@ Split Rock Sweet Water Prayer Camp in the territory of the Ramapough Lunaape
#IStandWithSplitRock
Although Standing Rock has most captured the souls & minds of Indian Country during 2016, there are many black snakes afflicting Turtle Island — & I have been standing in solidarity with the Ramapough Lunaape water protectors of the Split Rock prayer camp in New Jersey that are trying to stop the Algonquin Pipeline project threatening the Hudson River & the surrounding lands of the Tri-State & New England. I & my band Cactus Rose have pledged to Ramapough Chief Dwaine Perry to be of support to Split Rock, as they hold the space & unite with other allied environmental and social justice groups of the region to stop this black snake. The news that Red Warrior Camp is leaving Standing Rock & withdrawing from the #NoDAPL fight there, even as they turn their energy & focus to other frontlines of Indian Country, has underscored the need for all of us pan-indigenous united folks to tend to the issues in our own backyards/home locales. Here’s some images from my visit to Split Rock this past weekend; all photos by me, except the 2 where I am pictured – by Hugo Kenzo
I will be addressing this activism tonight at my conversation/concert on protest music & activism @ Decolonize This Place in TriBeCa. Looking forward! A’ho*
( Kandia Crazy Horse & Jonathan Demme @ Split Rock Sweet Water Prayer Camp in the land of the Ramapough Lunaape, NJ – by Japanese-Brazilian filmmaker Hugo Kenzo )
( The donations for the Ramapough Lunaape of the camp from me/my band Cactus Rose, @ my flat before the trip )
( #DefendTheSacred in the tents @ Split Rock prayer camp )
( Kandia Crazy Horse, water protector & Indian Country activist, @ Split Rock Sweet Water Prayer Camp in NJ – by Hugo Kenzo )
Rebel Music In The Hour Of Chaos 12/12: On the State of protest music & activism in 2016 (final poster) #NoDAPL #BlackPower50 #IStandWithSplitRock
Beautiful poster art in my favorite color, by our brother-in-struggle Kyle Goen #kyledidthis
Rebel Music In The Hour Of Chaos: protest music concert @ Decolonize This Place NYC 12/12
“Rebel Music In The Hour Of Chaos:” Music emanates directly from my indigenous soul. Therefore, it immediately made sense for me to perform my music again this year as a soundtrack to our overlapping struggles – including #NoDAPL. Sounds, including freedom songs past & present, most powerfully link us together & amplify what’s transpiring from the actions in the streets. I was born in the Season of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going’ On,” an album that dominated my childhood as the strivings for Total Revolution continued past the 1960s societal upheaval; and the inspiration to become an artist-activist sprang from that era. I remain under the influence of rebel music from many artists and cultures – Please join us on Monday 12 December @ Decolonize This Place. 55 Walker St, TriBeCa NYC (Doors 8pm). when we will perform some songs of protest & be in conversation about our activism with Brotha Rob Fields (Bold As Love / Black Rock Coalition) – A’ho! Cactus Rose ft. Special Guests: Abiodun Oyewole (The Last Poets) & Mahina Movement
This may be our final show of 2016, so we really appreciate you coming through & all of your support during the many Standing Rock resistance actions – Wopila tanka, y’all
( Afro-Native sisterhood from Virginia: Kimberly Robison/KAR & Kandia Crazy Horse of Cactus Rose, Native Americana / cosmic country band, @ Decolonize This Place in TriBeCa this past Sunday for Black Art & Activism Now, curated by Dr. Camara Holloway & Tavia Nyong’o (Yale University) )
( preliminary poster for REBEL MUSIC IN THE HOUR OF CHAOS by artist Kyle Goen (Decolonize This Place/MTO Collective) #KyleDidThis )
( Jeff McLaughlin, lead guitarist / vocals of Cactus Rose )
( Kandia Crazy Horse with Lorena, Vaimoana & Gabby of Mahina Movement @ Decolonize This Place NYC )
( Kandia Crazy Horse & Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets – Cactus Rose Instagram: @cactusroselovesyou )
Standing With Standing Rock #mniwiconi #NoDAPL #defendthesacred
Just returned a bit earlier from my twin Camara’s #blackartandactivismnow event in TriBeCa @ our home away from home #DecolonizeThisPlace — fortunately, my Black Rock Coalition/Bold As Love good friend/compadre Rob Fields was seated by me at the program, sharing the digital smoke signals about the #NoDAPL good news with me during the panel & then, upon returning home, got a ring from my friend Jonathan from the camps @ the frontline in North Dakota giving the confirmation that the easement was not granted to ETA – if they git’er done, Jonathan’s footage will appear on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS Tuesday night. I finally truly believe in the power of prayer, happy to see such a great outcome after many months of organizing, laboring, marching, rallying & of course, singing, in support of #StandingRock.
