It's Thanksgiving Day down below the U.S./Canada border, and while many families are going to be celebrating over turkey and pumpkin pie, Aboriginal electronic outfit A Tribe Called Red are using the time to reflect on the complicated nature of the holiday. Balancing frustration with a bit of pop culture humour, the group have unveiled a new track called "Burn Your Village to the Ground."
The track builds up with a deft drum pound and various screeching synths and wobbling keyboard tones. Amidst this is Christina Ricci's (as Wednesday Addams) speech from Addams Family Values, in which she talks of the plight of First Nations peoples affected by colonization. After the character weighs in on the situation and proclaims "I've decided to scalp you and burn your village to the ground," A Tribe Called Red drop into a powerful, booming back section.
The band themselves delivered the following message about the holiday:
On this fourth Thursday of November, you might ask yourself: do Indians celebrate Thanksgiving? Well… Thanksgiving is a complicated holiday for Native people. In a way, each day is a day of thanksgiving to the Creator for the original people of Turtle Island. This doesn't mean that we don't enjoy turkey, pie and family as much as the next person, but at the same time the Thanksgiving myth largely shared in mainstream culture perpetuates a one sided view of a complicated history surrounding this holiday. Here's an informed indigenous view on Thanksgiving: blog.nmai.si.edu/main/2013/11/do-…hanksgiving.html.
This doesn't prevent us from "celebrating" in our own way by giving you a new song called "Burn Your Village to the Ground."
You can stream and download the track down below.
The track builds up with a deft drum pound and various screeching synths and wobbling keyboard tones. Amidst this is Christina Ricci's (as Wednesday Addams) speech from Addams Family Values, in which she talks of the plight of First Nations peoples affected by colonization. After the character weighs in on the situation and proclaims "I've decided to scalp you and burn your village to the ground," A Tribe Called Red drop into a powerful, booming back section.
The band themselves delivered the following message about the holiday:
On this fourth Thursday of November, you might ask yourself: do Indians celebrate Thanksgiving? Well… Thanksgiving is a complicated holiday for Native people. In a way, each day is a day of thanksgiving to the Creator for the original people of Turtle Island. This doesn't mean that we don't enjoy turkey, pie and family as much as the next person, but at the same time the Thanksgiving myth largely shared in mainstream culture perpetuates a one sided view of a complicated history surrounding this holiday. Here's an informed indigenous view on Thanksgiving: blog.nmai.si.edu/main/2013/11/do-…hanksgiving.html.
This doesn't prevent us from "celebrating" in our own way by giving you a new song called "Burn Your Village to the Ground."
You can stream and download the track down below.