow wooden hoops covered with skin, are also common among Cherokee. Wetland areas provide river cane, which can be made into flutes. Cherokee National Treasure, Tommy Wildcat, who leads the Stomp Dance discussed below, is featured in this short television news article from 2013. He was awarded his national treasure status for making River Cane Flutes.

Like much Indigenous music, Cherokee traditional sacred music serves the purpose of maintaining balance.

Cherokees believed in a world of three parts: the world we live on, which is an island floating on water; the world above, a great “Sky Vault” covering all and where all the original life-forms lived; and the world below, a chaotic world populated by all kinds of monsters who can often find their way to the world we live on through the waterways. The great task of the people was to maintain balance and harmony on this earth, caught between the two powerful and opposed otherworlds. This was done through ritual and ceremony, often appealing to the many spirits that surround us.’

-Robert J. Conley, Cherokee Medicine Man (p. 9). University of Oklahoma Press. Kindle Edition, 2005.

Cherokee sacred dances are sponsored by, and for, communities. These events keep balance by building and maintaining family and community ties. Because Cherokee have been farmers for many hundreds of years, their traditional ceremonies revolve around the agricultural calendar. The first ceremonial dance is the Spring Festival, the Green Corn ceremony is at the end of June, and the Mature Corn festival is held in the early Fall. Ceremonies are held each month except during the coldest part of winter. While each has different specific seasonal requirements, variations, and names, as a group they are called Stomp Dances, and that name refers both to the event and the type of music made at the event. Cherokee communities maintain their own ceremonial grounds. These are permanent outdoor spaces set aside for these ceremonies. A fire burns at the center of a square, with arbors built around the square for sitting and gathering in clan groups. In 2015, the newspaper The Cherokee Phoenix published a short article entitled “Flint Rock Ceremonial Grounds carry on traditions, ceremonies” which explains the importance of the ceremonial space to the community in Rocky Mountain, Ok (Chavez, 2015).

Dances are held on the weekends running from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning. They have deeply sacred portions such as the opening prayers and pipe smoking, as well as other events such as Cherokee stickball games, picnicking, and over-night dancing. Community leaders often have specific roles in these events, and everyone is expected to participate. The important roles for the dance includes a male song leader, male group singers, and female rattle dancers.

The song leader frequently uses a hand-held rattle to set the beat, but the most important instruments for the Stomp Dance are the turtle shell rattles (also called shackles) that women wear on their legs.   These rattles are made by filling empty shells with pebbles, drilling holes, and stringing them on pieces of leather large enough to go around a leg. Rattle shackles have also been made with empty cans but turtle shells are still the norm. The Cherokee Nation calls these rattles Daksi. David Crawler, who makes them, was highlighted in the Osiyo TV segment “Daksi: David Crawler & the Art of Turtle Shell Shakers.” Use that link to see how he makes these instruments and how women learn to use them in the dance. While only women wear these rattles, both men and women make them.

Song leaders alternate throughout the night, singing short groups of songs. Stomp Dance Songs are all in call and response format. The leader sings a short melodic phrase, and the group either sings the same phrase or a short answering phrase. The singers are men, while the women play the turtle-shell rattles. The beginning of the songs tend to use extremely short phrases of three to five notes, while the end of the song uses longer phrases. The songs are sectional. The call and response phrases repeat with variations within sections before moving on to another set of phrases in the next section. Vocables (text syllables that have no specific meaning- see Chapter 3) are more common than words. The song leader sets the tempo for each section, and the rattles follow this tempo, hitting two beats for each beat established by the leader. Tempos might change slightly between sections, so the rattles might drop out briefly at the beginning of a section and come back with the new tempo.

The dance portion of the celebration consists of sets of individual line dances around the sacred fire in the middle of the ceremonial grounds. Each dance has its own name, song, and choreography. Dances that are specific stomp dances consist of a shuffle step in a counter-clockwise line (remember that the term Stomp Dance refers to the overall event and also a specific type of song and dance). Women and men alternate in the line. More experienced dancers, especially the women wearing the turtle rattles, are at the front of the line. Visitors dance at the end of the line.

The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. holds annual Cherokee Days in June. Members of the different nations come to demonstrate their arts and dances. The video “Cherokee Days 2016 – Traditional Dances 2” begins with an explanation and demonstration of a Stomp Dance. In 1983, an hour-long documentary was made about the ceremonies of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee. This movie, Spirit of the Fire, documents an entire weekend’s-worth of activities in one hour. Because the dancing is done at night after dark, the museum’s video (filmed during the day) shows the actual specific Stomp Dance more clearly.

