Bringing it back to the song and the video, what was the experience of filming the video?
I filmed it with one of my friends who is also Indigenous and queer. Their name is Evan James Atwood. We drove out to the coast, and he knew of this spot. It wasn’t really planned. I had these dances and some things I knew I wanted to do, but it wasn’t a drawn out plan like it is with some music videos. He knew this trail that was actually like an hour hike. It was this point basically where you can see all of the ocean, and there’s fog, and all these beautiful things. So a lot of the stuff that isn’t on the beach was shot there.

I knew I wanted to wear some of the regalia that I have and showcase my two tribes: my Mom’s side, she’s an Iñupiaq, which is from Alaska. My Dad’s side, from Washington, is Swinomish. I had the shawl and the longer dress and was dancing a fancy shawl dance. I just wanted to say: look at this spot, look at what this planet is all about. This is the world we live in and have to protect. I think we captured it just because we went to that beautiful place.

It’s so effective. I was like this is the spot for this song. I didn’t know what to expect when I played it. So you just did it on a whim, not knowing?
Yeah, we were like, we know where we want to go, and we’ll see. I feel it would have been harder had I done it with somebody I wasn’t that close with and who I feel wouldn’t really get who I am. Evan is Indigenous like me and queer like me. We understand each other, obviously. So it was good. We had a lot of fun.

Winding it all the way back, how did music became part of your life and what were your first musical projects?
Music has always been part of my life. Mainly because of the coastal music that tribes in Northwest Washington play. My family has done music forever. My grandfather and great grandparents, going back generations, have always had these songs they’ve sung. Every year we hosted a powwow, which is actually not a coastal form of music. My Grandfather brought the powwow to Swinomish, because he’s from Eastern Washington, and they do powwows over there. I would dance at the powwow, and we would go on the powwow trail, where every tribe hosts a powwow.

I didn’t start playing other types of music until I was in school. I played the flute in concert band and then I played the piano. Then in middle and high school I started listening to grunge and Riot Grrrl music.

What was your exposure to that?
Just through word of mouth really. Just because it’s Washington. You hear about stuff like that; it’s part of the history. I started learning about it and listening to it and I loved it. That’s how I learned about Portland. There were some bands in the Riot Grrrl movement in Portland and then Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls was a big part of it. I was a real nerd about all that stuff and I would do research and get really into it. So I was a girl living on an Indian reservation listening to grunge and Riot Grrrl music.

So then you decided you wanted a guitar?
Yeah, I wanted a guitar and my parents got a guitar. And then I wanted a drum set and my parents got me a drum set. I was lucky: they let me have all this stuff in our little, tiny house on the reservation. I had a drum set in my bedroom and I’d play along to songs. I played along to a lot of Sleater Kinney songs. I had these dreams of wanting to play music and be in bands. I didn’t know it could actually happen.

So you got interested in Portland through your research, and then you moved here. Is that when you started to be in bands?
I convinced a couple of friends in high school to play music with me. It was a fun time in my life, discovering how to play music with people. But I didn’t play regularly in bands until I moved here. I moved here primarily because the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls was here and I was a part of that and I wanted to continue being a part of that culture because it’s inclusive of people of color, women of color, queer musicians, and women in music. That was my life and I wanted to be a woman in music. So I moved here, went to college, and have been living here and playing music ever since. ♦