Defender of the Sacred: Memorial, Remembrance, and Respect for Dine’ Klee Benally

American Indian Airwaves

Diné ‘defender of the sacred, artist, activist, musician, author, land defender, Warrior,’ Klee Benally Walks On or transitioned on the morning of December 31, 2023. He was 48 years old and from what the place of many houses in what is known as Flagstaff, AZ. He was from the Tódích’íi’nii (Bitter Water People clan and born for the Wandering People clan). Klee Benally was a long-time advocate in combating violent forms of colonialism such as speaking out on ending Native American homelessness, combating systemic police violence, the clean up of thousands of abandon uranium mines as part of a much larger settler legacy of nuclear colonialism in which Native American nations have been and continue be on the front-lines including the Dine’ or Navajo nation. He also tirelessly fought against all forms of Indigenous cultural appropriation, worked to defend the "San Francisco Peaks," actively was involved with Indigenous Action (https://www.indigenousaction.org/), and supported Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island. He is a loving and caring person centered in defending the sacred and is the creator’s gift to the many of us he touched. Today on American Indian Airwaves, we will hear selected songs from the various musical projects he was involved with, helped create, and contributed over the years. Like his musical lyrics and life works focusing on Native American liberation, dismantling colonialism, and expressing stories of struggles and survivance, he is the creator of a newly released game called 'Burn the Fort' (https://burnthefort.com/). The game is a semi-cooperative game where each player takes the role of a historic warrior fighting to stop colonial invasion of their lands in acts of fierce anti-colonial resistance. 'Burn the Fort' was released in late December of 2023. He was also busy writing, mostly during the COVID pandemic, which continues, and authored a brand-new book released on Detritus Books called 'No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred', which was released on 11/18/2023 (https://detritusbooks.com/products/no-spiritual-surrender-indigenous-anarchy-in-defense-of-the-sacred). The book is a searing anti-colonial analysis rooted in frontline experiences and a living testimony of Benally’s life experiences in defending the sacred in anti-colonial struggles. Song List Appropriation, Song: “Fire to the Cages”. Album: Appropriation (2021). Klee Benally, Song: “Weather Changes”. Album: Respect Resistance or Expect Resistance (2013). Klee Benally, Song: “Holding Up the Sky”. Album: The Unsustainable Sessions (2019). Blackfire, Song: “Mean Things Happenin’ in this World”. Album: The Woodie Guthrie Sessions (2003). Appropriation, Song: “Toward’s Peabody’s Demise”. Album: Appropriation (2021). Klee Benally, Song: “She was a Mountain”. Album: The Unsustainable Sessions (2019). Klee Benally, Song: “One Brutal Violent Machine”. Album: Respect Resistance or Expect Resistance (2013). Blackfire, Song: “Silence is a Weapon”. Album: Silence is a Weapon (2007). Appropriation, Song: “Our Autonomy”. Album: Appropriation (2021). Klee Benally, Song: “At the Edge of the World”. Album: Respect Resistance or Expect Resistance (2013). Blackfire, Song: “NDN Alien”. Album: Silence is a Weapon (2007). Appropriation, Song: “Nothing for Ourselves Feat. Sage Bond”. Album: Appropriation (2021). Blackfire, Song: “The Power Is Out”. Album: Silence is a Weapon (2007). Klee Benally, Song: “Hands on a Barbed Wire”. Album: The Unsustainable Sessions (2019). Klee Benally, Song: “A Matter of Action”. Album: Respect Resistance or Expect Resistance (2013). Archived programs can be heard on Soundcloud at: https://soundcloud.com/burntswamp American Indian Airwaves streams on over ten podcasting platforms such as Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, Audible, Backtracks.fm, Gaana, Google Podcast, Fyyd, iHeart Media, Mixcloud, Player.fm, Podbay.fm, Podcast Republic, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tunein, YouTube, and more.