I've never published anything so close to my heart. Hope ya love it.

https://www.hcn.org/issues/57-11/heavy-metal-is-healing-teens-on-the-blackfeet-nation/

#Indigenous #metal

@Toastie oh my gods 😭😭😭 beautiful

Tautoko te kaupapa/I support this initiative. I hope it's the first of many for them ❤️

@exlibrarykris I hope so too!

@Toastie
Here is where I finally get off my ass and subscribe to HCN.
I've held the grudge long enough.

@ohmu Haha that's great news.

@Toastie Thank you for sharing this Toastie. Really well done. ❤️

@camless I appreciate it. Thanks for reading!

@Toastie

Fucking amazing! Great story about it.

I've driven through Navajo/Hopi country for years, on and off, and yeah, the metal is plenty evident!

To me, it seems like the internet ruined subcultures. The amazing anarcho punk worlds we had in the SF Bay Area died in the mid 1990s, partly internet, but partly rents -- there became literally no where to hang out and just do the nuthin' that all good things arise from, that didn't need to make money to survive.

It may be that reservations have been maintaining and preserving subculture mojo out of sheer necessity. I'm sorry it's been so sad and fucked up; but hiphop and metal and some of old punk are visible even just passing through, you can see the communality in it, and it's great.

That sounds like an amazing event whose effects will ripple outward.

@tomjennings That's a really interesting insight about how having space to hang around doing nothing fosters these subcultures. Glad you liked the story!

@Toastie
Great article!

The connection between indigenous tribes and metal is not lost on me. One of my favorite Pacific Northwest metal bands is a 3-piece called Helms Alee.

Hozoji Matheson-Margullis, drummer and vocalist for the band, brings complex tribal beats to the band's sound.

By day, she works for the Puyallup tribe as an independently contracted shellfish biology diver. She surveys their geoduck tracts counting geoducks and monitoring. Total badass.

https://helmsalee.net

@shansterable So badass!

@Toastie Beautiful! :D

@iams Yakoke!

@Toastie I'm like two pages in and my brain is already buzzing. This is great work.

@D_J_Nathanson Wow that's awesome to hear. Thank you!

Excellent article, @Toastie ! Wow!!! Thank you for writing this!

https://www.hcn.org/issues/57-11/heavy-metal-is-healing-teens-on-the-blackfeet-nation/

@DoomsdaysCW Thanks so much for reading!

@Toastie Great article!

@nancylwayne Thank you!

@Toastie This is the most uplifting, joyful, hopeful article that I have read in forever. Not only that, some of the most beautiful writing as well. The way you described the mosh pits finally made me understand the feelings and camaraderie there.

Death metal is not something I've ever listened to, kind of funny at my age, but I'm willing to give it a try now. Thanks for a great article!

@Star12Mt Omg you're making my day!! Thank you for reading and for the feedback!

@Toastie this is absolutely amazing. i had heard about Fire in the Mountains as i'm a big Wardruna fan and knew that they had a really great experience, but reading this is a whole other thing. gave me goosebumps multiple times. really love the playlist you include too, i have some bands to look up now. thank you for sharing this with us. 🤘🏻

@buffyleigh Goosebumps achieved! ✅ ⭐ That's great news. Thank you for reading! Hope you find some sick bands to love.

@Toastie Thank you for this, such a great read!

@Jesticulated Thank you!

@Toastie @shansterable

Original Nations kids love to Rock

@MedeaVanamonde @shansterable ✅ Fact checked, independently verified and accurate.

@Toastie wow holy shit I did not expect to be brought to absolute tears by an article

metal has been part of my life for well over 20 years, and to hear some of my faves being part of this incredible festival....

thank you 🩷

@nofunoverlord I love this. Thank you for the note! 🤘 🔥

@Toastie

I've only ever been fringe to metal, but reading this made me want to fall head first into the center of the pit again.

Gorgeous.

I started crying at Warduna already being in, and didn't stop till the end. OMG the buffalo skull painted with where the stars were going to be! Beautifully captured.

@deirdrebeth Those are some of my favorite details too. 😭 Thank you for reading this!

@Toastie I really enjoyed this. I especially appreciated the insights into metal and Native culture. Thanks

@davidpwhelan Glad to hear it! Thanks for reading.

@Toastie no, no, I've just got something in my eye...

A lot of what you describe echoes the feel of 90s Wacken. It was a bunch of metalheads on a field next to a sleepy town. Locals sat in the garden watching us arrive, some taking the occasion to barbeque. Some offered us food.

The queue was long, the toilet situation dire. We were permitted to use their bathroom. A friend even showered there.

