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"Warriors are not what you think of as warriors. The warrior is not someone who fights, because no one has the right to take another life. The warrior, for us, is one who sacrifices himself for the good of others. His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all, the children, the future of humanity."
****
Sitting Bull (c. 1831 - 1890), Hunkpapa Sioux.
❤️GRAHAM GREENE - Born June 22, 1952, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ohsweken, Ontario, Mr. Greene is a 68 year old FIRST NATIONS Canadian actor who belongs to the ONEIDA tribe. He has worked on stage, in film, and in TV productions in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his 1990 performance in "Dances with Wolves". Other films you may have seen him in include Thunderheart, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, the Green Mile, and Wind River. Graham Greene graduated from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in 1974 & immediately began performing in professional theatre in Toronto and England, while also working as an audio technician for area rock bands. His TV debut was in 1979 and his screen debut in 1983. His acting career has now spanned over 4 decades & he remains as busy as ever. In addition to the Academy Award nomination for Dance with Wolves, he has been consistently recognized for his work, and also received nominations in 1994, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2016. Graham Greene lives in Toronto, Canada, married since 1994, and has 1 adult daughter.
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Why Isn’t This Map in the History Books?
By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. But centuries ago, the land that is now the United States was a very different place. Over 20 million Native Americans dispersed across over 1,000 distinct tribes, bands, and ethnic groups populated the territory.
History is not there for you to like or dislike. It is there for you to learn from it. And if it offends you, even better. Because then you are less likely to repeat it. It’s not yours for you to erase or destroy.
❤️𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱
𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲:👉 https://www.giftnativestore.com/poster20
Nanye-hi (Nancy Ward): Beloved Woman of the Cherokee
Nanye-hi was born into the Cherokee Wolf clan circa 1738. In 1755, she stood by her husband during a fight against the Creeks, chewing the lead for bullets in order to provide his ammunition with deadly ridges. When her husband was fatally shot, Nanye-hi grabbed a rifle, rallied her fellow fighters and entered the battle herself. With her on their side, the Cherokee won the day.
These actions led to Nanye-hi being named Ghighau (Beloved Woman) of the Cherokee, a powerful position whose duties included leading the Women’s Council and sitting on the Council of Chiefs. Nanye-hi also took part in treaty talks (to the surprise of male colonists when they were on the other side of the bargaining table).
As the years progressed, some Cherokee wanted to fight the Europeans who continued to crowd into their land. But Nanye-hi, who likely realized the Cherokee couldn’t win against the numerous and well-supplied colonists, thought the two sides needed to learn to live together (she practiced coexistence herself, marrying an Englishman, Bryant Ward, in the late 1750s, which led to her being known as Nancy Ward). At a 1781 treaty conference, Nanye-hi declared, “Our cry is all for peace; let it continue. This peace must last forever.”
Seeking peace didn’t stop Nanye-hi from recognizing the dangers of ceding Cherokee territory — in 1817, she made an unsuccessful plea not to give up more land. When she died in 1822, she’d spent years trying to help her people acclimate to a changing world.
❤️Well worth reading
Actor, film director, film producer and musician Keanu Charles Reeves (Keanu Charles Reeves),
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Missed the first 20 minutes of the party dedicated to the end of filming of his new movie at one of the clubs in New York.
He waited patiently in the rain to be let in.
No one recognized him.
The club owner said: “I didn't even know Keanu was standing in the rain waiting to get in - he didn't say anything to anyone.”
"He travels by public transport."
"He easily communicates with homeless people on the streets and helps them."
- He was only 60 years old (September 2, 1964)
- He can only eat hot dogs in the park, sitting among normal people.
- After filming one of the "Matrix", he gave all the stuntmen a new motorcycle - in recognition of their skills.
- He gave up most of the salaries of the costume designers and computer scientists who drew the special effects on "The Matrix" - deciding that their share of the film's budget was assessed short.
