Photos, video and story by Elizabeth Brumley / Murphy News Service
Heads bobbed to a beat that vibrated through the Hoversten Chapel at Augsburg College in Minneapolis on Monday from rapper Tall Paul — not a typical scene you’d expect at the church.
Hands flew in the air as Tall Paul, a Leech Lake Ojibwe rapper based in Minneapolis, finished a song. Laughing quietly into the microphone, he noted that he had never rapped in a church before, and the crowd’s decimal grew louder.
The non-typical gathering was in celebration of the second official Indigenous People’s Day in Minneapolis.The Minneapolis City Council approved a resolution in 2014 recognizing the second Monday in October as a day to celebrate the city’s indigenous community rather than Christopher Columbus.
There will multiple events throughout the Twin Cities to celebrate the nation’s indigenous communities.
DJ Reies Romero partnered with the Augsburg Indigenous Student Association, Save the Kids and Augsburg Latin American Students for the second annual event at Augsburg.
The event featured an impressive compilation of local hip-hop and indigenous dances.
“Hip-hop is a spiritual culture with elements that touch on wide range of topics like, social, interracial, personal, social justice interpersonal relationships. We decided to bring four elements of break dancing, DJing, Master of Ceremonies (MCing), and art as a whole while combing that with the social justice message to bring awareness of truth of indigenous culture,” Romero said.
One of the first acts to perform was House of Dance, a diverse group of hip-hop dancers that battled and free styled while audience members got closer and closer in to watch.
“Hip-hop means so much to this community,” said owner and director of House of Dance Jake Riley. “It is a way to see the world and help navigate through it, we can all share it because it crosses genders, and cultures, it is a unifying thing. We love working with the community.”
An Azteca traditional Mexican Dance was preformed by the family group, Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli. Dancer performed in vibrantly colored outfits.
Elizabeth Brumley is a Journalism student at the University of Minnesota