AND THE WINNERS ARE:

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WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT THE THIRTEENTH ANNUAL NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS

Niagara Falls, NY - The Winners for the 13th Annual Native American Music Awards were announced live on Friday, October 7th in the Events Center of the Seneca Niagara Hotel & Casino in Niagara Falls, NY.

Winners were selected by the combined votes of the Native American Music Awards (N.A.M.A.) Advisory Board Membership Committee with an international general public voting membership. General Public voting was open on the Awards website VOTE NOW page where music tracks of all nominees were featured.

Both new and established artists shared the list of winners throughout a diverse array of over 30 music categories spanning all genres. A new category was launched this year for Best Latin American Indigenous Recording. This is the second consecutive year that N.A.M.A. has added a new Awards category. Last year's Awards program introduced a new music category for Best Waila Recording. Over 200 CD and DVD recordings submitted this year for nomination consideration. This year's Awards celebration kept its promise to be unlike any before.

Hosted by Ted Nolan, who was presented with a Jim Thorpe Sports Award, the Awards ceremony featured outstanding performances by: Bill Crouse & The Allegany River Dancers, Buddy Big Mountain, Best Pop Recording Artist recipient Dylan Jenet Collins, Best Blues Recording recipient, Marc Brown & The Blues Crew, Group of the Year recipient, Pipestone, Artist of the Year recipient Gabriel Ayala, 2011 Hall of Fame Inductess Nokie Edwards (The Ventures) and Keith Secola as well as a closing performance by 2009 Hall of Fame Inductee Janice Marie Johnson. The Awards featured its first house band, Edko & The Brotherhood, who performed flawlessly throughout the program. Special guest performers included; Flutist of the Year recipient, Cody Blackbird, who joined Nokie Edwards, and nominee Frank Anakwad Montano and multiple NAMA award winner, Joanne Shenandoah who joined Keith Secola.

The Native American Music Awards & Association is the world's largest professional membership-based organization committed to honoring contemporary and traditional Native American music initiatives.

2011 NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARD WINNERS

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Gabriel Ayala
Passion Fire & Grace

BEST BLUES RECORDING
Indian Rock ‘n Roll
Marc Brown & The Blues Crew

BEST COMPILATION RECORDING
The Color of Hope
Various Artists

BEST COUNTRY RECORDING
Native Heart
C.C. Murdock

DEBUT ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Bear Fox
Rich Girl

DEBUT GROUP OF THE YEAR
October Soul
Don’t Turn Back

BEST FEMALE ARTIST
Becky Thomas
Sacred Ground

BEST FOLK RECORDING
The Long Way Home
Don Amero

FLUTIST OF THE YEAR
Cody Blackbird
The Journey

BEST GOSPEL INSPIRATIONAL RECORDING
My Jesus I Love Thee
Yvonne St. Germaine

GROUP OF THE YEAR
Pipestone
As The Rez Turns

BEST HISTORICAL RECORDING
Native Anthropology
Challenge, Choice and Promise in the 21st Century
Jack Gladstone

BEST INSTRUMENTAL RECORDING
Songs For Turtle Island
Vince Fontaine

BEST LATIN AMERICAN RECORDING
Indians Colour
Luis Capcha Vilchez

BEST MALE ARTIST
Gary Small
Wyoming (For Dummies)

BEST NATIVE AMERICAN CHURCH RECORDING
Love Songs of the Native American Church
Kevin Yazzie

BEST NEW AGE RECORDING
Hymns
Golana

BEST POP RECORDING
Hear Our Prayer
Dylan Jenet Collins

BEST POW WOW RECORDING
Black Thunder
Black Thunder Singers

BEST PRODUCER
Stephen Butler
Handprints of Our People

BEST RAP/HIP HOP RECORDING
Scars and Bars
Nake Nula Waun

RECORD OF THE YEAR
Full Circle
Shelley Morningsong

BEST ROCK RECORDING
Tribal Thunder
The Blessed Blend

SONG SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Out of Many We Are One
Joseph FireCrow, Thomasina Levy & Others

SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Josh Halverson
These Times

BEST SPOKEN WORD RECORDING
My Life Is My Sun Dance
Harvey Arden and Leonard Peltier

BEST TRADITONAL RECORDING
The Gift of Life
Randy Wood

BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Live As One
Jan Michael Looking Wolf
Various Artists

BEST LONG FORM VIDEO
Journey To Soul Blessings
Tony Redhouse

BEST WAILA RECORDING
Timeless
Native Thunder

BEST WORLD MUSIC RECORDING
Kayas
Rhonda Head

NATIVE HEART
Bernhard Wolfsheart Weilguni
Call of the Canyons

HALL OF FAME
Keith Secola

HALL OF FAME
Nokie Edwards

Jim Thorpe Sports Award
Ted Nolan

For more photos from the 13th Annual Native American Music Awards please visit our website at www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com

November is National Native American Heritage Month. Kindly contact us to book a special music program commemorating this national proclamation.