Traditional dances and ceremonies like the Stomp Dances were originally, and still are today, intended for the local community. These are still performed overnight in outside ceremonial grounds according to the traditional seasonal calendar. Often the participants belong only to the local area, although some dances on important days might draw people from further afield. Today the dances are also shared educationally by professional dance troupes through classes and public performances at schools, museums, and important cultural events. Some participants learn the songs and dances in the traditional way passed down orally from the older members of their family. Others who might not have had that opportunity, learn the songs and dances by performing in groups like Tommy Wildcat’s dance troupe Cherokee Dancers of the Fire.

Tommy Wildcat

The Wildcat family has always participated in Cherokee traditional arts. Tommy, his father Tom Weber Wildcat, and mother Annie Wildcat have all been recognized as Cherokee National Treasures for their artistic endeavors.

In 1990, Tommy was hired to be the dance leader at the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma for their recreated ancient village of Tsa-La-Gi to lead performances for visitors. With this experience, he decided to start his own group in order to take the dances to a wider audience. With the rest of his family, he established the dance troupe Cherokee Dancers of the Fire. Tommy learned the songs necessary to be a Stomp Dance leader from his father, and his sister Tammy learned to make the turtle rattles from their father. She danced in the group as well as made the rattles for them. As they learned from their father, they have taught their children traditional skills and songs. Their entire family performed with the dance troupe.

In addition to teaching their own family members, this dance troupe included Cherokee performers who had originally been separated from their own cultural traditions. Beginning in the 18th Century, Protestant churches established missionary schools in the southeast to convert and assimilate indigenous people. Beginning in the 1870s the Bureau of Indian Affairs built boarding schools to take the native children off the reservation. Both removed children from the cultural knowledge of the languages, arts, songs, dances, and ceremonies that they would have learned from their families and tribal elders. Native children were prohibited from speaking languages other than English, and were taught American songs. Native American parents were not legally allowed to keep the children out of the boarding schools until new laws were passed in 1978. Many Cherokee lost their traditional language and culture from this separation. Traditional cultural performing groups like Cherokee Dancers of the Fire gave some of their members new opportunities to learn traditional songs and dances.

Stomp Dance

In addition to working with this dance troupe Wildcat travels and teaches as this short documentary from Osiyo TV illustrates: Tommy Wildcat, Sharing Cherokee Culture – OsiyoTV. In the 1990s, when rapper Litefoot wanted to mix traditional songs and rap songs on albums released by his Red Vinyl label, he included this “Stomp Dance” sung by Tommy Wildcat and the Cherokee Dancers of the Fire. This link to the  “Stomp Dance” will take you to the song on Spotify.

Musical traits connected to the Five Ws: The Stomp Dance performed by Tommy Wildcat and the Cherokee Dancers of Fire

This performance of the Stomp Dance was produced for the recordings The Sounds of Indian Country (Litefoot Presents) published by the Red Vinyl Label. The purpose of Red Vinyl is to give Native Americans a musical platform to share their culture and voices. Litefoot founded the label “to represent who Indians are today.” (Heller 1996). “ Who Indians are today” includes both very contemporary sounds and very traditional, so it makes sense that an album called The Sounds of Indian Country contains both rap and stomp dances. The ceremonial purpose of a stomp dance includes building and maintaining community through musical participation, and this purpose drives the “how”, “who” and “when” of this song. Because this is a community song for the ceremonial grounds, we hear many men sing in call and response format with a leader exactly as the ceremonial Stomp Dances proceed on the ceremonial grounds. In Cherokee ceremonies, men sing and women shake rattles. So in this recording the “who” we hear are male singers with rattles played by women. The “how” we hear reflects the purpose of building community through participation. The musical traits of call and response and short, narrow melodic phrases facilitate community participation. Call and response encourages everybody to participate because the leader often sings what the group sings before the group sings it, so everyone can participate without musical training. All of the musical phrases that both the leader and participants sing are short and easy to remember, again facilitating participation regardless of musical background. Musical participation builds strong communities. The “where” and “when” of this type of song is outside on the ceremonial grounds at a community dance. Because women dance with rattle shackles rather than sing, we hear the women participate in the dancing when we hear the rattles. Because this particular performance was recorded in a studio, the fidelity is clearer than it would have been had it been recorded in the ceremonial grounds, but the musical traits are connected to the original location of the ceremonial grounds

Many of the traditional songs available to non-native people today are recorded and produced by companies with academic goals, such as Smithsonian Folkways. This song has been included on a purely commercial recording produced by a Cherokee music label, Red Vinyl.

