2019
Album: What Will We Do

One of the more political tunes on the album is “Good Old American Values.” The lyrics are a biting satirical critique of America’s long history of subjugation of Native Americans.

For Obomsawin, who is of Abenaki descent, there are personal reasons for recording this song. In the album’s liner notes, Obomsawin shares: “As an Indigenous songwriter, I hope that it becomes equally unacceptable to write and sing anti-Native lyrics as it now is to write and sing anti-black lyrics.”

“Unfortunately, Indian hating is a good old American tradition. In fact, American culture has depended on it,” Obomsawin adds. “The best I can offer is to reclaim and repurpose the rhetorical and aesthetic space of country music carved out for me by colonialism, in pursuit of beauty and truth.”

Daily Dose of Protest: Good Old American Values – Lula Wiles