Have you heard of Buddy Red Bow? What about Navajo Sundowners? Bobby Bullett, Richard Dick or Francis Country Jr.?
These are all Native American musicians whose art is an important piece of their people's stories, communities and culture.
If you have not heard of them — and that’s likely the case for most — it's because Native artists and their influences on popular music have historically been erased, passed over or forgotten. Their records, tapes and 8-tracks have faced similar fates, lost at the bottom of record store bins or held in private collections of largely white record collectors.
Enter Justis Brokenrope: a Sičháŋǧu Lakȟóta archivist, educator and music lover, and the man behind archival project Wathéča Records. Through his love for record hunting and a love for his Native identity, the Twin Cities-based Brokenrope is working to return these pieces of Native American culture to the communities who created them.
He recently joined KAXE for a special guest hour, sharing about the work and some tracks from his collection of Native rock, folk and country.
"It’s aunties and uncles and elders and young kids and nieces and nephews, folks searching for their relatives or searching for something they heard about or hadn’t heard in like 50 years, maybe."Justis Brokenrope
Brokenrope could not have chosen a better name for the project. Wathéča — pronounced like wah-TEH-chuh — is a Dakhóta word that does not have an exact equivalent in English but the most direct translation would be “leftovers.”
“The idea of the project, or the mission kind of behind it, was finding this music that had often been kind of swept under the rug or forgotten about or never received its due. And so the idea of leftovers, is there something that’s still existing that you’re going to put it to use?” Brokenrope asked. “For me, it seemed like a perfect fit."
The idea started while flipping through record bins in stores across America as Brokenrope toured with punk and hardcore groups. When he would discover records that appeared to feature Native musicians, there would be little to no information online about the music or the artists themselves.
Fast forward to the COVID-19 pandemic, and he realized he had acquired a sizable collection of Native music, most of which was released in limited amounts and impossible to find online.
“[I was] finding these records and then realizing they need to get back out there. They need to get back to their community. They need to get back to their relatives,” Brokenrope said. “That was when I was like, I gotta start digitizing these.”
You can hear the results on the Wathéča Records YouTube channel, where he has posted over 80 releases from musicians throughout North America. The collection ranges from full LPs to tapes, 8-tracks and 7-inches, all presented with whatever information he can find on the musicians.
“When I’d lecture or talk about this stuff, you know, I always ask, ‘If you knew your auntie or uncle was in a rock 'n' roll band, would you want to hear it?'" Brokenrope said. “And no Native person has ever told me no, at least not yet.”
The comment sections on these videos are what make the whole project and the countless hours Brokenrope spends on it — for little to no financial gain — worth it for him.
“It’s aunties and uncles and elders and young kids and nieces and nephews, folks searching for their relatives or searching for something they heard about, or hadn’t heard in like 50 years maybe,” Brokenrope said. “They look it up, and if it’s an album I’ve posted, they’ll chime in.”
Ranging from sweet to heavy, these memories embody the community who drives the entire project. It’s more about the role these songs and artists had in their Native communities, and less about their individual sound.
Listening to the full KAXE interview, you can hear the sounds of the five artists mentioned at the beginning of this story. There are countless more to hear on the YouTube channel, and even more waiting to be discovered and returned to their communities.
Brokenrope also discussed the Wathéča Records Sourcebook, a new 136-page companion piece to the music with photos of the artists, and ways the public can help (if you think you have a lead on music that fits the project you can email watheca.records@gmail.com.
Songs heard include:
- Buddy Red Bow’s “Indian Love Song”
- Richard Dick’s “I Love You So Much It Hurts Me”
- Navajo Sundowners’ “Mother and Child Reunion”
- Bobby Bullet’s “Lac du Flambeau Reservation”
- Francis Country Jr.’s “Love Me or Leave Me,” and much more.
Disclaimer: The audio is taken directly from the Wathéča Records Radio Hour that first aired on KAXE. All songs were provided by Justis Brokenrope of Wathéča Records and KAXE will follow the same guidelines as laid out on his YouTube channel:
"These recordings are not mine. They belong to the individuals on the records and to the families of those who have journeyed on. If any artist or family requests that the music be taken down, or any other general questions, please feel free to contact me."
