'In the time that we're in, I think that a lot of people are trying to break through the bubble of white ignorance,' she says.

Mali Obomsawin, an Odanak Abenaki First Nation activist and musician with the band Lula Wiles, agrees. I thought, 'This used to be my land and you guys aren't even smart enough to be sensitive to this?'' This is not a new issue: Cree musician Buffy Sainte-Marie refused to perform the song with Pete Seeger in 1966, telling the Village Voice in 2017, 'I just cried through it. Many pointed out that America rests on stolen land, while others called it 'tone deaf' for such a ceremony. It was like I was living in two worlds, where my non-Native Twitter was talking about how great J.Lo is - and she is - and then Native Twitter was like, 'Seriously? 'This Land Is Your Land' is how we're gonna celebrate today?''Īlthough the song is often recognized as a patriotic anthem, Native Americans argue that the song plays into America's continual erasure of Indigenous peoples in culture. 'I mostly experienced the Inauguration on Twitter. 'I think it was disappointing,' says Rebecca Nagle, host of the This Land podcast and member of Cherokee Nation, about the song's inclusion. But Native Americans will just as soon point out that the core of the song, that 'this land was made for you and me,' is a wholly colonialist message.Įver since Jennifer Lopez performed the iconic folk tune within a medley at President Biden's inauguration, alongside 'America the Beautiful' and her own 'Let's Get Loud,' the song's relevance and inclusivity has been called into question, especially as we enter into a new administration that seeks to unite a divided country. Its message seems fairly simple - we are all equally entitled to the rights of this country, including the land we stand on. Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land' has long been offered as an 'alternative national anthem,' performed by musicians from Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger to Chicano Batman and Sharon Jones. John Springer Collection/Corbis via Getty Images Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land' is considered an 'alternative national anthem' - but Native Americans will just as soon point out that the core of the song is a colonialist message.

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