3 Questions With Musician/Artist Ehren Kee Natay

Did you hear about Spirit Rangers, a new animated Netflix program premiering Monday, Oct. 10—Indigenous Peoples Day? The first-ever kids’ show created by a Native woman in US TV history—all hail creator Karissa Valencia (Chumash and Mexican)—and one which features an all-Native writers room, Spirit Rangers follows siblings Kodi, Eddy and Summer as they become park rangers, but they might just have secret animal powers (rad). There’s a local connection, too, with actor Wes Studi tackling the role of a character called Sunny, hoop dancer Shandien Larance knocking out a guest spot and local artist/musician Ehren Kee Natay (Kewa Pueblo and Diné) writing and producing music for the show. We spoke with Natay to learn more about his contributions. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did you come to be involved with Spirit Rangers?

I came into contact with the crew through the producer, or I guess I should say songwriter Raye Zaragoza. She’s a singer-songwriter based out of LA, and I’ve played drums for her whenever she came to New Mexico. We just have a real chemistry, and in November 2020, when the pandemic was insufferable, Raye gave me a call to say she was working on this show, they were writing songs and the show runner had been asking if there’s anybody who plays traditional drums and flutes. She said, ‘I know Ehren Kee Natay, he’s the perfect person.’ So they reached out and said, ‘We’ve got this song, it’s sort of a transformation song.’ If you can imagine when the Power Rangers would transform into the Megazord, it’s kind of the same thing. They said, ‘The kids transform into animals, and we need a sound that’s clearly Indigenous.’

So I had some ideas, sent it back to them real quick and they were impressed.From there, they brought me on to do 10 more songs and to actually write one myself. I believe I had my hand in 12 or 13 songs total. I had never done TV or film—I’d done a lot of theater work...so there was kind of a nice segue from watching dancers and knowing the expression and what they’re looking for.

I would say music is my primary practice. I’ve been doing that longer than anything. I would say I’m a contemporary musician with very strong roots in traditional music. I have a legacy of musicians in my family. My grandfather was the first Native American to be recorded and broadcast on the radio. I followed in his footsteps learning his songs, that’s how I became acquainted with traditional music. I hope to make my grandfather proud. He passed before I was born, so music was the only way I could connect.

What was the process like for finding the music?

The [music] writers were Raye, who I told you about, and the two others are Michael Kooman and Christopher Diamond, and they’re amazing Broadway musicians out in NYC, and they were like, ‘We can’t give this an Indigenous sound, we don’t even want to try—just send us what you feel, what you hear, what inspires you, and we’ll tell you what we’re looking for, and we’ll pass the songs back and forth.’ That’s what I did. I added flutes, and I have a large collection of rattles, traditional drums and instruments from all over the world. I collected this stuff because I thought it was interesting, and finally I got to use it.

And I didn’t have the accolades for them to put that level of trust in me, but we’re at a point in this Indigenous revolution of media right now where we haven’t had the reins throughout the history of filmmaking, but finally we’re being given that chance, so you’re going to see a lot of newcomers.

Let’s talk about the concept of representation. Obviously you’re more of an adult as far as I know, but is a program like this still exciting?

Totally. As a kid and watching cartoons, you start to realize there’s nobody like me on TV. I remember specifically this moment with the GI Joe cartoon when [the creators] said to send in drawings and they’d maybe create them and put them on the show. I was probably about 7 or 8 years old, and I did it. I said, ‘I’m going to make a Native character who’s not like...’ I don’t know his name, but he’s the stoic Indian with the wolf and the eagle? I created this kind of Street Fighter character, and he was badass.

I always wanted that from the time I was young without even understanding what I was seeking. I was creating characters with Indigenous and Diné influence—things that looked really different and unique. There’s been a huge misrepresentation of our culture as pan-Indian, and only with very specific characteristics. If we could’ve made those decisions ourselves, comedy would have definitely been at the heart of it. It’s been such a tool for our pathology of survival.