By Deidre Montague
By the time this article comes out, we would have already celebrated Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 12, which celebrates the contributions and history of Native Americans, instead of Christopher Columbus. According to History.com, activists have long argued that holidays, statues, and other memorials to Columbus sanitize his actions—which include the enslavement of Native Americans—while giving him credit for “discovering” a place where people already lived. As Black Americans, I believe that it is our obligation to embrace and join together with our Native American brothers and sisters, as we share a painful and violent history with America.
Whether it be our past of being stolen, raped, killed, and enslaved or the current shared experience of COVID-19 negatively impacting our communities at higher rates. We must find ways to help and support this community, as they are fighting injustices, just as we are. Some of these injustices include the following; Missing and Murdered Indigenous women (Since 2016 there have been over 7,000), Native Lives Matter (For every 1 million Native Americans, an average of 2.9 of them died annually from 1999 to 2015 as a result of a “legal intervention”), respect and honor for Our Earth (Save our lands, waters and people), respect for Treaties with tribes and Nations, Border tribes, as they are being affected by the disregard of our historical agreements, protection for Native and Indigenous Children (From the Indian Welfare Act to Immigration, Indigenous children from Mexico and South America are put in cages), according to YWCA.com.
In honor of Indigenous Day, I will be highlighting local Hartford resident and talented musician, Lee Mixashawn Rozie. From the community known as the Windsor Indians, Rozie is an internationally acclaimed Jazz artist, with a career lasting for three decades. According to his website, Rozie has created a “system of Hemispheric Principles to inform and guide his art form, which is referred to as “Wave Art,” which is described as sonic, aquatic percussive, and harmonic.” What makes Rozie such an anomaly is his ability to integrate his indigenous culture into his musical performances. Alongside his musical performances, he also conducts educational workshops on Indigenous music – traditional and contemporary. In complement to his artistry, Rozie has a degree in History and Ethnomusicology from Hartford’s own, Trinity College. In February 2018, he authored a Kindle Ebook called, “Indigenous Roots of Social Evolution, Interpretation of Historical Data,” which focuses on Connecticut’s Indigenous People, their history and relationship to the regional Native Americans, and their impact as a community on the world.
Recently, Rozie has participated in the virtual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration event, Indigenous Futures, hosted by Hartford Public Library and Greater Hartford Arts Council, where he was the opening musical act. He has also acquired an extensive residency by FirstWorks, a non-profit dedicated to connecting the community to the arts, where he performed at Roger Williams Park Conservancy, in Providence, RI on October 18th, with his brother, Rick Rozie and Pheeroan akLaff. As a part of his residency, Rozie will be leading a virtual Professional Development workshop for educators, “History Explored Through Music,” where he will teach about Indigenous Traditional and Contemporary music, on November 16th, 2020, starting at 10 a.m. To learn more about Lee Mixashawn Rozie, you can go to his website, http://www.mixashawn.com/ or follow him on his Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mixashawn.rozie. If you are interested in purchasing his book, you can go to Amazon.com, where it is exclusively sold, with the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Indigenous-Roots-Social-Evolution-Interpretation-ebook/dp/B079NQS9S6.
In listening to his musical performance at the Indigenous Futures event, I truly could feel the passion in his voice when he was singing his songs. In every note he vocalized both pain and joy. To know that there is a walking, breathing, living legend within our local community, makes me ashamed that I was not aware of his music sooner. I truly encourage you to go to his website and go to his video page to get the full experience of his musical talent. To Mr. Lee Mixashawn Rozie, thank you for sharing your culture through your music for us to hear and access. You are appreciated and valued for bringing your whole self into every live performance. Thank you for being selfless enough to educate us on the importance and influence of Native Americans, both past and present, through your workshops. We value your presence and honor the vital work that you do for the Native American community. We see and salute you.