The next day, we got out of our tent, walked 100m to get coffee at the catering tent, and...

@Toastie ... turned around to the stage where the first band was setting up.

Everyone was on that level.

But, and that's the sad part, as the festival's reputation grew, so more curious folk who maybe weren't so into maintaining this atmosphere arrived. That got managed with some missteps, which grew the popularity again, and so forth.

My last Wacken some 20 years later was fun, but very little of that feel can survive the size it's grown to.

If you ask me, just like fedi, many small...

@Toastie ... festivals are going to be way better than one big one.

@jens I agree -- the intimate feel of smaller festivals is part of the magic.

@Toastie That was a wonderful read, and I am looking forward to spending some time listening the various bands mentioned. Thank you for putting this out in the world. 🖤

@deathkitten That's so lovely to hear. I'm happy that this story reached you!

@Toastie thank you for writing this.

@SebastianBlanco It was definitely my pleasure. Thanks for reading!

@Toastie Thank you for this article. I haven’t known about this reality and magic happening far away from my life. Your article brought insights I will carry with me.

@fracicone Thank you for telling me that.

@Toastie I had been saving this and read it last night in between bouts of family drama and, uh, thank you, I needed to read something uplifting after all that

and the kids with the skulls were absolutely giving me life

@sarae Isn't that cover photo WONDERFUL???

@Toastie also I cracked up so hard that you got someone to actually publish the line about metal Natives and hip hop Natives

and I stand by my previous assertion in that matter

@Toastie absolutely amazing piece! 🖤

@magdalenahai 🙏 🙏 🙏 ✌️

@Toastie This is a fantastic piece.

@janeishly Thank you!

@Toastie Beautiful and moving piece. And I will have to check out some bands/artists mentioned...

@lepaggoth Thank you, and I hope you find some new bands to fall in love with! 🤘

@Toastie amazing. 🙏🏽

@jbenjamint Thank you. 😁

@Toastie metal unites 🤘

@bitbraindev Fuck yeah it does!! 🔥 🤜 🤛 🔥

@Toastie that sounds so nice, so many bands I can look up now! Also I want so much to see wardruna in a setting where I don't have to wonder who in the crowd is a nazi

@fay Definitely one of the perks of being on the rez.

@Toastie An absolutely beautiful, insightful piece, speaking to the “other” and our collective need to belong. Transcending host cultures, yet finding togetherness by honouring tradition at the flame. 🔥

@heathenstorm Thank you so much!

@Toastie This is one of the best essays I've ever read. I might be a 58 years old, white mom living in the UK, but I'm going to listen to some of this stuff right now.

@JeanieBurrell WOW hahaha this absolutely makes my day. Lmk if you fall in love with any bands. 🤘

@Toastie @liza This is the best piece I’ve read all year.

@donaldball I know!! Thank you, @Toastie

@liza @donaldball That is amazing to hear. Thank you both for reading!!

@Toastie @trabern Thank you so much for sharing this incredible article. I would never have known about this otherwise. You educated, enlightened and inspired me.

@cate @trabern Excellent. Love to hear it! Thanks for taking the time to sit with the story.

@Toastie
"It got loud, fast."
Great story, Toastie. (not crying, *sniffle)

@SkylarkDuquesne 😊 🖤

@Toastie This was beautiful, thank you.

@mantis I'm so happy to share it with ya. Thanks for reading!

@Toastie Thank you for writing this. This is everything that journalism should be (& too often isn't). Inspiring, hopeful, informative, & written in an engaging & emotional style. Really great work 🖤

@sidereal Love this feedback. Thank you so much! I'm stoked you enjoyed the story.

@Toastie I loved seeing this cover in my mailbox!

@petrelharp Isn't it so dope??? Big shoutout to HCN's art department for that one. 🔥 🖤 🤍 🔥

@Toastie I remember reading about this a few months ago and only finding the one article, it's cool to read more about this, thank you for providing another perspective

@Thatonepersonwithaface Yes, one of the pre-festival stories was in Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/fire-mountains-heavy-metal-festival-1235380400/

@Toastie Beautifully written. 🖤

It made me cry, remembering exactly how it felt to be a teenager and not wanting to live, finding metal and discovering that I wasn't alone being a depressed weirdo, and the music being an outlet for releasing the pain and anger in my soul.

But it was a good cry, because I survived, and I think I am a more empathetic person from it. So thank you. 🖤

@Gulleko Thank you for sharing! I'm so glad you made it through, and glad this story reached you.

@Toastie you know what? As a metalhead family man, I do love it.

Thank you.

@alemioz Glad to hear it. Thanks for reading!

@buherator For real! 🤘Like where were these teachers when I was a teenager??