Suicides among the Native American community is a major issue of concern but Blackfeet teacher Charlie Speicher has a plan to fight the problem with music…but not just any genre – deathgrind metal!
The Browning High School on the Blackfeet Reservation, Speicher uses videos, lyric writing, and musicians to help his students learn about suicide prevention.
On one particular day, the students watch a video of the deahgrind band Carcass.
Speicher explains to the class that deathgrind is a heavy metal subgenre that combines death metal (sonic and lyrical) and grindcore (Speed and aggression).
Students tap pencils on the desks and nod their heads as they listen and watch the videos.
He pauses the video to the dismay of the students. Speicher says, “I know, I want to keep going. But that was freaking Carcass!…There’s nothing like a musical style that just goes right for your throat, right at the core of that darkness.”
He teaches the students to face the darkness head on with writing lyrics, engaging in art, and talking about suicide and coping with the trauma and grief.
The 18 week course also includes teaching the students about the various subgenres of metal music, how to analyze the music videos, and writing their own lyrics.
Says Speicher, “there’s just such power there. It provides us with the tools to be able to deal, to face our anguish and not just be a prisoner to it.”
And in July the Blackfeet Reservation will hold its first every Fire in the Mountains – a heavy metal music festival. The students can earn some money and class credit by working at the Festival. And some of the students have even designed t-shirts for band members to wear.
Proceeds from the Festival will go toward suicide prevention programs on the reservation.
Tickets for the Festival begin at $335 for the three day event July 25-27.
