Slaves and Indians

Slaves and Indians is a land and blood acknowledgment. 

This ritual can be performed at any location on this colonized Earth, pre-determined or intuitively reached, although the first performances were installed within and without the walls of Art institutions in the United States of America (i.e. The Museum of Modern Art NYC and the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.) These institutions and the many to follow along Harris and Wormsley’s idyllic ‘Trail of Un-Tears’, represent for the artists opportunities to reverse the larceny of culture, wealth, spirit, life, and identity, and return these values back to the Earth and bodies from which the system of white supremacy has pillaged and benefited from for far too long. 

The performance installation consists of the singing of a short invocation with accompanying gesture, to be performed clearly and with hallowed emotions. The lyrics beginning with “Slaves, Indians” address the intended audience, as the performer’s arms extend towards the sky one at time. The lyrics continue “I wish I had Roots, I wish I had Roots” as the performer collapses both arms down simultaneously on the first declaration, in the performative style of a child having a sarcastic tantrum. This land and blood acknowledgment is the precursor to Harris and Wormsley’s current project D.R.E.A.M.= A Way to AFRAM. The pair believe that any viable land acknowledgment is only as meaningful as the restorative activation that it catalyzes, for without restorative action the empty ritual continues to perform harm. Harris and Wormsley are repeatedly highlighting that environmental justice initiatives must be realized with land back advancements centering Black and Indigenous stewards of the world.