Copyright © 2001 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Recently, the Western Region continued its outreach to the Native American community at the annual Gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque. The Gathering of Nations Powwow, North America's biggest powwow, took place on April 26-28 at the University Arena ("the Pit") on the University of New Mexico campus. More than 3,000 Native Indian dancers and singers representing more than 500 tribes from Canada and the United States attended. Throughout the conference, the Recording Academy participated as an official booth exhibitor and provided a MusiCares Safe Harbor Room, manned by Addiction Recovery Specialist Harold Owens. With more than 800 artists, crafters, and traders on site, Gathering of Nations provided attendees with a very interactive experience and an interesting exhibition of Native American artifacts.

On April 27, amid the sounds of Native American drumming, a special reception was held in honor of the "drum groups" featured on this year's GRAMMY Awards telecast. Western Regional Director Angelia Bibbs-Sanders presented official GRAMMY certificates to participants on the Gathering of Nations Powwow album, which this year won the first ever GRAMMY presented in the Best Native American Music Album category.

Before a crowd of 15,000 people, Bibbs-Sanders delivered a special membership presentation and informed attendees regarding the GRAMMY Awards process and the Best Native American Music Album category.

In addition to signing up a handful of new members, the weekend was a tremendous success and helped to strengthen our ties with the Native American community.

Visit the Grammy's, Los Angeles Chapter, Member Services website. "Angelia Bibbs-Sanders, Western Regional Director, presents official certificates to the drum groups on the GRAMMY Award winning Gathering of Nations compilation."