M.I.S. - Native Metal Empowerment

Shí éí Ta’neeszahnii nishłį́ dóó Todik’ozhi báshíshchíín. Ma’ii deeshgiizhinii dashicheii dóó Naasht’ézhí dashinálí. (I am of the Tangle Clan. Born for the Salt Water Clan. My maternal grandfather’s clan is the Coyote Pass. My paternal grandfather’s clan is the Zuni Clan.) Ákót’éego Diné Hastiin nishłį́. (This is who I am as a Diné man.) 

My name is Corey and I am an Indigneous musician that creates metal music that empowers Indigeneity and undermines settler colonialism. For the last five years, I have been studying at Stanford University obtaining my undergraduate degree in Science, Technology, and Society. This is where I became more aware and passionate about my identity and the issues impacting my community. I was able to create projects that include Navajo language app development, short Indigenous films, written pieces, and songs that highlight Indigenous issues during my time at Stanford.

The problem we are addressing is the lack of representation of our Indigenous narratives and experiences in a society committed to our erasure. The solution we are proposing is our Indigenous metal band, M.I.S. - Merciless Indian Savages. Through our band, we will write, record, and perform songs based on a reflection of our collective contemporary experience with colonization. I want to make music about who we are, what we went through, how we see the world now, what problems exist, language loss, inter-generational trauma, Indigenous resurgence, resistance, and reclamation. I ultimately wish to make music for my younger self - injecting knowledge I wish I understood sooner. Music that validates the specific experience of contemporary Native people living with the trauma sustained from colonization. Our project elevates humanity by creating music that empowers this narrative. Creating Indigenous metal medicine that speaks to the experience of our youth.

The specific problem we are working to solve is the representation of Native people. There is a severe under representation, and misrepresentation, of Indigenous people in the media - and the scale of this issue is enormous. According to Stephanie Fryberg, Native characters represented on television are only 0 to 0.4% (2015). Stereotypical depictions also distort our minuscule media representation due to the presence of Native mascots, Hollywood film characters, and exclusive portrayal as only historical figures (King, 2008). I could not find data on Indigenous musicians, but there is no doubt the representation is dismal. This lack of Native representation has a detrimental impact on Indigenous youth across the country. By centering our band around Indigenous narratives, we hope to increase accurate and truthful reflections of contemporary Native experiences. We also recognize the presence and influence that metal music has in Native communities. We want to utilize this medium as an opportunity for social change. Our narrative needs to be seen in contemporary media more in order to continue. Our band can start filling that void within the context of metal music. 

We are an Indigenous metal band whose purpose is to use metal music as a catalyst for social change. The band currently comprises Navajo, Aluet, Hopi, and Pima members that each share a strong connection and passion for our respective Indigenous cultures and communities. Our collective Indigenous identities and experiences fuel the lyrical content of our music. The songs we create will have concise themes or stories that highlight aspects of the Indigenous experience. Our vision is to use heavy metal music as a medium to spread awareness and knowledge around Indigenous issues, identity, and culture. We hope to represent issues we encounter in our daily lives as well as draw attention to the greater histories and systems that perpetuate colonization.

We will be able to highlight experiences that resonate with metalheads across Indian Country and challenge existing ideologies that suppress Indigeneity. Metal speaks to our experience and is a way to channel the frustrations built up inside us from all the trauma we have sustained and continue to sustain as Indigenous people. With this band, I hope to create space to uplift Indigenous narratives that educate and resonate with listeners through the concepts of our songs.

As Native musicians, I anticipate that our audience will be Native youth. I grew up and navigated the challenges of being Navajo and raised on the reservation. I have witnessed the conditions and systems that our Native youth live through. I know that in order to endure life on the rez, you need an outlet. For me, and many other Indigenous youth, that outlet is music. With intergenerational trauma impacting many of our lives, music has been adopted as a form of healing and medicine. Trauma is among the most important topics that doesn’t get addressed or normally communicated on the rez. I used metal music to get myself through some tough circumstances that are too common on the rez. Metal speaks to this experience and is a way to channel the frustrations built up inside us from all the trauma we have sustained, and continue to sustain, as Indigenous people. We are making music for them. Our music will engage them by transcending the systemic barriers that keep Native people from this knowledge. It will also give them the space needed to think more critically about our Native identity and understand more about the issues we face.

This project is within the scope of all three dimensions. We are giving the opportunity to Native youth to engage in knowledge and discourse they are systematically kept from. We are elevating issues and perspectives of Indigenous people in entertainment, which severely lacks accurate representation. We are elevating the understanding of our narrative that has been dictated by western society and challenging their beliefs about Indigenous people. We are giving the world the perspective that is necessary for effective social change through our music. Our songs will create a positive impact in the Indigenous metal community and the greater community.

