TeachRock empowers teachers and engages students by using popular music to create interdisciplinary, culturally responsive education materials for all 21st century classrooms.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What does Link Wray’s biography say about how Native Americans lived in the first half of the 20th century, and what role did Wray’s upbringing have on his music?

OVERVIEW

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In this lesson, students watch clips from RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World and explore Link Wray’s position as an influence on later Hard Rock and Heavy Metal musicians. Students will investigate the history of the Shawnee Tribe, and use Wray as a case study to consider what life might have been like for a Shawnee in the American South during the early 20th Century. Finally, students debate ways Wray’s early life might have contributed to his future musical achievements, and find common themes between the song “Rumble” and the poem Nationhood by Laura ‘Da.