- He reduced his salary for the movie "The Devil's Advocate" to have enough money to invite Al Pacino.
- Almost at the same time his best friend passed away; His girlfriend lost a child and soon died in a car accident, and his sister suffered from leukemia.
Keanu didn't fail: he donated $5 million to the clinic that treated his sister, refused to be filmed (to be with her), and founded the Leukemia Foundation, donating significant amounts from each fee for the movie.
You may have been born a man, but stay a man..
Also read about Keanu
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Black Coyote (died 29 December 1890) was a deaf Lakota man (the deaf-mute son of Sitting Bull) whose refusal to give up his gun to the US Army led to the Wounded Knee Massacre, in which he was killed.
Black Coyote was born to the Lakota Sioux tribe, the son of Sitting Bull, and he was a deaf-mute man. He was one of the Lakota who left for the Pine Ridge Reservation alongside Chief Spotted Elk, and he was one of the Native Americans that was accosted by US Army troops in 1890 at the Wounded Knee camp when the soldiers attempted to force the Indians to surrender. A deaf and mute Black Coyote did not hear the order to give up his weapon, and he accidentally fired it, leading to the American troops massacring the Indians. Black Coyote was killed in the ensuing massacre.
TWO STRIKE (1831-1915)
Two Strike, or Numpkahapa, was a Brulé Lakota chief born in the White River Valley in 1831 in the northeastern part of present-day Nebraska. He acquired the Lakota name of "Nomkahpa", meaning "Knocks out two" in a battle with the Utes, in which he knocked two Utes off their horses with a single blow from his war club. Two Strike fought in various battles against the United States Army during the Bozeman Trail Wars, allied with Chief Crow Dog and Chief Crazy Horse in the Powder River Country of Wyoming.
Two Strike and his band were present alongside bands of Southern Cheyennes at the Battle of Summit Springs, Colorado on July 11, 1869, when the 5th Cavalry and 50 Pawnee scouts led a surprise attack on their camp. Buffalo Bill Cody was present at the battle as a scout leader. Chief Tall Bull of the Southern Cheyennes along with 51 members of the Lakota-Cheyenne Combined Encampment were killed and 17 women and children were taken prisoner, the rest of the Lakota and Cheyenne managed to escape. The soldiers then burned all the tipis and their contents.
Chief Two Strike was one of the main leaders of the combined Oglala and Burnt forces who, along with more than 1,000 brave men, attacked a group of 350 Pawnees who had established their reserve in Nebraska to hunt buffalo. Over 70 Pawnees were killed in the battle that took place along a canyon now located in Hitchcock County, Nebraska. The canyon has since been renamed Massacre Canyon.
Two Strike died in 1915 on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.
❤️Well worth reading
Actor, film director, film producer and musician Keanu Charles Reeves (Keanu Charles Reeves),
❤️Get your t-shirt: https://www.giftnativestore.com/tee67
Missed the first 20 minutes of the party dedicated to the end of filming of his new movie at one of the clubs in New York.
He waited patiently in the rain to be let in.
No one recognized him.
The club owner said: “I didn't even know Keanu was standing in the rain waiting to get in - he didn't say anything to anyone.”
"He travels by public transport."
"He easily communicates with homeless people on the streets and helps them."
- He was only 60 years old (September 2, 1964)
- He can only eat hot dogs in the park, sitting among normal people.
- After filming one of the "Matrix", he gave all the stuntmen a new motorcycle - in recognition of their skills.
- He gave up most of the salaries of the costume designers and computer scientists who drew the special effects on "The Matrix" - deciding that their share of the film's budget was assessed short.
- He reduced his salary for the movie "The Devil's Advocate" to have enough money to invite Al Pacino.
- Almost at the same time his best friend passed away; His girlfriend lost a child and soon died in a car accident, and his sister suffered from leukemia.
Keanu didn't fail: he donated $5 million to the clinic that treated his sister, refused to be filmed (to be with her), and founded the Leukemia Foundation, donating significant amounts from each fee for the movie.