In 1999, Red Vinyl Records released the album The Sounds of Indian Country with rap, powwow music, Native American flute music (see chapters 3 and 6 for information on these types of contemporary Native American types of music), and this stomp dance all on the same recording. Red Vinyl Records is “a boutique Native American owned and operated recording, management and touring company” (“About Us”).  Gary Paul Davis (Cherokee) also known as the rapper Litefoot” founded Red Vinyl Records to “encourage Native people, increase awareness in mainstream society and ultimately to make a difference for future generations of Native American people through his music” (“Biography”)

Litefoot

Davis grew up in Oklahoma in a Cherokee family that listened to much mainstream commercial music. His family enjoyed Motown, and he also liked rap. During his teen years, he had no thought of becoming a performer. When he was a young adult, his sister lived in Los Angeles trying to break into the music business. During a visit to her, she gave him an opportunity to write and record a verse of rap, and he loved it. Returning to Oklahoma, he started working on his musical, lyrical, and dancing skills seriously. He purchased an early ‘smart’ electronic keyboard- one of the first that could play loops and beats (short melodic and rhythmic sections that repeat and return exactly), and learned how to create the musical sounds to go under his lyrics. He recruited dancers to back him up and found a studio to use. He applied his knowledge of the music and performances he loved and worked hard to learn the necessary skills to perform himself. He marketed himself locally and succeeded in getting paid performances at local colleges. Even before becoming a rapper he was outspoken. In college, he would insert his knowledge about the history of Native people when it was overlooked in the classroom. While his early lyrics were on the same topics the stars he listened to spoke about, as he gained skills he thought more about his topics.

Rap music had become a powerful international musical force. It was a medium that allowed people to give voice to social issues; at its best, it was a musical form that educated young and old alike about the world around them. It gave a voice to the voiceless. The direction I was considering to pursue with my music was the beginning of my evolution of becoming a Native rapper.

–Litefoot, The Medicine of Prayer.

As he was establishing a performing career in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma, Litefoot began marketing his performances to native nations, and began touring reservations across the United States. He interviewed with a national label in Chicago, but was told he would only be signed if he stopped rapping about being Native American and the issues important to him in that arena. He declined, and instead started the label Red Vinyl so he would have freedom to say what he needed to say.

There is an incredible lack of information about our people in the mainstream. Why couldn’t I rap about Native culture and Native people and our experiences? And who’s to say I couldn’t rap about other things? Obviously, music from a rap artist is supposed to be about their life and about who they are. I was beginning to put all of the pieces together and they were giving me my direction. It just kept coming to me to be a voice. To fill a void that had for too long been left empty. These days, there are rappers on almost every reservation in North America – but not back in 1991.

–Litefoot, The Medicine of Prayer.

He started recording in 1992, and a few years later his 1996 album A Good Day To Die was getting national airplay. In 1998 at the first annual Native American Music Awards he won for Best Rap Artist, as he did again in 1999. In 2000 he won the Best Rap/Hip Hop recording for the song ‘Rez Affiliated” and in 2002 he won the Best Rap/Hip Hop Recording for the album Tribal Boogie. He won Best Male Artist for the song “The Messenger” in 2003 and Artist of the Year for the song “Native American Me” 2004

“My Land”

His album A Good Day To Die includes the protest rap song “My Land” containing extremely strong criticisms of both historic and contemporary treatment of indigenous people in the United States. Use this link (My Land lyrics) to look at the lyrics and this link (My Land music) to listen to it.

The text and melody of the chorus of Litefoot’s song “My Land” are based on the song “This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land” by the 20th-century folk singer Woody Guthrie. Since the middle of the 20th century, this song has been sung as a patriotic anthem celebrating American equality.

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York island.
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf Stream Waters
This land was made for you and me.

— Woody Guthrie “This Land is Your Land”

Originally, however, 20th-century folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote it as a protest song with verses that identify vast political and financial inequalities within the United States (Spitzer 2012). Litefoot’s use of this song highlights the irony of mainstream American assumptions that this song is about equality. The chorus of his song plays off of the folksong’s line “This land is your land, this land is my land,” reminding the listener that indigenous people were here first. =

This land is our Land
This land ain’t your land
From California to the New York Island

— Lightfoot “My Land”

Litefoot builds a potent protest song from this platform detailing many abuses suffered by Native Americans (Gosztola 2007).

The song “My Land” has three rapped verses and a repeated chorus sung by Rich Garcia. The texture contains two to five layers of synthesized loops, moving in and out to complement but not impede the lyrics.

Loop1 is a synth guitar melody that arches up and back down. This loop is continuous while it is playing.

Loop 2 is a synthesized sound best described as a ‘squiggle.’ This loop is periodic.

Loop 3 contains bass and percussion in a long…. Short short short short short long…. Pattern accompanied by higher pitched claps on alternate beats (of 2 and 4). This loop plays continuously throughout the entire song after it enters at :11.

