In the song, American Spirits by Drumming Bird, the artist recounts the whitewashing of the Native American people throughout American history. The specific lyrics used to inspire this painting were:
I was born in a city built on homes of the Cherokee
And named after Muskogee words to describe
We hijack the narrative, say that it's heritage
Tell them how good it is that history's white
Leave out the stolen land, replace it with Dixieland
And everyone claps their hands and sings its delight
You can face it or just forget, I ask for a cigarette
You hand me a silhouette smoking a pipe
The lyrics are those of disheartened desperation–the artist criticizes the unfairness of the system only to immediately withdraw his comments and admit his defeat by asking for a cigarette from Natural American Spirit. The concept reinforces this message by portraying a scene which works to hide almost everything indigenous from the tee-pee at the bottom to the windows covering up the title of the cigarette box, American Spirits.