You may have been born a man, but stay a man..
Also read about Keanu
❤️Visit the store to support Native American products 👇
https://www.giftnativestore.com/tee67
Asa Daklugie (born abt. 1869-1955) was a Chief of the Nedni Apaches, the Southern Band of the Chiricahua, son to Juh and nephew to Geronimo.
His father was an Apache Chief, Juh, and his mother was Ishton. Another close relative to Daklugie was his uncle Geronimo.
Early years
Daklugie served as Geronimo's official interpreter when interacting with non-native people. He was raised in the Chiricahua Apache religion and never wavered even when many Indians converted to Christianity. As he grew older, he still preserves the knowledge of this religion from the outsiders to keep it from the American world. Daklugie, following closely in the beliefs of Geronimo believed in God the Apache called Ussen, who was the "Creator of Life." It has been recorded that Ussen gave Geronimo courage and visions about what were to happen in the future.
Daklugie traveled all around the States after the death of his father. These places include Mexico, Fort Pickens and back to Carlisle. He was also responsible for the movement of the Apache into new territory different from where they were originally located at.
Carlisle Indian School
Daklugie was taken to the Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania on December 8, 1886 as a prisoner of war. He was discharged from the school on November 7, 1895. He was there from the ages 12–17.
At this Indian school, the intention was to assimilate the Indian children into American society. The boys and girls were dressed up in "trousers, skirts and jackets... and given American names" [once they moved like the wind]. This is how Daklugie got the name Asa. They weren't allowed to speak their native dialect either; the U.S government wanted to remove any trace of their native culture so they would have no other option but to learn the white ways of life. Daklugie was at the head of the boys class, and as the names were given out in alphabetical order, this resulted in his being given a name starting with an "A". They also estimated the birth dates of the children brought to the school for records.
Some activities done at the school included learning to read, write and speak English, household chores, learning to play the drums, gym class, farming, milking cows, and there were some outdoor activities for the kids to do. There were sports teams at Carlisle and Daklugie was on the track team. He also showed interest in the maps while talking with his teachers at Carlisle and wasn't scolded when talking about it in their native language. Daklugie and his classmate George Martine read many books, including books about their people from the library. The activities done here at the Carlisle Indian School was training the children for their future settlement in Mescalera.
Here he met his wife, Ramona Chihuahua Daklugie and went on to have nine children with her. Two of these children, Maude and Sarah Daklugie were later enrolled into the same school as their father.
Later years
After leaving the Carlisle Indian School, Daklugie moved to Fort Sill to reunite with his family. Later in his life, he bought a ranch to live at with his family after having his freedom granted.
Asa Daklugie was involved in the Apache Wars, and during that time he was captured as a prisoner of war for 25 years.
He also served as a translator for Steven Melvil Barret's book Geronimo: His Own Story.
Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky, and water was a real and active principle. In the animal and bird world there existed a brotherly feeling that kept us safe among them… The animals had rights – the right of man’s protection, the right to live, the right to multiply, the right to freedom, and the right to man’s indebtedness. This concept of life and its relations filled us with the joy and mystery of living; it gave us reverence for all life; it made a place for all things in the scheme of existence with equal importance to all.”
― Chief Luther Standing Bear
Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa was born on August 1, 1979, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
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He is the son of Coni (Lemke), a photographer, and Joseph Momoa, a painter. His father is of Native Hawaiian and Samoan descent; and his mother, who is from Iowa, is of German, Irish, and Native American ancestry. His interest in biology led him to take classes at a community college in Des Moines, Iowa, before moving to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he waited tables. He later moved to back to Hawaii to reconnect with his father and enrolled in the University of Hawaii’s marine biology program. Japanese-born American international fashion designer Takeo Kobayashi discovered Momoa, then aged 19, and encouraged him to pursue a modeling career. Momoa left the university and worked briefly in that industry before landing his first acting role, as a young lifeguard in the television series Baywatch: Hawaii.
