Podcast Summary: "Lakota Musician Frank Waln Performs (Get Lit)"

Podcast: All Of It (WNYC)
Host: Kate Hines in for Alison Stewart
Guest: Frank Waln, Lakota songwriter, producer, rapper, and public speaker
Date: May 3, 2024

Episode Overview

This special "Get Lit" episode features Lakota musician Frank Waln, joined by book club author Stephen Graham Jones. Waln performs live, shares stories about his upbringing, creative process, and the cultural and personal significance of his music, especially as it relates to Native American history and identity. The conversation moves through themes of personal and intergenerational resilience, cultural survival, creative autonomy, and the power of music as healing and protest.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Frank Waln’s Performance and Song Introduction

Live Performance of "7" (mashup with "Seven Nation Army")

• [02:39-06:03] Waln kicks off with a powerful song that intertwines Lakota cultural strength with familiar Western music motifs.
• He notes, "when you mess with the Lakota nation, we have seven bands of Lakota. So you're literally messing with the Seven Nation Army."
• His lyrics confront U.S. history, systemic oppression, and resilience:

  "They tell a history that our peoples don't recognize / the US Government should be charged with genocide."
  "A generation with a vision—we hear Mother Earth crying / Seventh generation, we have risen."
  (Frank Waln, 03:09)

2. Cover Songs Reinterpreted Through a Lakota Lens

Fleetwood Mac’s "Dreams" on Native Flute

• [06:03-09:45] Waln covers Fleetwood Mac’s "Dreams", explaining how his mother influenced both his taste in horror films and music.
• He reimagines the song as "in the key of Lakota"—centering drums and Native flute.
• On his creative approach:

  "[When] I create songs, it's a whole world to me."
  (Frank Waln, 08:36)

3. Musicianship, Instruments, and Artistic Identity

• [11:04-11:43] Waln describes his musical journey, starting with piano at age 7 or 8, self-teaching other instruments. Tonight, he plays acoustic bass and Native flute, noting:

  "I've been told by some guitarists that I really admire, that I play the bass like it's a guitar, so I kind of do my own thing with it."
  (Frank Waln, 11:24)

4. "Aboriginal"—Song Origins and Cultural Misconceptions

• [12:14-13:20] Waln discusses "Aboriginal", a track that resonated with Stephen Graham Jones and many fans.
• He recalls a formative college experience confronting ignorance and erasure:

  "She looked at me up and down, and she was like, you have really pretty hair. What are you? ... And she said, 'You guys are still alive?'"
  (Frank Waln, 12:38)

• The song became an outlet for frustration, directly challenging erasure:

  "Those experiences ... empowered me and I think drove me to write and release songs like Aboriginal, just releasing that frustration."
  (Frank Waln, 12:58)

5. Reflecting on a Decade of Music: Independence and Resilience

• [14:02-15:47] Waln talks about his new compilation album "Songs Against Colonialism" and being an independent Native artist.
• He addresses the emotional labor and the necessity of self-reliance:

  "It's a full time job and it's harder than anyone knows. ... I produce and engineer all my music. I self publish ... I've had to be independent in every way."
  (Frank Waln, 14:35)

• On the impact of his music for Native listeners:

  "Your song helped me get through a hard time. It helped me feel not alone as a Native person in this world. To me, like, that's the medicine."
  (Frank Waln, 15:41)

6. Pigeonholing and Breaking Through Stereotypes

• [15:47-16:44] Waln describes being pigeonholed as a "Native artist" and rapper—highlighting the need to push back against colonial views of Native art:

  "The colonial Western view of Native art has always been primitive. ... So I'm just always pushing back against that with my work."
  (Frank Waln, 16:21)

7. Personal and Collective Trauma: Boarding Schools, Family History

• [16:44-19:57] Waln shares recent experiences visiting Harvard (where his great-grandmother's hair was found in a Peabody Museum collection from Indian boarding schools) and Carlisle, PA, site of the infamous Indian Industrial School.
• He connects his music and performance to the trauma and resilience of Native boarding school survivors:

  "She was the ultimate final girl ... But definitely, if you study Native history ... it was beyond horror."
  (Frank Waln, 18:36)

• On facing family and historical trauma:

  "That experience forced me to face it head on. And through my music and my art, find a way forward."
  (Frank Waln, 19:50)

8. Final Musical Performance: Honoring Ancestors

Original Song Inspired by His Great-Grandmother

• [20:19-22:13] Waln performs a song written for his great-grandmother, a boarding school survivor—evoking themes of pain, survival, cultural memory, and healing:

  "I'm thinking of the things they took from you as kids / She survived and she came home alive / ... Now I'm singing these songs to bring your spirit home."
  (Frank Waln, 20:45-21:33)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Lakota Musical Power:

  "When you would go to war with the Lakota nation, you would hear our drums before you seen us coming."
  (Frank Waln, 09:31)

• On Resilience and Being an Independent Artist:

  "I've had to be independent in every way just to even get to this stage ... and it wasn't a choice. It was because that's what I had to do if I wanted to be an artist, coming from the community I came from."
  (Frank Waln, 14:26)

• On Generational Survival:

  "Every native person's great grandparents, great, great grandparents in the US and Canada survived that. ... Connecting it to this event, I feel like my great grandmother who survived that ... was the ultimate final girl."
  (Frank Waln, 18:05-18:48)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:39] – Performance: "7" (Seven Nation Army mashup)
• [06:03] – Fleetwood Mac "Dreams" cover intro and performance
• [11:04] – Simon Close interview segment begins
• [12:14] – Deep dive into "Aboriginal" and confronting erasure
• [14:02] – Reflecting on a decade of music, independence, and impact
• [15:47] – Discussion of artistic pigeonholing and breaking stereotypes
• [16:44] – Carlisle, PA: Boarding schools, family history, and generational trauma
• [20:19] – Performance: Song for his great-grandmother, survivor tribute

Tone and Language

Frank Waln’s voice is forthright, emotional, and poetic—moving seamlessly between storytelling, advocacy, and performance. His vulnerability about personal and communal struggles, dedication to music as an act of resistance and remembrance, and his humor (e.g., his mother teaching him to love horror movies) make the episode intimate and deeply moving. The conversation fosters compassion and understanding, grounding contemporary Native experiences within lived history and ongoing activism.

Conclusion

This episode offers a potent exploration of culture, music, and memory through the artistry of Frank Waln. By sharing both his story and his songs, Waln lays bare the wounds of history and the power of cultural survival, using music as both a shield and a salve.