Loop 4 contains a soft synthesized melodic phrase moving conjunctly downward. This loop is not continuous but periodic. This loop is soft and sometimes hard to hear under the other loops. It is easier to hear in the verse sections when loop 1 drops out.

Loop 5 contains a bell-like synthesized melodic phrase that moves down disjunctly, with larger intervals than loop 3. This loop is also louder and easier to hear than loop three. Like loop 3 this loop is periodic rather than continuous.

Loop 6 contains three long notes that ascend melodically. The first note is the longest. This loop sounds like synthesized strings. This loop plays continuously when it is present.

Musical traits connected to the Five Ws: My Land (Litefoot)

Even though this song is a rap and not a traditional or ceremonial song, the ‘why’ of this song drives the musical elements as it does in the Stomp Dance despite the vast difference in the musical sounds. The purpose of this song is to convey and support a very message. The texture of this song is fairly sparse with no more than six loops at any one time, but less than that during the verses. Additionally, three of the loops (2,4,5) are short phrases that are only heard periodically, leaving only three loops (1, 3, 6) heard continuously at one time and never during the verse. The meaning of the message of “My Land” connects to the melodic contour of its sung chorus. The melody and text of the chorus alludes to the folks song “This Land is your Land” highlighting the irony of a European-American folk song that talks about everyone belonging to land originally taken by force from the Native Americans.

“My Land” is a commercial rap song that was created in the studio. The timbres connect closely to this location since most are obviously electronically synthesized rather than produced acoustically. The looped-bass texture and melodic structure is typical of the style of commercial rap, also dependent upon the electronic equipment available in a commercial music studio of the 1990s. While the raps can be performed live, the instrumental accompaniment used is digital, not acoustic in those situations, sounding identical to the studio recording.

Conclusions

Consider again the beginning of Chapter 5 where you were asked to think about the familiar and unfamiliar sounds and lyrics in “My Land.” Listen to the song “My Land” again and think about the lyrics once more. What is more familiar to you now than when you first listened to the song? What are the influences that you can hear in this song?

In this chapter we have explored examples of music within Cherokee culture. We discussed the purposes of music, as well as cultural values and traits specific to Cherokee culture. We have analyzed and identified the stylistic elements and instruments connected with those songs. We have connected the sounds of the songs to their contexts and discussed the role of the song in the experiences of the people who create them.

As we analyzed the “Stomp Dance” song, we heard that it has short melodic phrases sung by a leader and answered by a group of men, while women shake turtle shell rattles. This simple style aligns well with an aesthetic that focuses on the function of the music more than the sounds. The most important function of traditional Cherokee music is to build and maintain community which is accomplished best when everyone is singing and dancing together. When we analyzed “My Land”, we discovered how the musical structure supports the clear communication of the lyrics. We compared the chorus of this song to an older folk song, and learned why Litefoot alluded to the older song in his newer one. We studied his record label, Red Vinyl Records that produced both the Stomp Dance and the rap song, dropping albums that gather all types of Cherokee Music old and new together on the same discs. As a modern Cherokee, Litefoot wants to not only stand up and speak for his people but to support and celebrate all Cherokee culture.

Finally

Before you leave this chapter, go to Spotify or YouTube and find another song recorded by Litefoot. Listen to the song and describe the musical elements that you hear in the song you chose. Or go to the homepage for Red Vinyl Records and check out the videos of the other artists they are currently working with. Review what you have learned about Cherokee music and culture as well as Litefoot and Red Vinyl records. What do the songs say? How do the sounds of the songs connect to their cultural values?

Works Cited

Chavez, Will (2015). “Flint Rock Ceremonial Grounds carry on traditions, ceremonies” Cherokee phoenix July 28, 2015. https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/Article/index/9465

Conley, Robert J. (2005) Cherokee Medicine Man University of Oklahoma Press. Kindle Edition, 2005.

Davis, Gary. (2010) The Medicine of Prayer.” Litefoot Enterprises, LLC. iBook edition.

Heller, Lisa (1996). “Breakin’ down (stereotypes) with ‘tribalistic funk’” Arizona Daily Wildcat.  March 7, 1996. https://wc.arizona.edu/papers/89/115/35_1_m.html

Herndon, Marsha (1982). Native American Music. Darby Pennsylvania Norwood Editions.

Dittman, Whitney (2019) “Treasured Traditions: Cherokee National Treasures Program Honors those who preserve, promote, Cherokee Culture and Art. Anadisgoi – Winter/Spring 2019 p.24-7. https://issuu.com/anadisgoi/docs/anadisgoi_no.12_final_online

Spitzer, Nick (2012). “The Story Of Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land Is Your Land’.   NPR Music. February 15, 2012.     https://www.npr.org/2000/07/03/1076186/this-land-is-your-land