Photo: Al Aumuller / Library of Congress
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Some of Guthrie’s greatest champions have had difficulties with the song.
At the same time, Seeger made it clear that he was sensitive to the theft of Native American lands. In his memoir, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Seeger recalled an incident during a 1968 performance: “Jimmy Collier, a great young black singer from the Midwest, was asked to lead [This Land Is Your Land] .Henry Crowdog [sic] of the Sioux Indian delegation came up and punched his finger in Jimmy’s chest. ‘Hey, you’re both
wrong. It belongs to me.’ Jimmy stopped and added seriously, ‘Should we not sing this song?’ Then a big grin came over Henry Crowdog’s face. ‘No, it’s okay. Go ahead and sing it. As long as we are all down here together to get something done’.”
S
ometimes, in an attempt to ease his conscience when performing This Land, Seeger would add a verse penned by the singer and activist Carolyn
“Cappy” Israel to acknowledge the theft of Native land: This land is your land, but it once was my land Before we sold you Manhattan Island You pushed my nation to the reservation, This land was stole by you from me. Was Guthrie himself uncomfortable with the song’s glaring failure to acknowledge the facts of settler colonialism? There’s no record of his
ColdType | Mid-September 2019 | www.coldtype.net