NATIVE AMERICANS QUESTION J. LO’S VERSION OF ‘THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND’

Inaugural events for Joe Biden showcased tribes across the country in traditional regalia, dancing and in prayer. But amid the revelry, some Native Americans saw a glitch in Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony.

The only mention of Indigenous people came in the benediction delivered by the Rev. Silvester Beaman. And then there was the mishmash of songs sung by Jennifer Lopez that included lyrics from “This Land is Your Land.”

The folk tune is popular around campfires and in grade schools, but it also called to mind the nation’s long history of land disputes involving tribes, Felicia Fonseca reported for the Associated Press (AP).

“Oh, I love J.Lo,” said Kristen Herring, who is Lumbee and lives in Austin, Texas. “It wasn’t super disappointing that she sang it. But I was like, ‘Oh, why did that have to be on the list of things to sing?’”

Woody Guthrie, who wrote the song in the 1940s, meant it as a retort to “God Bless America” and a rebuke to monetizing land at a time of economic crisis, said Gustavus Stadler, an English professor and author of “Woodie Guthrie: An Intimate Life.”

Guthrie also wrote “Old Man Trump,” a ditty that slammed his landlord, Fred Trump, Donald Trump’s dad, for the high rent in his apartments and his racism. Lopez put a twist on it, throwing in part of the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish that translates to “justice for all.”

The Guthrie song has been a symbol of equality, inclusion and unity. But arriving amid an effort by some tribes to be recognized as stewards of ancestral land, a movement known as Land Back, the lyrics hit the wrong note for some tribal members.

“It’s a nice little sentiment that America is this mixing pot,” said Benny Wayne Sully, who is Sicangu Lakota and lives in Los Angeles. “But does anybody believe this land was made for you and me? Or was it made for white folks? People forget this land was made of brown people before it was colonized.”

Rep. Deb Haaland, who is from Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, acknowledged that perspective in a virtual welcoming to the inaugural events over the weekend. She’s been nominated to lead the Interior Department, which oversees tribal affairs. If confirmed, she would be the first Native American in a Cabinet post.

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