While accepting the Amplify Award at the 2024 Billboard Power 100 event in Los Angeles in February, the members of boygenius began their speech the same way they had begun most shows on their 2023 tour. Lucy Dacus, alongside Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers, dedicated the moment to the elders and descendants of indigenous peoples and also called for action from the crowd – which happened to include the music industry's most powerful figures.
“We believe in returning the land,” Dacus said. “Which is also water behind and air behind. I encourage you to look into it if it's a new idea for you. It is not only a cause which centers the sovereignty of the natives, but the general welfare of the earth and all its inhabitants.'
Welcome to Territory, also known as land recognition, is a formal statement that recognizes and respects the relationship of indigenous peoples and their traditional lands. Dacus noted that the band worked closely with the Pass the Mic (PTM) Foundation — which was founded by Portugal. The Man — on tour to help organize such thanks at every show. And while land recognitions have become common practice for Portugal. The Man, with bands like NOFX also involved, the foundation's ultimate goal is to prevent the obscurity and erasure of indigenous peoples. Live music has provided an ideal setting to do this, and over the past year, more artists — and fans — have been willing to participate.
“Concerts or festivals can be difficult to attend, but people attend them because they want to feel good,” says Múkaro Borrero. kashike (chief) of the Guainía Taíno tribe and president of the United Confederation of Taíno Peoples. Borrero met Portugal. The Man in 2018 after participating in a group land recognition at the band's show, which led to him becoming a partner of the foundation. “Music can be a great equalizer, so attendees can be open to hearing some of these messages and learn more than they might have known when they came into the venue.”
The PTM Foundation was launched in 2019 with the help of Executive Director Logan Lynn, an artist and advocate who met Portugal. The Man through the Portland, Ore., music scene. After Lynn interviewed the band for their mental health-focused concert series, the group invited him on their 2018 summer tour, which served as a crash course in Portugal. Man's many philanthropic and community-focused efforts. “The only thing I can think of is a food court, where there were all these booths and it felt like a rock show,” Lynn recalls, “but it was also like a place where all different kinds of community members found their people . and find a way to get involved.”
Land recognitions in particular are an easy and affordable leg up for artists and bands who want to support the community. And while Portugal. The Man were one of the first to make this a norm – where the band literally give the mic to members of the local community for a few minutes at the start of each set – Lynn noticed a spike in interest after the boygenius tour in particular. “It was so exciting because what [fans] it was the land recognition and tribe tagging video and it was like a wildfire,” he says. “Every day I was like, 'Oh my God, that's exactly what we were trying to do.'
“One of the things we heard very far back when we were starting this whole thing was this idea that indigenous peoples are historical. Like it's something ancient. That indigenous peoples are still not your friends and neighbors,” says Lynn. “It's this weird thing. Part of what we wanted to do was just make sure people knew that these communities exist where you live.”
But as he and the band emphasize, awareness alone is not enough. Each partner who participates in the PTM process receives an unrestricted grant of $500 from the PTM Fund. Lynn says Portugal. Man frontman John Gourley has always been committed to moving with meaning – and following a moment with action. “Land recognitions were a mechanism to get people's attention,” says Laura John, tribal advisor for the Blackfeet and Seneca Nations and PTM partners. “Providing space for [this] it should be understood as a gesture of commitment to do more,” such as providing resources to tribal communities.
As Borrero says, “The next step for someone experiencing a land recognition is to make sure there is a next step… it's the fans who need to help sustain and expand the momentum [the PTM Foundation] it has started”.
It also falls on venues and supporters. Last year, PTM partnered with AEG on the Re:SET touring concert series, which boygenius headlined. “I was prepared for it to be clumsy and tough and I was like, 'Who do I talk to?' And it wasn't,” says Lynn. “Everyone from the band to the management is saying, 'This is important.' “
Borrero agrees, saying that despite indigenous peoples being “not that impressed with land recognitions because they see them as enforceable,” he sees them as a positive start. “To get away from [the] That the mainstream doesn't see us at all now normalizing the recognition of primary caregivers is, to me, important,” she says. He also notes that the Taíno community in particular has been reported as extinct by some sources. “Being partners helps us not only change that narrative, but take back our power to tell our own story.”
“The goal has always been to make it commonplace, and we feel like we're moving in the right direction,” adds Gourley. “People turn up and it's expected at our shows now – we want it to be expected everywhere.”
This story originally appeared in the March 30, 2024 issue Advertising sign.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/land-acknowledgements-live-music-touring-1235643482/