Katherine Paul (born 1989) is a Swinomish/ Iñupiaq singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, Oregon. Her music is influenced by

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

, and Native American traditional music. She has released an EP and three albums under the moniker Black Belt Eagle Scout. Her self-titled EP as Black Belt Eagle Scout was released in June 2014.Bemrose, Bekki
"Black Belt Eagle Scout , Artist Biography"
''AllMusic''. Retrieved 2019-04-17. Her debut studio album, ''

Mother of My Children ''Mother of My Children'' is the debut studio album by American musician Katherine Paul under the moniker Black Belt Eagle Scout, released on August 25, 2017, through Good Cheer Records. It was re-released on September 14, 2018, through Saddle Cr ...

'', was first released by Portland tape label Good Cheer Records in 2017, then re-released in September 2018 by

Saddle Creek Records Saddle Creek Records is an American record label based in Omaha, Nebraska. Started as a college class project on entrepreneurship, the label was founded by Mike Mogis and Justin Oberst in 1993 (as Lumberjack Records). Mogis soon turned over his ...

.Rietmulder, Michael (October 31, 2018)
"Black Belt Eagle Scout pushes for representation with intrinsically Northwest indie rock"
Seattle Times. Retrieved 2019-04-17. On April 26, 2019, Saddle Creek released a Black Belt Eagle Scout single titled "Loss & Relax" on a seven-inch vinyl backed with the B-side "Half Colored Hair".

Early life

Paul was born in

Anacortes, Washington Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman. to Kevin Paul, a Swinomish/ Colville father and enrolled member of the

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, also known as the Swinomish Tribe, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States, federally recognized tribe located on Puget Sound in Washington (state), Washington state. Swinom ...

, and Patricia Aqiimuk Paul, an Iñupiaq mother and enrolled member of the Native Village of

Kotzebue Kotzebue ( ) or Qikiqtaġruk ( , ) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing ...

in Alaska. Paul grew up on the

Swinomish Reservation The Swinomish Indian Reservation is the Indian reservation, reservation of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, located on Fidalgo Island in western Washington (state), Washington state. The western boundary of the reservation is disputed betw ...

in the

Puget Sound region The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the ...

of Washington. Her earliest musical experiences included listening to and singing indigenous music of the Coast Salish.Lange, Maggie (September 17, 2018)
"Black Belt Eagle Scout ''Mother of My Children''"
Pitchfork. Retrieved 2019-04-17. She was a jingle dress dancer at regional

pow wow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity for Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their ...

s with her family's drum group, the Skagit Valley Singers. At a young age, Paul began learning to play the piano and played the flute in her school band.Kershner, Lauren (March 13, 2018)
"Black Belt Eagle Scout Combines Grunge and Dream-Pop to Heal Wounds Both Personal and Ancestral"
Willamette Week. Retrieved 2019-04-17. Her interest in the guitar and drums began when she came into the possession of some bootleg VHS tapes of

Hole A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid Body (physics), body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in m ...

and

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

, from which she taught herself to play those two instruments by pausing the tapes and studying the musicians’ fingerings and techniques.Jacobson, Rebecca (August 29, 2018)
"Meet queer Indigenous musician Black Belt Eagle Scout"

Travel Portland Travel Portland, formerly the Portland Oregon Visitors Association, is a destination marketing organization in Portland, Oregon, United States. Established in 1978, it is a private, nonprofit organization and the largest destination marketing orga ...

. Retrieved 2019-04-17. During high school Paul became involved in the small DIY music scene in Anacortes, Washington near the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, driving her parents' car to attend shows at the Department of Safety venue. The venue, located in an old firehouse, is where she met Canadian artist and musician

Geneviève Castrée Geneviève Elverum ( Gosselin; April 9, 1981 – July 9, 2016), also known as Geneviève Castrée, was a Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, and musician from Quebec. An early admirer of comics, she began creating them at a young age. L'Oie de Cra ...

who became a mentor to Paul. An inspiration of Paul's, Castrée would attend her early performances, encouraging her and praising her for her playing. In 2007, Paul moved from Washington to Portland, Oregon to attend college at

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1867 and is situated on the historic M. Lloyd Frank Estate in South Portland's Collins View neighborhood. It is composed of three distinct but adjac ...

