Keepers Of Culture Alexie, Boyd Help Celebrate Indian Arts With ‘Gathering’

Indian writer and humorist Sherman Alexie says the day is coming when a “Kurt Cobain with braids” brings Indian consciousness to rock ‘n’ roll.

“There’s some 19-year-old who will come along and do something unbelievable,” Alexie said this week. He’ll appear tonight at The Met as part of the fourth annual “Gathering of the Four Winds,” an annual celebration of contemporary Indian arts organized by musician Jim Boyd.

Other performers include Boyd and his band Rez Bound, and Northern Plateau, a Native American dance troupe. Fine artists Virgil (Smoker) Marchand and Ric Gendron will display their works in the Met Gallery.

Boyd and Rez Bound will do a set, then join Alexie for music from their collaborative CD, “Reservation Blues.” “This is the first chance for Spokane to see us as a full band,” said Alexie, who has performed here only as a duo with Boyd. “We keep doing this thing every year to remind people that we are individuals and that we are extremely talented and diverse, and each year we add new elements.”

This year, Alexie will introduce a special guest, John Sirius, a grants coordinator for the Colville Nation and “the funniest human being I’ve ever known.” Sirius and Alexie will do “an Indian Siskel and Ebert” with Alexie playing his alter ego, Lester Falls Apart.

When Boyd first began organizing the gathering, his aim was to showcase contemporary Native American art. He hoped to dispel the myth that Indian art is limited to beads and feathered headdresses.

Alexie said that can have an important impact on young tribal members: “I’m hoping that because of Jim Boyd a bunch of Indian boys and girls will pick up guitars and learn to play.” Cultural attitudes tend to slow the creative process for Indian artists, Alexie said, whether they’re writers or musicians.

“Young Indian writers need permission to write; they shouldn’t need it but they do… . Part of it is cultural. We’re not taught to be individuals, and rock ‘n’ roll is probably the most individualistic thing there is.

“There is a status quo in the Indian world and in other ethnic worlds: Young people by necessity have to rebel, but it’s harder for us to rebel because we are more than any other people still very tribal.

“It’s very difficult for a young Indian person to speak loudly and with some sort of presence.”

But Alexie said the reservation performing arts scene is ripening: “Now we need something that will put us over the top; something that, frankly, gets record-company interest.”

Alexie and Boyd already have upped the stakes a couple of notches. They produced a CD of original songs to accompany Alexie’s first novel, “Reservation Blues,” and in September, songs from that CD will be included on a compilation CD called “Honor the Earth” on Indigo Girl Amy Ray’s non-profit Daemon Records.

Later that month, Alexie, Boyd and Rez Bound will hit the road for three key dates on an Honor the Earth tour, which includes the Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt, Matthew Sweet and many others, including Indian poet, musician and activist John Trudell.

It will be a busy fall for Alexie, who also will have two new books published, a mystery called “Indian Killer” and “The Summer of Black Widows,” a book of poems.

Boyd and Rez Bound plan to go into the studio soon to record a new CD to be titled “First Come Last Served.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Staff illustration by Molly Quinn

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “Gathering of the Four Winds” will be held tonight at 7:30 at The Met. Tickets, available at all G&B Select-a-Seat outlets, are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.