The crowd filtered, and sifted to the younger, red-mohawk, black leather jackets and black boots wearing crowd. Skinheads, Goths, and of course Punks, all jostle, jarr and jump to the rhythm of resistance.

Before the show, in the tipi next to the performance area of the Karl May Fest in Dresden, Germany, I spoke with siblings Jeneda, Klee, and Clayson Benally of the renowned punk rock group, BLACKFIRE.

Clayson sat directly across from me, “we first came to Germany in ‘92, we played at the Rodolstadt Dance and Folkfest. That was really memorable because the wall had just fallen and they were going through this state of transition.”

Klee stirs the fire, “that was a great show to be at in Rodolstadt. People expected us to be flute playing and chanting, but…” he grins, “…We showed them a bit more.”

Outside the tipi, dusk starts to fall and the fire still seemed to not provide any heat. Jeneda thought she found a more dry piece of wood, she added that to the fire.

Klee looks up at me, “We try to mix our life and influences together.”

Jeneda adds, “We grew up with a traditional and contemporary way of life.” Klee’s agrees, adding“…and this causes us to address the critical issues and concerns of our people on our Rez and elsewhere, through Punk Rock.”

I did the mental math.

Clayson continues, “it’s sometimes a relief to be out of the USA, because here there is more awareness of Native issues. Here in Germany and Europe, people know more about the Black Mesa, the Peabody Mining Company, and forced removal.”

Clayson waves at everyone in the tipi, “We have always resisted removal from our traditional lands.”

A sync settled in, Jeneda leans into the conversation. “You know BLACKFIRE just happened, it wasn’t planned. We grew up together, are close in age, played easily together and picked up instruments together.”

“Where did you get the name from?” I ask. “Black coal,” Says Jeneda, “has always represented, to our minds, the continued encroachment on Traditional Aboriginal land.”

“BLACKFIRE,” says Clayson, “is like a smoke signal.”

Klee seamlessly completes the thought. “In the old days, a smoke signal was used to warn other camps in the vicinity of the approaching enemy.”

Music is an incredible tool to communicate what they see happening. Such as? “Things.” Klee says, “that the mass media isn’t covering.”

Speaking about their latest CD, [Silence] is a Weapon, Klee tells, “Cyrille Neville lent his talents and helped write the song: Common Ground. This song Klee adds, “is an art commentary on hurricane Katrina.” In keeping with their social conscience, the song, "Overwhelming" is about climate change, although, Jeneda explains, the album does contain "warrior songs."

There is a pause. Finally Clayson speaks up, “We would like to inspire Native youth to use modern tools to access their roots, it’s all still available. We can live healthy today, we can present ourselves with any medium and proudly speak about our Indian-ness.”

Jeneda shakes her head, “Thirty years ago, it wasn’t cool to be Native, and some were even ashamed to be.”

Everywhere they travel, BLACKFIRE defines cool. Whether in France, Czech Republic, England or Germany, they inspire and empower without speaking about their Native American tragedy.

“Everyone knows that story, and that story is what everyone wants to hear. But I don’t let it distract us from telling that this story still continues,” says Klee.

For example, the group is dedicated to saving the sacred mountains of the San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona, which are in danger of becoming a part of a ski resort expansion. The ski resort plans to use treated sewage effluent to make snow, the site asks you to imagine 300,000 flushes of your toilet being pipe-lined 14.8 miles to the mountain, everyday.

BLACKFIRE via Punk Rock, urges you to become involved, in the world around you. BLACKFIRE says, “the world is poetry, it is beautiful, and it is our Mother.”

At the end of the interview, their father, Jones Benally, says to me , “once you listen to BLACKFIRE, even once. You’ll follow them everywhere.”

He's absolutely right…

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For more information and upcoming tour dates, Check out their website: www.blackfire.net.