. While in Portland she became involved with the Rock and Roll Camp for Girls, and later contributed guitar, drums, and vocals for Portland-based bands Forest Park and Genders.

Career

''Mother of My Children'' (2017)

Paul's first release as Black Belt Eagle Scout was an eight-song self-titled EP in 2014. Her next release was 2017's ''

'', Black Belt Eagle Scout's debut album. Paul played all the instruments on the album including bass, keyboard, percussion, organ, vibraphone, and piano, in addition to guitar, drums, and vocals. The album was recorded at the Unknown recording studio, a converted church in Anacortes. During the recording session, Paul stayed on the reservation with her parents. The first two tracks are accompanied by music videos by

Diné The Navajo or Diné are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the Southwestern United States. Their traditional language is Navajo language, Diné bizaad, a Southern Athabascan language. The states with the largest Din ...

filmmakers Demian DinéYazhi' ("Soft Stud") and Evan James Wood ("Indians Never Die"). Songs on the album deal with topics such as loss, grief, heartbreak, and Paul's identity as an indigenous queer woman. In 2016, her mentor Geneviève Castrée died of pancreatic cancer. Paul says music is what helped her process her grief during this time. This Paul accredits to her Native upbringing and the healing, spiritual roles that singing and drumming played for her during her upbringing. The album's second track "Indians Never Die" is a response to both the

Dakota Access Pipeline protests The Dakota Access Pipeline Protests or the Standing Rock Protests, also known by the hashtag #NODAPL, NoDAPL, were a series of grassroots Native Americans in the United States, Native American protests against the construction of the Dakota Ac ...

Standing Rock The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North & South Dakota controls the Standing Rock Reservation (), which straddles the border between North Dakota, North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa Lakota, Hunkp ...

and to

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

occurring in Portland. Paul is open and vocal about her identity as a "radical indigenous queer feminist".

Critical reception

Black Belt Eagle Scout has been compared to other West Coast bands such as

Mazzy Star Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in 1988 in Santa Monica, California, from remnants of the group Opal (band), Opal. Founding member David Roback's friend Hope Sandoval became the group's vocalist when Kendra Smith left Opal ...

and

. ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'' refers to Black Belt Eagle Scout's sound as "intrinsically Northwest", because of Paul's blending of Pacific Northwest rock and

Coast Salish The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...

traditional music. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' calls ''Mother of My Children'' "a collection of pensive rock songs saturated with an oceanic mood". John Amen of ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' gave '' The Land, the Water, the Sky'' a score of 9/10, noting, "Black Belt Eagle Scout teaches us, guides, and inspires us, all the while dazzling us with lush atmospheres, seismic rhythms, and a voice that unfurls from another and perhaps a better world."

Discography

Studio albums * ''

'' (2017) * '' At the Party with My Brown Friends'' (2019) * '' The Land, the Water, the Sky'' (2023) Extended plays * ''Black Belt Eagle Scout'' (2014) Singles * "Loss & Relax" (2019) * "Half Colored Hair" (2019) * "My Heart Dreams" (July 24, 2019) * "Run It to Ya" (August 27, 2019) * "Don't Give Up" (2022) * "My Blood Runs Through This Land" (2022) * "Nobody" (2023) * "Spaces" (2023)

References

External links

Official website
* *
"Indians Never Die" music video

"Soft Stud" music video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul, Katherine 1989 births 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century multi-instrumentalists 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American people American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters American multi-instrumentalists American people of Inuit descent American queer women American women singer-songwriters Coast Salish people Lewis & Clark College alumni LGBTQ Native Americans LGBTQ people from Oregon LGBTQ people from Washington (state) Living people Singers from Portland, Oregon Native American singers Queer singer-songwriters Saddle Creek Records artists Singer-songwriters from Oregon Singer-songwriters from Washington (state) Native American people from Oregon LGBTQ women singers