At the Sioux Falls Levitt All My Relatives - or in Lakota, Mitakuye Oyasin - Festival, Native American artists spoke on a panel about music, their communities and their identities.
Nathan Foote, on stage called Crime Spree, sat with Kobe Jordan and Jackie Bird Saturday in discussion of what music means to them.
“How I got started in music, I was locked up. It’s kind of a funny story but I was literally writing a letter to my family and some guy came up and asked me if I was writing rhymes,” said Foote “I didn’t know what he was talking about, I was like, 'sure.' And he was like, 'spit it to me, let me hear it.' I was like, 'you want to hear my letter?' He said 'Oh you’re writing a letter.' Yeah. He was like, 'if I teach you how to write music will you go somewhere with it.' And I was like, 'yeah sure man.'”
Foote started taking music seriously after finishing out his sentence. Since that conversation, he has released four albums and been nominated for the Native American Music Awards.
Sitting next to him on stage was Kobe Jordan. He said his love of music began with his mother’s car radio on the way to elementary school.
Jordan mentioned the stigma surrounding the Native American community and alcoholism. He feels that artists serve as inspiration.
“I think it’s really great that we have people like us that try to make waves in quote unquote, 'the outside world,'” said Jordan.
The final night of the festival was June 8. That evening Jordan opened for the final act performance by the band called “Indigenous”. The last panels also occupied the Levitt mainstage during the festival.
Jackie Bird said she has been an artist all her life.
“What I do with my life is offer all that I am to the traditional art to inspire others, so were remember who we are and live a real good quality life,” said Bird.
These artists and the festival were sponsored by South Dakota State University’s Wokini Initiative and Levitt at the Falls.
