Watch New Portugal. The Man Music Video Celebrating Indigenous Culture, Featuring Weird Al Yankovic Being Totally Serious
Wow! I was surprised and excited to see well known Indigenous jingle dress dancer Acosia Red Elk in the new Portugal. The Man video. And then, Weird Al Yankovic jumps in on vocals, being completely serious. I'll be honest, when I heard there was a new PTM song with Weird Al, I kind of blew it off because, I mean, Weird Al, but when I finally got to it I was beyond impressed. I knew that Weird Al was really talented, but it's great to hear him actually singing something in a real way. And the message of the music video is just phenomenal, it's certainly a much needed refresher in fall of 2020.
Portugal. The Man teamed up with Ms. Red Elk and Weird Al, various Indigenous groups, plus their own PTM Foundation to create the beautiful video that you can see in full below. They also wrote an incredible message to go along with the official video on YouTube, read it here.
Acosia Red Elk is part of the Umatilla Tribe of Oregon and started dancing when she was 16-years-old, teaching herself how by watching jingle dress videos on YouTube. She has since won many world dance championships and jingle dance competitions and is also the creator of PowWow Yoga. The woman is truly an inspiration and awesome role model!
The PTM Foundation is "focused on building community resilience, empathy, and awareness through music, stories, art, education and connectivity. We aim to convene and organize partnerships and projects informed by community need, then mobilize Portugal. The Man’s listeners and supporters around that shared vision." According to the official PTM Foundation website, Portugal. The Man were given the Legend Award at the Native American Music Awards, and they received the Public Sector Leadership Award from the National Congress of American Indians.