20th AWARDS SHOW TO COMMEMORATE NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH SATURDAY NOVEMBER 19th AT THE SENECA NIAGARA RESORT & CASINO IN NIAGARA FALLS NEW YORK
Oren Lyons To Be Honored With A Living Legend Award
Shalamar’s Micki Free to Be Inducted Into The Hall of Fame
First Ceremony Since Covid-19 Pandemic’s Devastating Impact
New York, NY – 10/29/22 The Native American Music Awards are back and ready to celebrate and honor their most powerful voices on Saturday , November 19, 2022 at the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls, New York. This will be the organization’s 20th Awards event following the Covid-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on Indigenous communities across America. Commemorating National Native American Heritage month, the host of the 20th Awards ceremony will be actor Robert Mesa (Navajo/ Soboba) who most recently played the character James Chee, the first Indigenous doctor on Grey’s Anatomy. 
The Awards will proudly recognize and honor Oren Lyons as a Living Legend. Oren, who is 92, is the Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, 
Onondaga Nation. He is an artist, speaker, author and environmental activist for Indigenous peoples worldwide and holds the title of Wisdom Keeper. He has advocated at the United Nations to recognize Indigenous rights and has addressed the United Nations General Assembly. He is also an All-American Lacrosse Hall of Famer and Honorary Chairman of the Haudenosaunee Nationals Lacrosse program.
This year’s Hall of Fame inductee is Micki Free, a Grammy Award winner & multiple Native American Music Award winner of Comanche and Cherokee descent.
Originally discovered and managed by Gene Simmons of KISS, Micki was the guitarist in the R&B sensation, Shalamar who boasted mega platinum hit songs like “Dancing In The Sheets” from the movie soundtrack “Footloose”, and won a Grammy for “Don’t Get Stopped In Beverly Hills” from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack. Micki is currently on tour supporting his latest album, Turquoise Blue, which features members of The Santana Band, Steve Stevens of Billy Idol and Gary Clark Jr.
Lifetime Achievement Award recipients are: Paul LaRoche of Brule/AIRO and Robert Tree Cody. Paul LaRoche is the founding member of Brulé, the epic Native American rock show. Brule’ has won eight Native American Music awards, released 20 CDs and sold over one million CDs worldwide. Robert Tree Cody is a five-time Native American Music Award winner, and a multi-talented flutist, singer, dancer,
actor and educator. He has released 13 albums and is an adopted son of Hollywood actor Iron Eyes Cody.
This year’s Awards program celebrates and features an overwhelming amount of talent and full length albums, single recordings and music video releases. Featured performers include multiple nominees: Antoine Edwards Jr, Cody Blackbird, Earl Slick and the Fabulous Ripcords, Fawn Wood, Gunner Jules, Spur Pourier, Sten Joddi, and The Halluci Nation. Guest nominees include: Ava Rose, Blanca Iris Acuna, Blue Flamez, Blue Mountain Tribe, Crazy Flute, Darren Thompson, Dr. April Lea Go Forth, Faran Sohappy, Gera & T.M. Clark, JUQ, Julian Taylor, Kelly Derrickson, Kelly Montijo Fink, Irv Lyons, Jr, Melody McArthur, Raven Flyinghorse, Sandra Sutter, Savelle The Native, The Johnnys, Shibastik, Shiloh Ashley, Tess Remy-Schumacher, Twice As Good, Two Shields, and Yvonne St. Germaine.
The Awards is also proud to announce a new partnership with the BMI Foundation to create a career grant for a Native American songwriter or composer. To be known as the BMI Foundation Rising Star Award, this new program will honor a music creator in the Rising Star category for emerging and promising artists. The recipient of this award will receive a $2,500 career grant.
The Native American Music Awards was originally formed in 1998 as a national organization committed to traditional and contemporary Native American music. Nominations for the Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMA) reflect the highest quality of recordings by music makers throughout North America and were selected by the combined votes of a national Advisory Board Membership Committee. From sorrows and celebrations to protectors and protesters, this year’s nominees have embraced many issues facing tribal communities today including; Missing and Murdered Indigenous women, land back, climate crisis, and the devastating pandemic. Tickets for the Awards are available on Ticketmaster.com
Voting for the Native American Music Awards remains open to the general public until midnight on Friday, November 18th at www.NAMALIVE.com. All winners will be announced live at the event. The Native American Music Association extends its best wishes to this year’s nominees.
MORE ABOUT THE PERFORMERS:
Sten Joddi is of the Mvskoke Nation Reservation of Oklahoma where he was born and raised. He now lives in North Iowa. He is a two-time award-winning artist with seven full length studio albums and countless singles to his credit. As an actor, he is most notably known for his role as ‘Punkin Lusty’ aka Mr. Greasy Frybread, the absent father of the Young Warrior ’Bear’ in the Award Winning FX Networks series, ‘Reservation Dogs’ now streaming Season 1 & 2 on Hulu.
Fawn Wood is a Cree and Salish musician from the family of Northern Cree. Her recording, Kikawiynaw went to #1 in Canada, #2 in the US on the iTunes New Release World Music Chart and also went to #14 on Billboard’s World Music Chart. Her most recent work, Kakike, weaves songs of longing, hope and the joys of life that uplift the soul and heal the heart.
Antoine Edwards Jr., Gunner Jules, Spur Pourier
Antoine is from Omaha, Nebraska and released his debut album entitled, “Dimension” featuring the song, ‘Patience,’ a collaborative song with G
unner Jules, Spur Pourier and Miracle SpottedBear. 
Gunner grew up with his family on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. His music is his passion, medicine, and a means to share his story and art with others. Spur is from Thunder Valley, South Dakota. Spur has a passion for singing traditional Lakota music while participating in cultural ceremonies.
Earl Slick & The Fabulous Ripcords
Earl Slick is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Robert Smith. Rex Lyons is the founding guitarist, vocalist and leader of The Ripcords. The Fabulous Ripcords have graced stages at the New York State Blues Festival, Taste of Syracuse, and Central New York Jazz Fest and played on bills with Santana, Blues Traveler, Ry Cooder, Phish, John Lee Hooker, Edgar Winter, and Leon Russell.
The Halluci Nation
Bear Witness and Tim “2oolman” Hill of A Tribe Called Red are reintroducing themselves as The Halluci Nation, to reflect the evolution of their music and mission. The Halluci Nation’s new record, One More Saturday Night marks a pivotal point in their career of fully mastering their own music style while also moving beyond club music and revolving around collaborations with Chippewa Travellers, Maori artist Rob Ruha, Inuk singer, Tanya Tagaq among many others. The Halluci Nation will also be performing at Seneca Casino’s Stir as a post show event.
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