Momoa was cast in his first leading role in a major motion picture in 2010, as the title character in Conan the Barbarian (2011). However, it was his turn as Khal Drogo, the fierce leader of the Dothraki people, during the first two seasons of HBO’s blockbuster television series Game of Thrones (2011–19) that captured the attention of Hollywood directors. In 2014 American director Zack Snyder cast Momoa in the role of Aquaman (a half-human, half-Atlantean being who possesses the powers to manipulate water and communicate with marine animals). Although the film Aquaman was not released until 2018, Momoa appeared in the role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017), two other other Snyder-directed films based on the DC Comics franchise. He was later cast as the legendary swordsman Duncan Idaho in Canadian film director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune (2021). During the same period, Momoa continued to act in television series: he played the ex-convict Phillip Kopus in The Red Road (2014–15), the fur-trading outlaw Declan Harp in Frontier (2016–18), and Baba Voss, the chief of the Alkenny, in See (2019– ).
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Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone was a Native American singer of Cherokee descent, renowned for her career in music and culture. Born in 1882 and passing away in 1985, she was one of the prominent artists of the 20th century and a cultural icon of Indigenous peoples.
Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone had an impressive performing career, showcasing various genres of music from folk songs, war chants, to opera and traditional Indigenous music. She performed on many prestigious stages in the United States and worldwide, bringing diversity and richness to Indigenous musical culture.
Her greatest contribution was preserving and disseminating the cultural heritage of the Cherokee and other Indigenous tribes through her artistic performances. By presenting traditional songs and recounting folk tales, she helped honor and preserve the cultural values of Indigenous communities.
Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone was not only a talented singer but also a cultural and social activist. She engaged in activities and campaigns to protect the rights and fight for justice for Indigenous peoples, participating in organizations and community groups to raise awareness about Indigenous issues and promote unity within the community.
In addition to music, Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone was involved in educating and imparting Indigenous culture to younger generations. She frequently participated in educational programs and cultural events, sharing knowledge about the traditions, language, and history of the Cherokee and other Indigenous tribes.
Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone's legacy is not just about musical compositions and performances but also about the spirit of struggle and resilience of an artist and community leader. She is an icon not only in the arts but also in advocating for justice and solidarity for Indigenous peoples.
Even after her passing, the legacy of Tsianina Redfeather Blackstone lives on through her musical and cultural heritage, continuing to influence and inspire future generations to honor and respect Indigenous culture.
“What is Life? “It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. The True Peace. The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit), and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men.”
― Black Elk, Oglala Sioux
❤️GRAHAM GREENE - Born June 22, 1952, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ohsweken, Ontario, Mr. Greene is a 68 year old FIRST NATIONS Canadian actor who belongs to the ONEIDA tribe. He has worked on stage, in film, and in TV productions in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his 1990 performance in "Dances with Wolves". Other films you may have seen him in include Thunderheart, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, the Green Mile, and Wind River. Graham Greene graduated from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in 1974 & immediately began performing in professional theatre in Toronto and England, while also working as an audio technician for area rock bands. His TV debut was in 1979 and his screen debut in 1983. His acting career has now spanned over 4 decades & he remains as busy as ever. In addition to the Academy Award nomination for Dance with Wolves, he has been consistently recognized for his work, and also received nominations in 1994, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2016. Graham Greene lives in Toronto, Canada, married since 1994, and has 1 adult daughter.
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When Laura Neda Parker was born on 23 February 1884, in Comanche, Oklahoma, United States, her father, Chief Quanah Parker, was 35 and her mother, Tonarsy Parker, was 19. She married Aubra Cleveland Birdsong about 1898. They were the parents of at least 2 daughters. She lived in Oklahoma, United States for about 4 years and Quanna Township, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States in 1940. She died on 12 January 1968, in Lawton, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States, at the age of 83, and was buried in Cache Cemetery, Cache, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States.
