TSAILE, Ariz. - Mohican singer and flutist Bill Miller and Native women singers Ulali will perform at the outdoor, 3rd annual Native American Music Festival at Navajo Community College in the Tsaile Mountains.

Miller's "Ravens in the Snow" and "The Red Road" offer songs of struggle, hope and passage. Described as a rogue rocker with a twist, Miller said his music is about honesty, about growing and coming clean.

"You can only be what you can be," Miller said. "My people stand out like ravens in the snow."

The festival, June 13-14, features Ulali, the native women's trio led by Pura Fe, Cherokee/Tuscarora. Ulali conveys the story of Native struggles and prophecies. Blended with the sounds of drums and rattles, it vibrates with the rhythm of the stomp dance, Plains and Mexican Indian music.

Ulali's music of the Americas is featured on the release, "Heartbeat: Voices of First Nation's Women."

Floyd Westerman, the icon of "Custer Died For Your Sins" and resistance songs of the 1970s, is invited along with Joanne Shenandoah, the Redhouse Band, the Navajo Elvis, Rex Redhair and more than a dozen other Native bands.

Sponsored by the Navajo Arts and Humanities Council, Inc., the festival is held in conjunction with Navajo Community College.

Beneath blue skies in the Tsaile mountains, Joy Harjo and Poetic Justice and Litefoot were among the top American Indian musicians to perform at the festival last summer. Red Thunder, Redbone, Haida, Clan/Destine, Songcatchers, Vincent Craig, Sharon Burch and Geraldine Barney provided an eclectic blend of modern voices and traditional messages.

Harjo, Muskogee poet, saxophonist and English professor, told festival-goers to remember to tell the stories of their people.

"I believe the word poet is synonymous with the word truthteller," Harjo said as she sang a tribute to slain activist Anna Mae Aquash.

Speaking in poetic verse to jazz sounds beneath a clear night sky, Harjo said when Aquash died, "The wind howled and pulled everything down in righteous anger."

Litefoot glided across the stage with a message of respect for women, staying away from drugs and alcohol and knowing ones own identity. With his own blend of rap and hip hop, known as traditional funk, he told teenagers to be what is real.

"Be proud of who you are!" Litefoot called out. "You can't be fake, you've got to be real with your thing."

Enjoying roasted corn and mutton stew, Canadian Anishinabe poet Marie Baker of British Columbia said Litefoot is an inspiration to Indian youth because he encourages youth to raise their voices and be heard.

As for the slam dancing, Baker said, "It is a modern war dance without feathers."

Blackfire, the Benally family band trio from Black Mesa, voiced the hopes of Navajos resisting relocation. Band members said on stage that Navajo and Hopi have lived alongside one another for generations and outsiders should not be allowed to destroy the unity of the people.

"We are all one people," Jeneda Benally said. "They can not put us down and they will not stop us."

Performers scheduled for Friday at this year's festival include Greyhills Stage Ensemble, Spear, Natay, James Benally Family Dance Group, Thunderhand Joe and Medicine Show, Ace's Wild, Loud Silence and Apache Corn and Maiden Dancers.

Saturday performances include James Bilagody, Greyhills Ironshield Singers and Dancers, Chinle Valley Singers, Alyse Neundorf, Navajo Gift Songs, Star Nayea, Juanito Becenti, Redhouse Jazz Band and Nation's Ensemble. Ulali and Miller will perform Saturday evening.

Festival tickets at the door are $12 for adults, $10 for students and $6 for children. Family entrance is $25.