On August 30th 2010- the genocide that once started in the Americas back in 1492, with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores, was once again repeated and continued with business as usual. On this particular day, the victim was Mr John T Williams, a 50-year old carver from the Nuu-chah-nulth nation. His only crime, it appears- was walking down the street carryin’ a carving knife and a chunk of cedar. Being a brown man of course -Mr Williams was shot dead by the police.
The native canadians in A Tribe called Red have made this song about him called Woodcarver. The music videos The Tribe have put up on Youtube, are often chopped up versions of Disney’s image of the American “indians“. This video, however is made of material taken from the cctv-cameras near the crime-scene. You can also see the shadow of a native American warrior, running through and blending with the images.
A tribe called Red is a band from Canada that draws influences from both Native American Pow-Wow music and a mix of some modern bass-music such as Dubstep and Moombahton. For more on A Tribe called Red- check out their blog.
