XIT is a Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 rock

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 band that released two albums in the 1970s on the Motown label, and regrouped in the 1990s as a new and different group under Tom Bee

Tom Bee

Tom Bee is the CEO and Founder of , the first Native American owned record label.Adopted at birth, Tom Bee was born and raised in the reservation border town of Gallup, New Mexico...

. They performed a 30th anniversary reunion concert and released a DVD, XIT: Without Reservation, in 2002.

History

XIT was originally based in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

. Members include founder and Native American Music Award

Native American Music Awards

The Native American Music Awards , commonly known as the Nammys, are an awards program presented annually by The Native American Music Association & Awards, which recognizes outstanding musical achievement among Native Americans...

 winner Tom Bee, (writer of lyrics on Plight of the Redman). The original group were A. Michael Martinez (singer and lead guitar on Plight), Mac Suazo (narrator and bass on Plight), Lee Herrerra (drums on Plight), and R. C. Garriss (2nd lead guitar on Plight).

"XIT" stands for "crossing of Indian Tribes", according to Tom Bee. Their music often addresses themes of historic and contemporary Native American issues. Their initial recording, 1972's Plight of the Redman, is a concept album

Concept album

In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 about the changes in Native American life since the arrival of Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

.

Albums

• Plight of the Redman, 1972
• Silent Warrior, 1973
• Relocation, 1977
• Entrance, 1994
• Drums Across the Atlantic, 1995

"Without Reservation" 2002
"Wanted Alive" 2009

External links

• Tom Bee's Sound of America Records
• [ XIT on Allmusic.com]