Yet this is not the end, for we #blacksnakekillers of the Tri-State must be heartened by this result & continue to fight to #StopSpectra #NoAIM #NoAlgonquinPipeline & I remain #standinginsolidaritywithsplitrock >>>>>>>—–))—>♥ Sometimes we on the right side of history can prevail & conscience trumps greed and corruption. Thank you, President Barack H. “Walking Eagle” Obama & the Army Corps for your action!
Overjoyed that we water protectors have won! The Dakota Access Pipeline will be re-routed, which is a hard-won victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe & rest of the Oceti Sakowin. The ordered environmental impact statement will take months to complete, so it’s not all over & done yet. Still, we celebrate this huge victory & I will report back on the gnosis and mood of tomorrow night’s Democracy Now! event held by Harry Belafonte & Danny Glover et al @ Harlem’s Riverside Church – A’ho!
ARMY HALTS CONSTRUCTION OF DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE!
Throwback Thursday: Cactus Rose x Mahina Movement
Here’s a snap by youngblood Claude from last night @ Decolonize This Place, just before the sistren of protest music trio Mahina Movement sang a mighty powerful song In The Spirit of 1491. Contributing some guest vocals — impromptu, I joined them on singing “Ella’s Song” by Sweet Honey In The Rock, and some other tunes — & bearing witness to the live recording of their album for Palestine was a great way to end Native American Heritage Month.
(L-R) Kandia Crazy Horse, singer/songwriter/activist of Cactus Rose; Mahina Movement: Lorena Ambrosio (vocals, cajon, spoken word), Vaimoana Litia Makakaufaki Niumeitolu (vocals, spoken word) & Gabby (vocals, guitar), activists
We be #strongresilientindigenous & we’re looking forward to performing together come 12 December, back @ Decolonize in TriBeCa – A’ho!
#womenwarriorwednesdays #femalesingersongwriters #artists #activists #indigenousrevolutionaries #tbt #NoDAPL #FreePalestine
Still Standing In Solidarity With Standing Rock #mniwiconi #NoDAPL
As I have been these many months, I continue to be engaged in the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance in solidarity with the Oceti Sakowin of North Dakota – & now, supporting Split Rock as well (sanctioned by Red Warrior Camp), in solidarity with my cousin’s wife’s people, the Ramapough Lunaape of New Jersey, in order to stop the construction of the Algonquin Pipeline. Due to the escalation of attacks on the water protectors @ Standing Rock last Sunday night, I am receiving many communications on the cause & have now been invited to perform at yet another benefit for the camps, which will take place in NYC before Christmas. Other things are afoot as well & will relate about them as they unfold. Glad to note my Virginia Native great aunt is taking up flooding the phones to the president & state representatives with her circle of elders on behalf of Standing Rock!
( Kandia Crazy Horse, water protector, in Midtown NYC #mniwiconi #NoDAPL #NoAIM #defendthesacred #blacksnakekillers of Turtle Island )
For now, reflecting on having participated in the rally > march for Standing Rock last Wednesday @ Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan & then performing at the Benefit For Water Protectors of #StandingRock on Friday night — making our debut as Cactus Rose at Brooklyn’s famed Jalopy Theater for ole-timey/hillbilly/folk/mountain music. It was an honor to serve as the headliner for this benefit, with our special guest: Seminole/Shawnee/Mikisúkî singer/songwriter/activist Lonnie Moon Fire Harrington. I have been told by the organizer that the event raised almost $2,000 in donations, so – Wopila tanka to all who came through!
Enjoying these last days of #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth — before band rehearsals resume for our full slate of December performances & attending two events this week for artists I greatly admire: tomorrow’s BET screening of the Sharon Jones documentary (in memoriam) & the private viewing of Morrison Hotel Gallery’s traveling Neil Young exhibit in SoHo on Thursday evening. Looking forward to seeing y’all out-n-about, as well as at the Standing Rock teach-in later this week @ Decolonize This Place – A’ho!
( Cactus Rose, Native Americana/cosmic country band, debut @ Jalopy Theater – pix by Jan Bell of The Maybelles )
Kandia Crazy Horse on The Red Road East (the sequel) #NoDAPL #NoAIM
Last night, I received Supermoon Medicine & then journeyed to the television station of Bronxnet to serve as a guest artist-activist on Fierce-Truthseeker’s (Tsalagi) show The Red Road East, which covers art, entertainment & political issues of Indian Country. As you may recall, I was the guest on the first-ever episode of the program & was happy to be asked back again — specifically for Native American Heritage Month — to speak on the Standing Rock & Split Rock resistance movement in the NYC / Northeast area, what actions we have done & plan for the future & promote the upcoming Standing Rock benefits I will be doing here: on 25 November @ Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn & the weekend of 16 December on Manhattan’s Upper East Side @ Ibex Puppetry. Additionally, I will be doing an artists & activism program on the current state of protest music, back at Decolonize This Place in TriBeCa on 12 December, with my Native Americana / Cosmic Country band Cactus Rose & special guest Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets. Stay tuned / follow me on Instagram for posters, ticket links & updates on these events.