This project transpired in the Native-themed dorm of Muwekma-Tah-Ruk at Stanford in the Fall of 2019. One of my best friends, Jacob, who is Aluet, used to come to my room and jam with me with our guitars and practice amps.. He was also my freshman year roommate in the same dorm in 2014. Both of us were among the few metalheads on campus coming from Native communities.  The band could have started in 2014, but we were so caught up in the culture shock of Stanford back then. Our experiences made each of us realize our identities in the context of Stanford, as the culture shock at Stanford was immense. As you can imagine, this heightened my awareness of where I came from given our miniscule representation on the campus. I was regularly invalidated at this institution just for making sure our perspectives were not forgotten. Many refused to acknowledge other ways of interpreting the world that don’t fall in line with western ideology. It radicalized us to make music about our experience, channeling that rage we developed in navigating this colonial institution as Indigenous students into metal. Metal that empowers our identity after years of subjection and ridicule.

 I am passionate about it because Native people have been misrepresented for far too long. It is time we gain back control of our narratives. Through metal, we can do our part to support the ongoing movement of Indigenous people getting justice and recognition. This knowledge is going to be accessible to metal youth across the country, where they will be able to engage in this discourse within their own communities, rather than learning about it at an expensive colonial institution like Stanford. No longer will this knowledge be gatekept by academia. Change ultimately comes from the community. Our music will give them the tools and understandings for radical social change to be initiated. Metal has a presence in Native communities, I know because it helped me endure those conditions on the Navajo reservation caused by our trauma sustained from settler colonialism. It is time to inject these seeds of Indigenous resurgence and reclamation into metal to empower our people.

I am well positioned to deliver this project because I have the skills, background, and experience to execute this project. I am a Diné metal musician that grew up on the rez and went to college. Metal has been a big part of my life as it got me through the harsh conditions that are way too common on the rez. I saw and learned so much from my experience. I am now aware and empowered to articulate these ideas and concepts through music after practicing it everyday at Stanford. I wish I had someone explain to me how important my Navajo identity was growing up instead of not thinking about it at all. If more people were informed and conscious about who we are, our languages would not be dying out and I would be speaking fluent Navajo. It is time to flip the narrative and kill the man, instead of the indian to ensure our survival by empowering Indigenous youth. This is the opposite of Capt. Richard H. Pratt’s infamous “kill the Indian, save the Indian” mantra that boarding schools carried out to assimilate Indigenous children. We have to use every resource we have in order to do that. I have the ability to do this work through metal music.

Like I mentioned, I saw the worst conditions coming from the rez. Just by being Native, we are subjected to colonialism everyday. Not all of us are able to be empowered because the trauma we have endured has the ability to consume us. With that being said, the hardest thing I had to endure and overcome was my mother dying from cancer while I was in college. I had to navigate through all that while trying to stay afloat dealing with the unnecessary challenges that comes with being Native at Stanford. I eventually brokedown one day and I had to take a leave of absence because it was just too much, I had a hard time accepting and coming to terms with that. During my leave of absence, I was able to be with my mother during her final months in this world. That experience was traumatic in itself, watching the Navajo matriarch in my life dying before my eyes and knowing there was nothing I could do. I was able to persevere and return to Stanford and graduate because I knew I carried generations of resilience. It kept me moving forward. Not everyone is able to do that.

Being the frontman of M.I.S., I will step into a unique leadership position, which I must navigate using experience. This experience includes organizing Stanford American Indian Organization events, organizing for Diné Club as the President, indigenizing tech by making an Android app to express kinship in Diné, producing an Indigenous horror film, staffing in Stanford’s Native themed dorm, and returning to my community mentoring youth. I will be challenged to represent my community in a good way while educating listeners on Native identity and held to the highest standard of presenting an accurate depiction of the social good that can be accomplished through metal. I anticipate our music will reach beyond local communities and be heard by non-Native listeners. I need to be able to articulate myself well enough to show our purpose. I need to be resilient enough to face backlash from people who will push back from the Indigenous knowledge we disseminate. I will also need to be responsible and accountable for our actions. As a leader, I need to make sure we keep our Indigenous identities the foundation of the band and not misrepresent ourselves on this journey. 

We are not currently a part of an organization. Just a band starting out.

Decolonial education through metal is pretty innovative. 

We currently have a fanbase of 400 people through our instagram page. We hope to engage over 10,000 people in the next 5 years.

We hope to grow as band performing, writing albums, touring, engaging with our communities, and participating in activism. 

We will face financial barriers.

Ultimately, our goal is to make a career out of this project. This would not only involve professionally produced music, touring widely, music videos, merchandise, but also participating in social activism and being conduits for education and understanding for Indigenous communities across the world.

This fellowship would give us the opportunity to spend time channeling the entirety of our energy into our music and message. Within a year, we hope to write and record an entire album, relocate so that all of the band members are in one place to practice performing together, develop a social media following to spread awareness of our music and cause, and begin playing shows. 

The funds from the fellowship will help get our band running. An initial priority would be to purchase equipment to more effectively write, record, and perform our music. This would include studio equipment such as software (e.g. Pro Tools), high quality studio monitors for appropriate mixing, and good microphones. Additionally, we need large amplifiers that can be used in a live performance setting. After we record the music we would be able to pay for professional mixing and mastering from a producer. Once the music is finished we will need to pay for copyrights, music publishing, and distributor fees for platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify. 

The funds will pay for living expenses such as housing, food, and gas. We would like to prioritize collaborating with and supporting other Indigenous artists for music videos, album artwork, and merchandise.