by Naheen Ahmed
A Tribe Called Red (ATCR) are no strangers to creating political tracks but their latest album, We are the Halluci Nation, aims to send a bigger message. ATCR is an Ottawa-based group of DJs: Bear Witness, DJ NDN (Ian Campeau) and 2oolman (Tim Hill). The group mixes pow wow drums and First Nations’ vocal chants with electronic dance music, and their unique sound has earned them an international audience. They are using this global attention to take a stand against colonialism.
Colonialism is a phenomenon whereby structurally and systemically dominant groups exploit and alienate marginalized peoples. ATCR’s earlier albums, A Tribe Called Red and Suplex, focused on their perception of a crisis of indigenous identity — due to colonialism — on a national level. The experiences of residential schools, policing of indigenous peoples and portrayals of indigenous people in media were depicted in those albums.
We are the Halluci Nation — launched on Sept. 16 — took these themes to a global scale by gathering the collective experiences of activists, rappers and singers from all around the world: including First Nations Throat Singer Tanya Tagaq, Canadian-Iraqi rapper Narcy, Swedish-Sami indigenous singer Maxida Märak, Colombian-Wayuu-born Lido Pimienta, Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and many others.
It was on their travels, meeting Indigenous and radical folk with various backgrounds and histories that Campeau had his own personal revelation, which he described to mic.com:
“I realized that colonization has a checklist. We’ve all been through the same thing. The Sami people and Australia’s indigenous both have gone through Christian-run, government-sanctioned schooling. That’s a common practice in colonization to re-program indigenous populations to take on Christianity and the value of money and disconnect from their culture and plug them into a different one. In Canada, it’s been called cultural genocide.”
ATCR’s new album engages with this phenomenon and its incarnations in Canada and around the world: marginalization of the LGBTTQ+ community, exploitation of the environment, increasing xenophobia worldwide, and the expressions of racism that fuel the Black Lives Matter movement. The idea of the “ALie Nation” is one of many themes stemming from a collaboration with the late Indigenous poet John Trudell, whose powerful symbolism throughout the album does not go unnoticed. This term is woven into the album as a way to explain the consequences of colonialism.
In the tracks “R.E.D” and “ALie Nation” you will hear Trudell himself read out an excerpt from his poem “the halluci nation” (reproduced below, in full):
“Confronted by the alienation, the subjects and the citizens see the material religions through trauma and numb. Nothing is related, all the things of the earth and in the sky have energy to be exploited, even themselves. Mining their spirits into souls, sold, into nothing is sacred, not even theirself. The ALie Nation alienation.”
On this same track, Trudell also reads from his aforementioned poem:
“Halluci Nation, the human beings. The people who see the spiritual in the natural… Everything is sacred.” In a colonized world, segregation of groups is essential to keeping people submissive, which is another reason why this album looks to tear down national borders and incorporate so many diverse artists.
An interesting aspect of the album is the choice of the words “Halluci Nation,” which signify the word ‘hallucination’, an image that is not tangible but imagined, often appearing to an individual in the midst of a desperate situation. This indicates that ATCR’s statement is not of reality, but is instead a sought after goal that many people can perceive down the road.
In a clashmusic.com article, DJ NDN explores this idea even more:
“For me, Halluci Nation means an inclusive mindset where people see that the way the system is currently set up is completely flawed and recognize we need progressive change. The message more than anything is about solidarity with like-minded people. Understanding oppression and how to collectively dismantle oppression. Believing in true equality and understanding that nobody is better than the other. Discussing true reconciliation and what that looks like.”
If you believe in this idea of unity you are a part of the Halluci Nation too, as Bear Witness explains in an interview with Crag and Canyon, “Most people have lost touch with that connection to the earth, the connection to the rest of the universe… (and) if you’re a like-minded person who wants to see change in the world… talking about treating each other like human beings, and remembering what it means to be a human being in this world, then that makes you part of the Halluci Nation.”
the halluci nation
By John Trudell
the halluci-nation
the human beings
the people
see
the spiritual in the natural
through sense and feeling
every thing is related
all the things of earth
and in the sky
have spirit
everything is sacred
confronted by
the a-lie-nation
the subjects and
the citizens
see
the material religions
through trauma and numb
nothing is related
all the things of the earth
and in the sky
have energy to be exploited
even themselves
mining their spirits into souls
sold
into nothing is sacred
not even their self
the a-lie-nation….alienation
