Native Siouxperman
Dorrance Comes Last
Native Siouxperman
Q. When we start out, just tell me your name and what you go by and like that.
Dorrance Comes Last. It’s either Bodu, just a nickname I have you know, for a real long time, but my rap name is just Native Sioux-Per-Man.
Q. Native Sioux-Per-Man.
Yeah. S-i-o-u-x.
Q. S-i-o-u-x. That’s cool. That’s very cool. I like that, Native Sioux-Per-Man. You know the thing that I liked about your stuff then?
What’s that?
Q. What I like was the way that you really talk about you know life, right here. And then really talking about the way, you know, people think about Indians. And they think what Indians are.
Yeah. Kinda like stereotypes and just Indian humor I guess, you know.
Q. Yeah.
So I get that out too.
Q. Rez Life?
Yeah.
What I’m working on is just gonna be more, you know, stuff dealin’ with like real issues. Like you know, like the drugs on the rez, everything like that, you know. Alcohol. Everything you know. ‘Cause I don’t, you know, smoke or drink or anything like that, you know.
Q. Yeah. So, can you do a line or two for me then? Yeah, sure.
All right. There’s one called Stay Proud I was working on, but I ain’t got the third verse done yet ’cause I’m gonna do it all in Dakota. You know, the third verse.
Q. Oh really?
Yeah. A teacher at school’s helping me with the words and stuff like that, so it’s so.
People wanna know why I’m prouda d’ olden days
Way back then, this land was home of the braves
Home of a nation that possessed golden ways
They tried to wipe us out but we wouldn’t go away
My people stood strong throughout the toughest times
They said we were wrong and they don’t trust our kind
So it won’t be long before we crush those lies
This is where we belong it’s a mus’ die rise
To the top of it all and above the rest
Lots of love for y’all everyone on the rez
I refuse to fall when I’m under the stress
Still down for the ’cause it’s somethin’ I respect
We a nation of strength, have survived the wicked
Endured all the pains still alive and kickin’
It’s my duty to maintain ’til I die and diminish
Now I sit ‘n’ pray ‘n’ realize what my gift is.
The second verse for that would be:
Disagree if you want but I will stay proud
See I’m not about to stop so I let it play loud
I’m just like the sun breakin’ through the great clouds
The Creator Sun and I’m feelin’ ok
And our traditional ways are the ways I was taught
That’s the way I was raised so I blazed this spot
At this time and age I amaze a lot
I burn the tracks like sage and rearrange the thoughts
I’m still givin’ respect to the four directions
But my each and every step I’m movin’ towards perfection
I take another breath to withdraw the essence
Keepin’ it real to my death you can’t ignore my presence
‘Cause I’m here and I’m (fumbles)
I’m here and that means that I’m here to the end
A warrior spirit has no fear my friend
I’m wa’, I’m writin’ what I feel, I pray and ask for guidance
I unite with the real and you can’t deny this.
Q. Yeah. That’s cool. So you’re gonna do a verse on that in Dakota?
Yeah.
I did like maybe two bars on this one song and it’s just pretty much real long verses. But the shorter version is like this:
Magician a foo
You foo’s in school
You foo’s refuse to lose
Speak Sioux to you foos
Oyate wacin makiyuza
Toka wakiyesni
Tiwahe, ki na mitakodapi oma un
Hecetu waste
All day every day
Do you know what I said?
Probably not
But it’s ok
‘Cause it was hot.
(laughs)
Dorrance Comes Last
Dorrance Comes Last, or Buffalo Boy (Tatankahokshina), is Sioux and Assiniboine and resides in Poplar, Montana on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Dorrance also has the nickname Bo Doo. He was raised by his grandparents, Clifford Young Bear, or Iron Gourd, and Vida Muskrat. This part of the reservation is considered the Badlands and is scattered with rivers and trees. The closest city is Billings, a three to four-hour drive.
Dorrance is a rap singer, sometimes called Indian Hip Hop, and his rap name is Native Siouxper Man. When the rap scene started a few years back, he first started out with poems, and then later progressed to making a tape of his material. He got together with friends to rap, and found the complex style and rhyming easy and fulfilling, but he prefers the challenge of doing something more complex than what everyone else is doing. This type of music is frequently called Indian Hip Hop, and he is a great role model for youth as he maintains a positive attitude and never touches alcohol, drugs, or tobacco. Dorrance gears his songs to refer to everyday situations and problems on the reservation and within families. Life’s hardships, tobacco, and alcohol are some of the issues he addresses in his music.
He has given concerts on the reservation, and in church settings, and has presented in Missoula, Montana. He has a promotional CD out and in June, expects to release a solo CD titled “Finding A Way.” Dorrance does a lot of his own productions under the label “Still True Productions.” This summer, Dorrance would like to start doing traditional dancing again. In the past, he has danced at powwows across the US and in Canada. Dorrance is featured on Wisdom of the Elders Radio: Series Two in Program 7 – Contemporary Rhythms at www.wisdomoftheelders.org. Producer Milt Lee says of Dorrance, “Bo-doo is a teddy bear of a man – six feet tall, soft. He’s got a great smile and regular black braids. They aren’t that interested in death and destruction. Mostly it’s about their lives, out here in the middle of Montana, dealing with being an Indian in the 21 st Century.”
Dorrance Comes Last
PO Box 591
Poplar, MT 59255
(406) 768-3501
native_siouxperman69@yahoo.com