Litefoot

Litefoot, known as a founder of Native American rap, was born in California in 1969. After returning with his family to their home of Tulsa, Oklahoma, he met others, like himself, who were descended directly from Cherokee people marched west along the “Trail of Tears” in 1838. After playing football at the University of Tulsa, Litefoot released his first record, titled The Money, in 1992. Since then he has released six albums, including the highly acclaimed and award winning Good Day to Die. All of Litefoot’s records have been produced by Red Vinyl Records, a company he founded to provide a voice for Native American musicians.

Litefoot has also starred in several movies, including Indian In the Cupboard (1995), Kull, The Conquerer (1997), and forthcoming, The Pearl (2001).

In addition to his work as a musician, actor, and record company president, Litefoot also finds time to give back to Native American communities across the nation. He works closely with Job Corps, encouraging Indian youths to get involved in community work projects that provide money, training, and self-esteem. He also has a message for his mostly Native American audiences: “No matter what race we are, we can all learn something from each other.”

1. In a recent interview Litefoot explained why his name in the credits for The Pearl will be listed as G. Paul Davis. “I realized that in Hollywood,” he said, “I’ve got to fight a different way. It just seems like it’s the small things that open up doors. Hollywood is still blind as to who we [Native people] are. You got to play their game a little bit so you can represent, so you can get in their house. They don’t know what you’re going to do, but once you get in there, you can start rearranging the furniture.” What do you suppose Litefoot means when he mentions “rearranging the furniture”? Look in the newspaper for stories related to Native Americans or indigenous people elsewhere in the world. Are there examples of rearrangements in progress?

2. In his song “My Land” Litefoot uses Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” (1940), to emphasize that “This land is our land/ This land ain’t your land.” Listen to the song clip, in which Litefoot brings questions about power and property. When he says, “But now our people, they livin’ in poverty/ And they taught us the word they call property/ If I wanted to, fool, I could hate you/ Now tell me, how you put a price on nature?/They degrade you, no more metals, just reservations that look worse than ghettoes,” he is protesting European notions of property ownership and control of natural resources. Look in your newspaper for stories about land and land use. Why do you think that land, and how it is used, remains at the emotional and political centers of so many peoples’ lives? Why would this issue be particularly meaningful to Indian people?

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