“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled
with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep
and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”
Chief Tecumseh (Crouching Tiger), Shawnee Nation
Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award and a National Board of Review Award.
𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞 : https://www.giftnativestore.com/look
He has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Emmy Awards. Elliott was cast in the musical drama A Star Is Born (2018), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and the corresponding prizes at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards. He also won a National Board of Review Award. Elliott starred as Shea Brennan in the American drama miniseries 1883 (2021–2022), for which he won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie.
Elliott is known for his distinctive lanky physique, full mustache, and deep, sonorous voice. He began his acting career with minor appearances in The Way West (1967), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), season five of Mission: Impossible, and guest-starred on television in the Western Gunsmoke (1972) before landing his first lead film role in Frogs (1972). His film breakthrough was in the drama Lifeguard (1976). Elliott co-starred in the box office hit Mask (1985) and went on to star in several Louis L'Amour adaptations such as The Quick and the Dead (1987) and Conagher (1991), the latter of which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. He received his second Golden Globe and first Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Buffalo Girls (1995). His other film credits from the early 1990s include as John Buford in the historical drama Gettysburg (1993) and as Virgil Earp in the Western Tombstone (also 1993). In 1998, he played the Stranger in The Big Lebowski.
In the 2000s, Elliott appeared in supporting roles in the drama We Were Soldiers (2002) and the superhero films Hulk (2003) and Ghost Rider (2007). In 2015, he guest-starred on the series Justified, which earned him a Critics' Choice Television Award, and in 2016 began starring in the Netflix series The Ranch. Elliott subsequently had a lead role in the comedy-drama The Hero.
𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗧-𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁 ❤️
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Raymond Carlos Nakai (born April 16, 1946) is a Native American flutist of Navajo and Ute heritage. Nakai played brass instruments in high school and college, and auditioned for the Armed Forces School of Music after a two-year period in the United States Navy. He began playing a traditional Native American cedar flute after an accident left him unable to play the trumpet. Largely self-taught, he released his first album Changes in 1983, and afterward signed a contract with Canyon Records, who produced more than thirty of his albums in subsequent years. His music prominently features original compositions for the flute inspired by traditional Native American melodies. Nakai has collaborated with musicians William Eaton, Peter Kater, Philip Glass, Nawang Khechog, Paul Horn, and Keola Beamer. He has received 11 Grammy Award nominations for his albums.
Biography
Early life and education
Raymond Carlos Nakai was born in Flagstaff, Arizona on April 16, 1946, to a family of Navajo and Ute descent. His father Raymond Nakai served as the Chairman of the Navajo Nation from 1963 to 1970. He now resides in Tucson, Arizona. As a child he would audition tapes for a Navajo language radio show hosted by his parents; in doing so, he heard a recording of William Horn Cloud, a Lakota musician from the Pine Ridge Reservation, playing the flute. When he enrolled in a high school on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Arizona, he sought to play the flute in the school band, but was assigned the cornet instead, which, he later said, he was less interested in.
He began studying at Northern Arizona University in 1966, where he played brass instruments in the marching band. As a second-year student, he was drafted into the United States Navy, and spent two years studying communications and electronics in Hawai'i and the south Pacific. He auditioned for the Royal Hawaiian Band, but was turned down as he was not Hawaiian himself. He continued to receive musical training while in the military. He returned to the Navajo reservation in 1971, where he had a difficult period; several of his classmates had been killed in the Vietnam War. He passed the highly competitive auditions for the Armed Forces School of Music, and was 28th on the waiting list for admission. Playing with the Armed Forces Band became impossible after an auto accident damaged his mouth, making it impossible to produce the correct embouchure to continue playing brass instruments.
