The Native American Music Awards or the NAMAs are an awards program presented annually by The Native American Music Association & Awards, which recognizes outstanding musical achievement among Native Americans. The awards were created in 1998 to offer Native American musicians in the music industry greater exposure and opportunities for mainstream recognition.
The awards show honors national recordings released in the previous calendar year that encompass traditional and contemporary Native American musical instrumentation and/or lyrics with strong native content or messages. Traditional music through history has been an integral part of Native American life and tribal identity, such as; round dance songs and flute music. Today, contemporary Native American music has grown to encompass many popular genres such as; rock, pop, blues, hip hop, country, and new age as well as some uniquely distinctive genres such as; Waila or Chicken scratch, and Native American church music.
Nominees are submitted and selected by a national Advisory membership, consisting of individuals directly involved in recording, manufacturing, distributing and promoting Native American music nationally. Winners are selected by a combined vote by the national membership and the general public, who can listen to and vote on nominees' tracks on the Native American Music Awards website.
The awards ceremony features live artist performances and 30 awards categories in various traditional and contemporary music genres, as well as Lifetime Achievement Awards and Hall of Fame inductions. At times the program expands beyond the United States to award indigenous music initiatives originating in parts of Canada, Central America and South America. NAMA also honors music contributions by non-Native artists in one category ("Native Heart").
The Annual Native American Music Awards, which USA Today urges to “take seriously” and Indian Country Today has called, “Awesome & Incredible,” is the largest professional membership-based organization for Contemporary and Traditional Native American Music Initiatives and consists of over 20,000 registered voting members and professionals in the field of Native American music. They also hold the largest Native American Music Library in the World with a national archive featuring a collection of over 10,000 audio and video recordings in all formats housed since 1990.
Read more about Native American Music Awards: 2011 13th Annual Awards, 2010 12th Annual Awards, 2009 11th Annual Awards, 2008 10th Annual Awards, Lifetime Achievement Awards and Hall of Fame Inductions, Previous Honorees
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