Portugal. The Man has never been shy about sharing their support for indigenous peoples of America. The Alaskan alt-rock band by way of Portland, OR has welcomed members of various indigenous tribes to join them on stage at times, and more recently, teamed up with pop parody king Weird Al Yankovic for a new single, “Who’s Gonna Stop Me”, released on Monday for Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
The song was co-written with help from producer Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Rihanna) and Paul Williams (David Bowie), and also features Portland-based rapper The Last Artful, Dodgr. Fans should note that while Yankovic is known for his comedy-driven parodies of pre-existing songs, the veteran polka singer delivers a sincere vocal performance for his part in the recording.
The song’s video was filmed in a backyard setting with some added animation effects, but also features cameos from various native American artists including Acosia Red Elk, a champion jingle dancer of the Umatilla people of Oregon, Consequence of Sound reports.
A lengthy but meaningful statement shared by Portugal. The Man to go with the song’s release on Monday reads,
They say barbwire was the death knell of the cowboy. It was the end of the open range and the end of open pastures. Before the cowboys, for time immemorial, the indigenous peoples of the Americas looked to the earth as their spiritual authority. They did not parcel the earth any more than Christians, Muslims, or the Jewish faith would parcel out God. That would be sacrilege. But along came the colonists and they did just that. After the genocide of the indigenous peoples, once our white picket fences and barbwire and border walls were erected, the ancestors of the colonists made a lot of technological progress. We invented cars, skyscrapers, cheeseburgers, and smartphones! And yet now, at the dawn of the 21st century, mother earth is reacting to the past few hundred years of neglect. The earth is sending out pandemics, fires, hurricanes, and so on. The indigenous say that it’s the earth’s immune system calibrating itself. The indigenous people of the Americas, and the rest of the world, have stewarded their sacred planet for tens of thousands of years of recorded history–likely more. The PTM Foundation turns a conscious heart to the ancestral youth of the indigenous elders to shepherd our sacred planet and peoples through this time of difficulty.
The PTM Foundation is a platform for artistic collaboration between materialist culture, the arts, and indigenous paradigms. For the video for “Who’s Gonna Stop Me” we created a collaboration between indigenous artists, friends, artistic collaborators, ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, and Indigenous organizations to explore the possibilities of collaboration in this new time. To us ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic has always been a figure of playful boundary-breaking. His work makes us take less seriously, the things that we take so seriously, like what’s cool, or what’s trendy. ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic has been an inspiration for Portugal The Man since their inception until now. In the tradition of the indigenous cultures of the western North American territories, the Coyote represents the trickster and the maker of new worlds. The trickster is an archetype that can be found in nearly all indigenous and ancient cultures; the trickster not only is playful and a comedian but through their playfulness, they connect people. PTM Foundation sees music and art as a similar tool to make new connections and we consider this video to be the beginning of a campaign of many collaborations to come. PTM Foundation strives to forge bridges between the materialist contemporary culture in which we are immersed and the indigenous stewards to whom we strive to give a larger voice.
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Listen to the new collaboration between Portugal. The Man and Weird Al below.
Portugal. The Man ft. Weird Al Yankovic – “Who’s Gonna Stop Me”
Portugal. The Man has also released a limited-edition “Water Is Life” shirt with proceeds set to benefit the Navajo Water Project and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in the band’s home state. The band will reportedly match funds raised through sales on their website up to $20,000. Head to the PTM website for more info.