Every Thursday, the Music Department hosts a Colloquium. Primarily for music majors and minors, the Colloquium is music-related and often educational. Sometimes, the event is open to non-music students. On Oct. 23, the Colloquium was open to the broader student body, and featured Lyla June Johnston as a guest speaker.
June is, according to her website, “an Indigenous musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages.” June’s messaging and work have looked at Indigenous rights, land stewardship, trauma, and other topics.
Madelynn Hamm, a fourth-year student at EMU, attended the Colloquium. Prior to showing up, “I knew nothing [about June],” she said. “The email mentioned ‘indigenous music and peacemaking,’ or something along those lines, and I thought it sounded interesting.”
Once there, June talked about various topics, but spent some significant time on her music, playing two songs through which she addressed contemporary issues, focusing on an Indigenous perspective.
The first song was titled “All Nations Rise,” and the second was “Mamwlad.” Reflecting on the music, Hamm said, “I liked the first one the best because it was acapella… but I like the message of all of them.”
Another student in attendance, Monica Ehrenfels, also commented on the music. “Her music is not what I would normally listen to, but it was an interesting part of [her message].”
While speaking on her songs, June also shared her philosophy on songwriting. According to Ehrenfels, “She said we should be vessels, or hollow bones, which I thought was a very interesting way to put it.”
Rather than actually making music, June said that a songwriter should let the music come through them from elsewhere, expressing something beyond an individual person’s understanding and ability. With that in mind, June said, she believed it was important not to personally benefit from her music. Because it came from somewhere else, making money off of it would be both wrong and would disconnect her from the music.
Both students also mentioned June’s words on what makes a work of music or art important. Hamm said, “Don’t confuse influence with significance. It doesn’t matter how many people are influenced, as long as one person has taken a significant point from your message.”
In a similar vein, Ehrenfels identified her takeaway on the topic to be that “something being more popular doesn’t necessarily mean it’s morally better.”
