Return Of The Natives

A lot of kids have served their time on summer camps, but Robbie Robertson, sometime guitarist with The Band, used to spend his August days on a Mohawk reservation. That was part of his mother's roots and he once told me how shocking it was on his first visit, when a young local ran past him and literally sprinted up the perpendicular trunk of a tree.

Robbie didn't make a huge deal of his heritage back in the Sixites, but in recent decades, he's been exploring his native background on a series of rather emotional records. Other acts, such as Buffy Sainte Marie, John Trudell and even Jimi Hendrix have been more upfront about their lineage. Now, thanks to my old colleague Gavin Martin, I've just discovered a website that details a lot more of this.

It seems that the Cherokee bloodline pulses most strongly in rock and roll, with claims on Elvis, Jimi, Cher, Tori Amos, Donna Summer and even LL Cool J. Meanwhile, Tina Turner is associated with the Navaho, Anthony Keidis has a Mohican connnection and Ritchie Valens was a Yaqui. Many of the above artists had their problems fitting in with mainstream America, but the real intensity is best expressed in the music of John Trudell, a revolutionary spirit and Santee Sioux who has routinely fought the law.