Local musicians nominated for NAMA awards

Supporters have a chance to vote online for several local Indigenous musicians who have received nominations for the 2022 Native American Music Awards.

“Missing,” by Polson songwriter Gen Huitt and co-writer Linda McKenzie of Nashville, is nominated in the Best Country Music Video category. The collaboration honors victims and calls attention to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) movement that advocates for an end to violence against, and trafficking of, Native Americans.

Rap artist Shadow “Foreshadow” Devereaux received two nominations, both also in video categories. “Protect Your People,” a plea to protect elders and cultural tradition, is nominated for Best Narrative in a Video. “United We Native,” a collaboration that included Devereaux along with Artie Mendoza III (aka Kiid Truth), Vincent Bird-Webster and “The Pete Sisters” Sisi, Siliye and Susseli Pete, is nominated for Best Collaboration in a Video.

All of the videos are available on YouTube, and clips can be seen under the “Music Video Nominees” tab at nativeamericanmusicawards.com.

Winners are chosen partly on the basis of public voting. Supporters can vote at natieamericanmusicawards.com by creating a free SurveyMonkey account when prompted.

The Native American Music Awards & Association was established in 1998 to provide greater opportunity and recognition for traditional and contemporary Native American musicians. Their archives claim the world’s first and largest Native American music collection in the world. The organization successfully influenced the first new category for Native American music in the Grammys in 2000, which has since become a Regional Roots music category.

Public voting ends March 31.