When The Red Road East airs, will share the footage here for y’all outside the local NYC network. The Standing Rock benefits of Neil Young, Jackson Browne & Dave Matthews have gotten a lot more notice than the efforts of our grassroots collective of activists & generally, it’s difficult to get the media to pay attention to the creation of independent musicians without multi-million dollar teams behind them. Yet we are trying hard with very few resources to contribute to the cause with an all-female artists lineup Standing Rock benefit – the one slated for mid-December — to remind people that, despite the election outcome, #TheFutureIsFemale …So we thank you heartily for your support & for coming through to the concerts. I am a mite weary, but enjoying #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth to the fullest! A’ho*
( Kandia Crazy Horse @ Bronxnet studios, before the live taping on “The Red Road East” )
( Kandia Crazy Horse of Cactus Rose & Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets @ Bronxnet, after the taping of “The Red Road East” #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth x #BlackPower50 #indigenousfutures #IStandWithStandingRock )
(The set / studio of “The Red Road East” hosted by Fierce-Truthseeker #Tsalagi #Cherokee)
“Those who damage Mother Earth, damage us all / Forgive them / They don’t yet see”
– Neil Young
ThrowbackThursday: “Cabin In The Pines” live from the Sacred Water Medicine Show in NYC
As filmed by Camara Dia Holloway, some footage from my Standing Rock water protectors benefit concert, the Sacred Water Medicine Show, is now viewable on this site; click the tab for MUSIC.
This song, “Cabin In The Pines,” which is based on a once-real jookhouse in Southwest Georgia but is my sonic & lyrical paean to Appalachia / Affrilachia, remains one of my most favorite songs I have written to date. If you have not gotten the Native Americana / Country / Americana album that features it yet, Stampede, it is still at my CD Baby store: STAMPEDE available here!
Playing herein @ Decolonize This Place / Artists Space in TriBeCa with my new band, Cactus Rose (minus Brother Evan on drums!) #mniwiconi #NoDAPL #ProtectTheSacred
Kandia Crazy Horse in The Nation
So, I am off for a meeting with fellow Dakota Access Pipeline Resistance & Algonquin Pipeline folks of NYC to plan for our future actions, including more benefits for the water protectors of the Oceti Sakowin & many other nations. We just sent another bus off full of volunteers and many supplied donations to Standing Rock this past Sunday, so celebrating their road sojourn with them!
Here’s the latest press, from the Indigenous Peoples Day action I did last Monday, which mentions the Standing Rock benefit (Sacred Water Medicine Show) briefly: THE NATION
Enjoy your mid-week!
Kandia Crazy Horse from The Native & The Refugee
Black&White images from The Native & The Refugee’s album of #DecolonizeThisMuseum, Decolonize This Place’s Anti-Columbus Day Tour of American Museum of Natural History on Monday 10/10/2016 – Photographs by Vane Terán
Kandia Crazy Horse x #DecolonizeThisMuseum in Frieze
Yet more coverage of the Indigenous Peoples Day action @ American Museum of Natural History — the attempt to #DecolonizeThisMuseum & the Anti-Columbus Day Tour of the galleries seems to have really struck a nerve in art & activist circles. Read more here (including photograph of me): FRIEZE: Election Special – Body Languages
(From Frieze.com – Photograph: Andrés Rodriguez)
Kandia Crazy Horse x Decolonize This Museum NYC
Decolonize This Place’s Monday action @ American Museum of Natural History in NYC – #DecolonizeThisMuseum – was a resounding success & has been getting coverage in outlets as diverse as the Guardian (UK) & Bitch. I have already linked the press which included interviews with me on the subjects of Indigenous Peoples Day, why I am standing in solidarity with the Oceti Sakowin of Standing Rock / #NoDAPL, & ongoing issues with museum and archival collections established in the 19th century and earlier and how they resonate with us today in the 21st century. Here are some more images from the action, by myself or ones featuring me by Betty Yu. Looking forward to organizing more with #DecolonizeThisPlace – A’ho*
Kandia Crazy Horse reading the Indigenous Peoples Day 2016 declaration @ American Museum of Natural History – on the Theodore Roosevelt statue @ Central Park West & 79th Street (Credit: Betty Yu)
(by Betty Yu)
(by Betty Yu)
(Inside the galleries of American Museum of Natural History, by our #NoDAPL chronicler, Dan Vea)
(Andrew of #DecolonizeThisPlace @ the Hall of African Mammals, American Museum of Natural History, by Kandia Crazy Horse)
(#DecolonizeThisMuseum in the Rotunda, by Kandia Crazy Horse)
(Brother Amin Husain of #DecolonizeThisPlace & my Virginia homegal, artist Marz Saffore (in #BlackLivesMatter hoodie), of NYU in the galleries @ American Museum of Natural History, by Kandia Crazy Horse)
(1 of 2 original #DecolonizeThisPlace posters for the #DecolonizeThisMuseum action, by Kandia Crazy Horse)
(Artivists covering the statue of Theodore Roosevelt outside American Museum of Natural History in echo of the 1971 Lakota action, by Kandia Crazy Horse)
Indigenous Peoples Day 2016
Howdy y’all of Indian Country & beyond! Although my trip to Standing Rock (departing yesterday) was postponed, I am coming off a whirlwind of three days’ activity about the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance & working to establish Indigenous Peoples Day in NYC and throughout Turtle Island. My benefit for our Standing Rock water protectors, the Sacred Water Medicine Show (AKA Water Is Life – Solidarity Concert), went very well Saturday night in TriBeCa & there are some possible future shows in store – stay tuned! Will be posting photographs & live footage soon.
