We went to a terrific program by
Blackfeet musician, song writer, historian and environmentalist, Jack
Gladstone, with our great friends and colleagues, Tom and Kathy
Spaulding. It was an outstanding program presented by Glacier
National Park. As we were leaving and buying Mr. Gladstone's CD
"Native Anthropology" I was given strict instruction by the
ladies to write a review and made to understand that it was to more
than adequately reflect what we had witnessed.
Jack Gladstone - the son of a Blackfeet
father and a German mother - is called "Montana's Blackfeet
Troubador". The word troubadour actually describes a medieval
French poet who composed and sang songs, mostly about courtly love.
With this understand I could not call Jack Gladstone a troubadour.
As Jack pointed out, his generation are
returning to the reservation, supporting their history and culture in
an effort to meet the "challenge, choice and promise of the 21st
century." That just happens to be part of the title of his
award winning CD, "Native Anthropology".
The music was excellent. Jack is not
only an excellent performer, he is an outstanding composer and the
man who played mandolin, keyboard and steel guitar was tremendous.
Between songs he would tell us the history that prompted each song.
He had a great video presentation behind his singing. A great deal of
it was the work of Charlie Russell, the famous Montana artist of the
early 20th century. His well researched and well documented stories
and accounts dealt with the true invasion (colonization) by the white
man, the life of Charlie Russell who spent his life painting the west
that was being destroyed, the experiences of his parents and
grandparents going back well into the 19th century, and the
destruction of one of the last vestiges of the magnificent
wilderness.
No, I wouldn't call Jack Gladstone a
troubadour. I'd call Jack Gladstone a powerful protest singer. With
the greatest of skill and gentlest of manner he smacks his audience
with the two-by-four of reality.
At the end of the program the applause
was what I would call barely adequate in light of the quality and
message of the program. I wanted to stand up clap and shout. I
wonder whether the others in the audience suffered from one of two
scenario: (1) they were expecting a native American acting like the
"Indian" of the 1950s - Tonto - and were a bit set back by
the truth, or (2) they listened carefully and, realizing the truth of
Jack's words, they felt a bit sad and embarrassed at the behavior of
white Americans then and now, and their slightly subdued applause was
saying, with heads bowed in respect, 'thank you for sharing the
truth.' I certainly hope it was the latter.
Thank you, Jack Gladstone. Keep up the
good work.
