The Grammy Award for Best Native American Music Album was an award presented at the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality albums in the

Native American music Indigenous music of North America, which includes American Indian music or Native American music, is the music that is used, created or performed by Indigenous peoples of North America, including Native Americans in the United States and Abori ...

genre. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the

National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American Learned society, learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous f ...

of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position". Following a three-year lobbying effort by Ellen Bello, founder of the

Native American Music Awards The Native American Music Awards (also known as the NAMAs or "Nammys") are an awards program presented annually by Elbel Productions, Inc., The Native American Music Awards Inc., and The Native American Music Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profi ...

and the Native American Music Association, the Grammy award was first presented to

Tom Bee Tom Bee is the CEO and founder of Sound of America Records (SOAR), the first Native American owned record label. XIT Adopted at birth, Tom Bee was born and raised in the reservation border town of Gallup, New Mexico. Best known as founder and fea ...

and

Douglas Spotted Eagle Douglas Spotted Eagle (born Douglas Wallentine)Douglas Spotted Eagle
bio at GetTune. Access ...

in 2001 as the

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

of the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

''Gathering of Nations Pow Wow''. Previously, Native American recordings had been placed in the

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation technique, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecs ...

categories. While some Native American artists criticized the award category for being "too narrowly defined to accommodate the breadth of today's Indian music", others took pride in its inclusion. The name of the award remained unchanged between 2001 and 2011. According to the category description guide for the

52nd Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Pe ...

, the award was presented to "vocal or instrumental Native American music albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded music", with the intent to honor recordings of a more "traditional nature". As performing artists, Bill Miller and

Mary Youngblood Mary Youngblood (Aleut/Seminole) is a Native American musician, and performer of the Native American flute. Life and career Mary Youngblood was born in Kirkland, Washington, and adopted as a child by Dr. Bob and Leah Edwards, both educators. She ...

share the record for the most wins in this category, with two each. Thomas Wasinger holds the record for the most wins as a producer, with three. The group

Black Lodge Singers The Black Lodge Singers of White Swan, Washington are a Native American northern drum group led by Kenny ScabbyRobe, of the Blackfeet Nation. The Black Lodge Singers are largely drawn from his twelve sons. They have released twenty albums for Canyo ...

holds the record for the most nominations without a win, with seven. In 2011, the category Best Native American Music Album was eliminated along with thirty others due to a major overhaul by the Recording Academy. Four additional categories in the American Roots Music field were eliminated ( Best Contemporary Folk Album, Best Hawaiian Music Album, Best Traditional Folk Album, Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album). Native American works will now be eligible for the

Best Regional Roots Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 as the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the regionally based traditional Americ ...

category.

Recipients

Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year.

References

;General * ;Specific {{featured list 2001 establishments in the United States 2011 disestablishments in the United States Album awards Awards disestablished in 2011 Awards established in 2001 Native American Music Album

Recipients

See also

References