Brandi Waller-Pace:  Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Can you please introduce yourself and your background? 

Christian Parrish Takes The Gun: My name is Christian Parrish Takes The Gun aka Supaman. I'm from the Apsáalooke Nation in Montana and my clan is the Ashitchite or Big Lodge clan. 

BWP: How do you describe the type of music/art you make? What are all the hats you wear as an artist?

CPTG: I would say it's hip-hop music that is culturally infused, I guess. I'm a DJ, producer, flute player, emcee and looper. I also sing powwow, so I try to use all of these aspects when I'm creating music. 

BWP: What inspires your work? 

CPTG: When I first started doing music, I did it for the fun of it, and because I thought I could make music  just as good as people on the radio. After recording and sharing my story with others as a musician, I realized the impact an artist has on the listener. I have seen people really impacted in a positive way by the music I've created. I would say that is what inspires me now, knowing the power you have to affect someone's life. 

BWP: I ask all my interviewees about their childhood music experiences. What were your musical experiences within your community and schooling like growing up? 

CPTG: I grew up on Bob Marley, Prince, George Strait, Guns and Roses, Al Green, AC/DC. When I first heard "Rappers Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang, that was my first time hearing hip-hop. I definitely was hooked on the vibe. Anything we could hear (being in Montana) was a treat for us. The culture of hip-hop was even making its way into our rez. People were break dancing and doing graffiti as well. 

BWP: Did you feel your cultural music was ever reflected in your formal schooling? Were other styles of music you were interested in reflected?  

CPTG: I was lucky to have a school on our rez that was proactive about our language and culture. We had presentations where they showed us the dances, classes where we learned to bead. We even had hand game tournaments. But even with all of that, there still was so much left out in the curriculums that when you get older, you realize you were taught wrong about certain things. As for other styles of music in class, I don't remember any Native teachings at all. 

BWP: What ways of learning music have worked best for you? How did you learn to DJ and come to incorporate so many elements (looping, scratching, flute, regalia, fancy dancing) into your performances at one time? 

CPTG: I think for the most part I taught myself when it comes to music, although I was always pushed into singing solos at school plays and stuff. I think that probably helped me as a performer.  When it came to DJing, I was in love with the sound of scratching. Somehow I created a passion for DJing, and would spend countless hours practicing that art in my room. I shared the same passion for producing and emceeing. But I never did add cultural sounds to my music, although I was a powwow dancer before I started doing hip-hop. As Apsáalooke people our music is not just sound. It is all spiritual. Our songs are said to come from the element of wind (or the spirit of wind). So I thought it just wasn't right to add it to hip hop. Our tribe has many protocols and rites given to do certain things, so for many years I never added any culture to my music. It was actually on accident that I changed my thinking. We danced at a presentation one time and the host asked us to rap for the kids that were there. We were in our outfits and just decided, "What the heck," instead of changing out of our regalia. Afterwards an elder from our tribe approached us and said we should keep doing that, and that it was a "good thing." He said, "Our young people are dying, committing suicide, they are on drugs and alcohol, they're losing their language, losing their culture. Anything you do to reach them with good intentions is worth doing." After hearing that from a respected elder, my mind changed and I started incorporating the culture more to what you see today. 

BWP: As a hip-hop artist, what do you feel hip-hop culture and Indigenous culture have in common in terms of struggle and resilience?  

CPTG: Hip-hop culture is a culture that was birthed from people who were being oppressed. So when we first heard the emcees rapping about "fight the power," we as Natives could all relate, because we shared that same struggle of trying to survive in this modern day society and system that was never really created for us. Both cultures are continually fighting the injustices that are still being perpetuated against their people and I don't think we will ever stop. 

BWP: How do you feel educators can best engage with Indigenous communities in order to respectfully represent them when teaching in the classroom?  How can educators best introduce students to Indigenous music and movement?

CPTG: I think if an educator knows they are going to be teaching in Indigenous communities, they need to go spend time in the community and truly immerse themselves with an open heart to the people. The educator needs to have a clear understanding of where those people come from, what they have been through, and why things are the way they are now. I think youtube is a great way of introducing students to music and movements. Social media has gathered us together to the point where we share and support the same movements of so many Indigenous communities. It's a beautiful thing. 

BWP: What myths about your culture do you feel have been most pervasive? 

CPTG: There are so many. Multimedia and Hollywood have really ruined the perception the whole world has about Native/Tribal people in the U.S . It has generalized over 600 different tribes into one wild drunken, dirty savage, broken-english-chief-talking, feather-wearing, horse-riding, war-hooping, mystical medicine man mascot who lives in a teepee, has a casino, and gets money from the government, even in 2020. 

BWP: How can educators combat the false impression so often given in U.S. schooling that Indigenous people, culture, and traditions are of the past? 

CPTG: By bringing in presenters like myself, and highlighting Natives of today who are doctors, lawyers, rappers, etc. 

BWP: I loved your recent video, #Landback Loops. Can you speak to Indigenous relationships to the land, and how those of us who are outsiders can engage with and support these movements?

CPTG: One thing about Indigenous people is that our culture contains certain values. I need to be careful when I say "Indigenous people" or "Native people" because that is, again, categorizing and generalizing so much diversity. I can only speak of what I know about my tribe, the Apsáalooke. So, in our tribe the belief is that all things are connected to the Creator and have a spirit. So this is every tree, every animal, fire, insect, wind, water, and the land itself. To understand these values, you also have to take into consideration that we are relearning these values as well, and that everyday we are living in a state of emergency when it comes to our identity and connection. Although we are many different tribes, there are also many common values we share.