Synopsis

Anthrax perform "Indians" in a charged concert setting, combining rapid cuts of the band with footage of Joey Belladonna commanding the stage and a crowd caught in a relentless slam dance. The performance is intercut with Native American imagery, including portraits and Belladonna wearing a feather headdress during the song's famous "War Dance" section. The video emphasizes the track's confrontational energy and anti-oppression message rather than presenting a narrative storyline.

Factoids & Trivia

• Released in 1987 alongside Anthrax's album "Among the Living," the video is built almost entirely from live-performance footage.

• The song addresses the displacement and mistreatment of Native Americans, while the video reinforces that subject with historical and cultural imagery projected around the band.

• Joey Belladonna's feather headdress became one of the video's most recognizable visual elements, particularly during the crowd-participation "War Dance" passage.

• The concert footage captures the communal intensity of the 1980s thrash scene, with slam dancing serving as a visual counterpart to the song's rapid riffs and shouted chorus.

• "Indians" received moderate MTV rotation during thrash metal's late-1980s peak and became one of Anthrax's signature songs.

• Later commentary has criticized the video's use of romanticized or stereotypical Native American imagery, even while recognizing the song's sympathy toward Indigenous people.