“The Land, The Water, The Sky” is a love letter to Indigenous strength and ancestral land

The Land, The Water, The Sky (2023) by Black Belt Eagle Scout is a love letter to Indigenous strength, interwoven with the cedar trees and tides of the Swinomish. It is a testimony to enduring hope that lingers over centuries of colonial violence.

Black Belt Eagle Scout is the stage name for Swinomish/Iñupiaq artist Katherine Paul. The Land, The Water, The Sky centers around Paul’s journey from Portland to the Skagit River and her ancestral home after COVID-19. The listener is submerged in a plethora of images throughout the album, feeling “the sound of water,” and “touching all the rocks” in “My Blood Runs Through This Land,” watching “a gray and white salmon swim” in “Salmon Stinta” and strolling through a forest in “Treelines.” The care and attention in the creation of each of them can be summed in one word: stinta, meaning love in the Klamath language.

“My Blood Runs Through This Land” is the first indicator that Paul’s letter is written in blood, coursing through her veins and binding her to her home. The song encapsulates the violence of seeing and being seen, recognizing ancestral land as a site of beauty and torment. The song starts with Paul’s ancestors watching over her, establishing her love for them as a central theme in the album. She is at her most vulnerable as she testifies that “waking up is…violent,” recognizing that each new morning in her ancestral land is drenched with cycles of generational violence. She both understands her ancestor’s suffering and finds strength in her lineage. The sharp and distorted sounds along with her ethereal vocals illustrate how both feelings can coexist. From this odd harmony emerges a deep longing for a brighter future. This yearning becomes almost tangible for the listeners as Paul stretches out the last line of the song, repeating the word “light” to intensify the guitar riffs.

Paul’s “Sedna” is a retelling of an Inuit creation myth. In the myth, Sedna offers herself to the sea to make sure her people are fed after his father cuts her fingers off and throws them out of their boat. During the song Paul ruminates on the weight of sacrifice, and on stories passed down through generations. As she sings “Look in your eyes/See you alive/Long goodbye,” she takes on the perspective of Sedna, looking after her people and keeping them alive, while also creating space for the listeners to keep the story of Sedna alive by listening to the song and learning about her sacrifice. The lyrics are both a homage to Sedna and the cultural significance of storytelling.

Paul’s album is also a masterwork of re-imagination. During “Blue,” Paul looks at the islands surrounding her and contemplates whether her grandmother, standing in the same spot, would share her exact feelings. Her atmospheric chord progressions are a rumination on the temporality of feeling. Her lyricism redefines love as transcending space and time. During “Nobody,” love and is extended to include all modes of self-expression, including singing. In her interview with Beats Per Minute, Paul insists that one can “sing through an instrument,” and the drums during “Nobody” are a manifestation of that idea. 

The Land, The Water, The Sky is an intimate and thoughtful meditation on nature, ancestral land, and sacrifice. It is both a reflection on resilience and a testimony to a brighter future.

Article by Irem Kurtdemir

Photo by Paul Hudson