Indigenous Show

Never have I been more ticked off by a jam fest! I went into this performance half envisioning a musical performance that was delivered within the PowWow from last semester. One big drum played by 7 or 8 adults, and dancers dressed in Native American attire going about expressing the roots of the culture, but Indigenous was more of a modern blend of guitar, vocals and rock drums. Honestly, they were bad, but somehow, those Southwestern kids appeared to be having the time of their life. I was shocked! I couldn’t even stand to stand, yet these college kids were dancing away…. I wish I could have experienced the show through their perspective, but you know how the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.”

A round of applause for Indigenous... Where's the Crowd?


For the record, I’m just trying to blend in with the crowd right. I start moving my feet a little, and what do I experience? Nothing! Even through all my efforts to try and like this band, I absolutely hated their guts, so I decide to experience some other Native American aspect of the night. I go on a spirit walk. Not far from the entrance, I discover a food stand, and my spirit animal told me it was time for a stop. I ate corn-on-a-cob; it was pure heaven! I decided to drink some lemonade and head back into the pit of banging drums and a cacophony of guitar mixed with a hideous singer (no offense to the singer, it just wasn’t my style).

A few older members of the Crowd seemed to enjoy them heavily... A classic manifestation of the Generation Gap!


With a stronger mental tolerance, I was able to withstand the rest of their performance, but I realized that the college crowd wasn’t as enthusiastic as I’d hoped. Turns out, more than half of them were only there to collect extra credit points, and a lot of them wanted to be at some sorority party that I had somehow managed to notice on my way in. Oh! I must say there was a lack of Native American Culture at the Indigenous show. I for one was completely fooled by the name.

This seems a bit more like what I was expecting...


Which brings me back to my main point, the show was an utter failure in my eyes. There was no cover to pay, so I don’t know how or why Southwestern paid these people to come down here (I overheard a conversation about this so I know they were compensated). The food stand was a total failure as well; I think I was one of the brave who actually tried the food. All in all, the Indigenous show felt very un-indigenous to me. It was a rather bland and uninteresting attempt at modern rock fusion of Native American vocals and rock-and-roll. I was the only Indian there!