WE UP

Project Spotlight: A feature-length film on Indigenous hip-hop in the North.

Indigenous Sovereignty Jų̃ ts’e’į uts’an kwäts’eden-ji
A black background with boxes featuring block text in black and white reading “WE UP: INDIGENOUS HIP-HOP OF THE CIRCUMPOLAR NORTH” aligned to the bottom right corner.

Forty years after hip-hop was born in the South Bronx, it’s being re-imagined in fresh ways by young Indigenous artists of the North— from Athabascan villages in Alaska, to the capital city of Greenland, to reindeer-herding towns in Northern Finland.

WE UP: Indigenous Hip-Hop of the Circumpolar North is a feature-length documentary film produced by the Anchorage Museum. It profiles rising stars of Northern Indigenous hip-hop while exploring themes in their work which connect them across vast distances, such as: the challenges of decolonization, pride in self and traditional culture, deconstructing stereotypes, celebration of endangered Native languages, and spiritual connections to Northern homelands.

Produced by the Anchorage Museum.

Credit: This video was originally published by the Anchorage Museum on February 27, 2020. COURTESY ANCHORAGE MUSEUM.