For many, hip-hop and Native American cultures are not usually closely related.
Instead, the first images that come to mind for most might be relics of the past. They are the stereotypes that were taught in elementary school around Thanksgiving, and that continue to be the only images associated with the otherwise rich culture of America’s indigenous people.
Kyle Mays has a different message about indigenous culture in America. Through his discussion today, “From Red Power to Hip Hop: the Urban Indigenous Experience in Postwar America,”Mays hopes to share this experience with the public.
“I think a lot of Native people, in general, but especially in urban contexts, are marked by invisibility or erasure in certain urban areas," Mays said. "People will talk about native people in relation to urban space earlier, or in the colonial era, but not certainly today."
Mays said he hopes to help his audience understand that people of indigenous descent do play prominent roles in modern society, and are not a people of the past — and he is especially interested in doing this through indigenous hip-hop.
Mays said indigenous hip-hop is categorized as such purely because an indigenous person is creating it. While some artists do incorporate traditional music into their songs, not all do. It is simply hip-hop created by a person of native descent.
“We have to be careful not to perpetuate stereotypes,” he said. “For instance, because someone does a certain type of hip-hop that may sound ‘black,’ for example, that doesn’t mean it’s not Native hip-hop. Mostly and prominently, it’s Native people doing it.”
Patrick Horn, the center’s associate director, is currently busy responding to R.S.V.P. emails and getting ready last-minute preparations for today's discussion.
While media, like the MTV documentary “Rebel Music: Native America,” help raise awareness about the importance of indigenous people in the modern world, first-year Changran Niu said more local events may be necessary to give local audiences a live-action experience with real people and real stories.
