Naát’áaníí Means, a Voice in a World of Indigenous Silence

Naát’áaníí Means is an Oglala Lakota, Omaha, and Diné rapper hailing from Chinle, Arizona. He grew up on a Native American reservation, with his family including the late activist Russell Means. Means uses his platform and music as a way of activism. His music largely focuses on problems faced by Indigenous people in the US today and the threats being made against them.

Lyrics

In his song “The Radical,” Means discusses how Native people are essentially being locked away from freedom simply because they are continuing some of their Native traditions such as the braided hair. Which means that would be required to sign away their culture in order to be granted real freedom. The lyrics in this song discuss heavy drug and alcohol use and how that behavior often leads to early death which was common in Native communities due to low income and scarce opportunity for growth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW7cLgozECc

Chinle, Arizona

History

Means took great influence from his father Russell Means, who was an activist for the fair treatment of Indigenous people in modern society. Indigenous people have been greatly mistreated throughout history. We all know about the infamous trail of tears, but there have been some much more recent uprooting of Native peoples. In 1974 the US government used the Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act to move hundreds of Navajo families beyond the barriers of their reservation. It is instances like this one that drive Means’ music. One major issue where he was in the front lines was the Dakota Access Pipeline. He was up front as a water protector.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3JGzelnAwI

Context of Creation

Means and artists like him are doing amazing things for the Native, both directly and indirectly. They may not be starting movements or fighting against the government that is oppressing the Native people, but they are bringing awareness. Means has a way of conveying his traditions and culture in a very western style of music. Anyone in the western world could listen to this and it would sound “normal”, like something that we hear all the time. I believe that this was his intention, and he was not the only one. Many other musicians have been using Native ideals in other genres such as jazz and folk music.

The specific reason for Means producing his music was likely his father. Means probably wanted to push his father’s message to newer generations, he did not want the movement to die with his father’s generation. The problem has not been fixed, in fact, it has a long way to go. Activists like means and his father need the younger and older generations alike to come together to do something about the mistreatment of Native people.

Works Cited:

1.Tsosie-Paddock, Aresta. “Second-Generation Navajo Relocatees: Coping with Land Loss, Cultural Dispossession, and Displacement.” Wicazo Sa Review, vol. 33, no. 1, 2018, p. 87, https://doi.org/10.5749/wicazosareview.33.1.0087.

2‌.Deborah H. Wilson, Danielle German, Adrian Ricker, Hilary Gourneau, Ginger C. Hanson, Justin Mayhew, Teresa N. Brockie, and Michelle Sarche. “Feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of a culturally informed intervention to decrease stress and promote well-being in reservation-based Native American Head Start teachers” https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=01134f6a-b54d-4b6a-a32f-ac1764783dc1%40redis