Musical career
After his accident, Nakai had a brief struggle with drugs and alcohol. In 1972 he was given a traditional cedar flute, which he gradually taught himself to play, going on to purchase an instrument from Oliver William Jones, a flute maker from California who Nakai met while working as a vendor at a museum. Jones would continue to supply Nakai with flutes for several years. Nakai found it difficult to expand his repertoire due to the absence of recordings or scores for traditional flute music; he therefore began to learn vocal music, and adapted many traditional songs for the flute. He returned to Northern Arizona University to earn a Bachelor's Degree in 1979 and later earned a master's degree in American Indian studies from the University of Arizona. He taught graphic art at a high school until 1983; his wife also worked as a teacher at the time.
Nakai began recording his music on cassettes, and selling them on the Navajo Reservation. After a period of little success, he played his music during an exhibition at the Heard Museum, where a representative of Canyon Records bought one of his cassettes. His playing impressed the museum's administrators, who offered him a job; Nakai subsequently worked for the museum for three years. He recorded the album Changes in 1983, and sold it independently; soon afterward, he signed a contract with Canyon Records, who would release more than thirty of his recordings over the next decades. By 2016, Nakai had recorded more than thirty commercial albums with Canyon records and several more with other producers, and had sold more than 3.5 million records. These recordings included several collaborations, including with the Japanese folk ensemble Wind Travelin' Band, the Philadelphia Orchestra's Israeli cellist Udi Bar-David,[6] guitarist William Eaton, American composer Philip Glass, Tibetan flutist Nawang Khechog, flutist Paul Horn, and slack key guitar player Keola Beamer.
Genre and style
Nakai's music prominently features improvisations on the Native American cedar flute. He also plays the eagle-bone whistle, and uses synthesizers, chanting, and sounds from nature. Although he occasionally plays arrangements of traditional melodies, most of his music attempts to "[create] original compositions that capture the essence of his heritage in highly personalized ways." Nakai states: "I build upon the tribal context, while still retaining its essence. Much of what I do builds upon and expresses the environment and experience that I’m having at the moment." His collaborations have included works produced with musicians of different genres, including jazz, western classical music, and traditional music from different parts of the world. Nakai also composed a few "light-hearted" orchestral works. Although his music has been popular among enthusiasts of New Age music, he has disagreed with that categorization.
Recognition and legacy
Many of Nakai's records have been critically and commercially successful. Two albums, Earth Spirit (1987) and Canyon Trilogy (1989), were certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Music review website AllMusic called Canyon Trilogy "[elegant] in its simplicity", and referred to Earth Spirit as "an outstanding CD from a soulful man."
Nakai's 1995 collaboration with William Eaton, Feather, Stone, and Light, topped the New Age music album charts for 13 weeks, and was listed as a Billboard Critic's choice. He has been nominated for the Grammy Award eleven times: first in 1993 for Ancestral Voices in the Best Traditional Folk Album category, and later eight times in the Best New Age Album category, and twice in the Best Native American Album category. He has been described as one of the "most prolific and innovative artists" within his genre.
Nakai developed a system of tablature notation, commonly known as Nakai tablature, that could be used to represent Native American music in a notation similar to that of Western classical music. It could be used across different flute types, as notes in it corresponded to intervals from the fundamental frequency of the flute, rather than to an absolute frequency.
Nakai was featured on the 1999 film Songkeepers, which depicted five Native American flute players — Nakai, Tom Mauchahty-Ware, Sonny Nevaquaya, Hawk Littlejohn, Kevin Locke — talking about their instruments and songs, and the role of the flute and its music in their tribes. Nakai's 1985 composition Cycles was used by the Martha Graham Dance Company in 1988 as the music for its ballet Nightchant. In 1993, Nakai played the flute as a soloist for the Phoenix Symphony's world premiere of a concerto for the ceder flute, composed by James DeMars.
In 2005, Nakai was inducted into the Arizona Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame. Nakai was awarded the Arizona Governor's Arts Award in 1992. He received an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University in 1994,[5] and the NAUAA Dwight Patterson (1934) Alumnus of the Year Award in 2001. The Library of Congress has more than 30 of his recordings preserved in the American Folklife Center.
1942 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302
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