Cash for Native Americans — It’s Not What You Think

Johnny Cash released Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian in 1964 on Columbia Records.

Johnny Cash came from very humble and modest means. His family's economic and personal struggles as cotton farmers during the Great Depression gave him a deep sympathy for the poor and working class. With a signature restless rebelliousness he stood tall as a powerful voice for social justice and reforms. He said he wore black on behalf of the poor and hungry, and the lives of those lost to war, drugs, and neglect.

He wasn't afraid to take on major issues in American society. Nor was he afraid to very publicly call out the music industry when he didn't think something was right. An example of both qualities ignited during his activism for Native Americans.

Cash sang songs of Native American tragedy at the hands of the U.S. government when the rest of mainstream country music was focused on righteous cowboys that could do no wrong. So, in 1964 coming off the chart topping success of his album, I Walk the Line, Cash recorded the album, Bitter Tears: Ballads of the American Indian.

One of the album's songs tells the story of Ira Hayes, a member of the Pima Native American tribe in Arizona. Ira was one of six U.S. Marine Corps members to raise the American flag after the battle of Iwo Jima during WWII. The famous photograph of the act served to raise patriotism during the war, and was eventually sculpted into the centerpiece statue of the Marine Corps War Memorial near Arlington, VA.

After the war, upon returning home to his tribe's reservation, Ira Hayes died tragically. As many combat veterans do, he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and alcoholism. Without proper veteran's care available on the tribe's reservation, Ira wasn’t able to get the help he desperately needed and was found dead in a roadside ditch.

Because of political tensions at the time, Columbia Records softly-censored the album's release by not promoting it. Additionally, radio stations neglected to play it because they deemed it too controversial. So, in reaction to their less than enthusiastic participation in helping him get the message out, Cash posted a letter as an advertisement in Billboard magazine. (Read it here.) He called the industry out as a bunch of cowards. He asked, where are your guts?

Cash kept promoting the song himself and used his personal influence on radio DJs to eventually lift the song up to number three on the country charts, and the album to number two. He made his point.

We pay our respects, and salute Johnny Cash's relentless courage in support of The Cherokee Nation, The Pima Tribe, The Seneca Nation's Turtle Clan, and all Native American people. He inspired us to tell this important story once again and take action by creating The Ring of Fire sneaker. A portion of sneaker sale proceeds will benefit Native American art and music education and preservation programs within these treasured communities.