When he isn鈥檛 lecturing at the 黑料吃瓜网 or pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of California, Davis, (Quinault) co-hosts a global Indigenous radio show with Kevin Sur (K膩naka Maoli) on KEXP.
Every Monday between 3 and 5 a.m., he welcomes listeners to , playing cross-continental Indigenous music from a variety of genres. After sunrise, Johnston can be found in the 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 Department of American Indian Studies, teaching classes like 鈥淯nited States/Indian Relations鈥� and 鈥淐ontemporary Indigenous Environmental Issues.
For someone who fell in love with music as a child 鈥� learning how to play Metallica riffs and listening to everything from virtuosic guitar to jazz 鈥� studying and amplifying Indigenous sound represents a full-circle moment.
鈥淚鈥檓 interested in what Native music does, meeting Indigenous people where they鈥檙e at and conveying the authentic love for sound and music that comes through in their songs,鈥� said Johnston, whose doctoral work in Native American studies at UC Davis focuses on Indigenous sounds and music. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just like 鈥榯raditional music鈥� that we play on the show. It鈥檚 hip-hop and metal and jazz. There’s just as much of a sort of semantic potency to that as there is in the songs that our ancestors made.鈥�
Johnston was raised in Taholah, Washington, on the mouth of the Quinault River. He graduated in 2015 from the 黑料吃瓜网, the only school he ever wanted to attend, with a degree in American Indian studies. He saw the department as a way to cultivate a home away from home.
鈥淚t was kind of hard reckoning with the idea that all land is Indigenous land, and the 黑料吃瓜网 sits on the dispossessed land of the Coast Salish peoples,鈥� Johnston said. 鈥淏ut I always give thanks to and gratitude toward the people that animate the Native presence in Seattle, including the American Indian Studies Department. The Quinault and other Coast Salish peoples have interacted for thousands of years, so the lands and waters we鈥檙e on here are familiar to my ancestors.鈥�
After earning his bachelor鈥檚 degree, Johnston worked as an outreach coordinator for the Department of the Interior鈥檚 as well as a Native youth suicide prevention coordinator for the Seattle Indian Health Board. Needing a change, he then decided to pursue a graduate degree at UC Davis.
Originally, Johnston planned to focus his graduate studies on environmental law and policy before enrolling in law school. That all changed when Johnston met (Dena鈥檌na), an interdisciplinary music scholar who then worked at UC Davis and is now associate professor of American Indian Studies at the 黑料吃瓜网. Bissett Perea鈥檚 Indigenous-led and Indigeneity-centered work changed Johnston鈥檚 perspective and pushed him to focus his work on Indigenous sound and music.
鈥淏issett Perea鈥檚 work as a musicologist awoke this thing in me, which was this musicality that I’ve had my entire life,鈥� Johnston said. 鈥淚’ve always, always loved music, and I’ve always thought deeply about it, too. She showed me those ideas and that way of thinking was possible through an Indigeneity-centered lens.鈥�
On Bissett Perea鈥檚 suggestion, Johnston applied for a lecturer position at the 黑料吃瓜网. Ten days after he was offered the job, another opportunity arose. A friend alerted Johnston that KEXP was hiring a global Indigenous radio DJ. Johnston had never DJed before, but the station was seeking applicants with both scholarly and musical backgrounds. Johnston checked both boxes and, as a bonus, he brought basic knowledge of audio production.
鈥淜EXP has a global audience,鈥� Johnston said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the most humbling things ,is for them to trust me to take the reins and show our thousands and thousands of listeners these Native artists that I love. It鈥檚 an absolute joy. It鈥檚 one of my favorite things I鈥檝e ever done in my life.鈥�
When he hosts, Johnston offers his perspective on what it means to be an Indigenous musician. Indigenous musicians have been invisible contributors to the musical canon of every genre, Johnston said, and representing their genuine, authentic love for both Indigeneity and music ties in with the name of the show: Sounds of Survivance.
鈥楽urvivance,鈥� a term coined by American Indian studies scholar , represents a combination of survival and resistance. It鈥檚 about the continuance of Indigenous stories, and the renunciation of narratives centered around tragedy and victimhood.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 sort of the ethic of the show,鈥� Johnston said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 demonstrating: One, we鈥檝e always been here. Two, we鈥檝e always been making songs. Three, these songs are really beautiful. Let me show them to you.鈥�
Johnston aims to play a part amplifying an Indigenous legacy of sound and artistry that鈥檚 been intentionally obscured.
鈥淚t鈥檚 refusing to let ourselves be erased,鈥� Johnston said. 鈥淲e mobilize using the same processes that our ancestors did. They gave us this gift of being able to create song, and so we decided to use it. It鈥檚 self-determining. It鈥檚 personal and collective sovereignty over the ways that we want to sound.鈥�
For more information, contact Johnston at tmaj@uw.edu.