Sunday, despite the rains, we were at Central Park across from Columbus Circle, commemorating our Ancestors & holding forth on the experiences and leadership of Native women @ the Indigenous Day of Remembrance; I sang one of my original songs, and participated in some ceremonies besides dancing. Photos to come…
Yesterday, I did another action with Decolonize This Place: the Anti-Columbus Day Tour of the American Museum of Natural History for their #DecolonizeThisMuseum event. Here below is the press thus far that contains parts of interviews I gave on the topics of Indigenous Peoples Day, the benefit, and why I am #StandingWithStandingRock as an indigenous revolutionary to the Guardian (UK), The Nation, & the paper that I used to write for/help edit, the Village Voice. Yes, we (mostly) covered the infamous statue of Theodore Roosevelt that fronts the entrance to the Museum, but we also spread some very important messages. This is a heady Indigenous Week of a lot of related events here in NYC, and you will see me out — after I finally get a disco nap! A’ho*
(Kandia Crazy Horse reading the Indigenous Peoples Day 2016 declaration, on the covered statue of Theodore Roosevelt with African & Native American men @ American Museum of Natural History NYC – Credit: Betty Yu)
READ:
Kandia Crazy Horse on Indigenous Peoples Day for Guardian UK
Kandia Crazy Horse on Decolonize This Museum & Indigenous Peoples Day in the Village Voice
Sacred Water Medicine Show in NYC on 10/8 @ 7pm #NoDAPL
Dear Family, Friends, Followers & Folks – Come on out to the Standing Rock benefit concert that I conceived, curated & will perform at on Saturday, October 8th, in Manhattan @ Decolonize This Place, 55 Walker Street, 7pm (doors 6pm), $10 suggested donation. We will be having an evening of indigenous musicians and visual artists coming together with our allied friends from the Brooklyn Country scene to sing, dance, speak about the pipeline resistance & generally raise a joyful noise standing in solidarity with the Standing Rock Oceti Sakowin, united Native nations from across America, and their allies as they winterize to combat the Bakken project afflicting sacred burial sites, the Standing Rock reservation, and lands and water all along the Missouri River.
The featured performers:
Kandia Crazy Horse (Pamunkey)
Ebony Hillbillies (Catawba)
Morgan O’Kane
Alex Battles
Lonnie Harrington (Seminole)
Luis Sanakori Ramos+Band of Tainos (Taino)
& Special Guests including Jana Brownbear, Anastasia McAllister, Bianca Dagga & More
Emcee/speaker: Tina Eagle Woman Johnson of Cherokee Language & Cultural Circle NYC
Facebook evite: Water Is Life – Solidarity Concert
Kandia Crazy Horse (credit: Camara Dia Holloway)
Tina Eagle Woman Johnson (credit: Kandia Crazy Horse)
Henrique Prince of Ebony Hillbillies (@the recent Harlem Hoedown) (credit: Kandia Crazy Horse)
Kandia Crazy Horse x Decolonize This Place NYC
Kandia Crazy Horse (left) & Amy from Decolonize This Place @ the opening launch in TriBeCa – Amongst the many great allies I have met up with during my engagement with the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance, I include Amy (above), Brotha Amir Husain & the rest of the gang from the new Manhattan artists & revolutionary action space, Decolonize This Place. They will be hosting ongoing actions and events at their space including my own Sacred Water Medicine Show on Saturday, October 8th, 2016 @ 7pm. Check them out on Facebook to see their scheduling. We really connected at the #NoDAPL rally in Washington Square Park in early September, and will continue to be united in the pipeline resistance amongst other pressing causes affecting Indian Country, Palestine, the Boogiedown Bronx, and beyond
kandiacrazyhorse.com 