NATIVE PERFORMANCE AND ART MARKET

Angela Miracle Gladue aka Lunacee, is a nehiyaw (Cree)/Greek Interdisciplinary Artist from the Treaty 6 Territory of
amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta). At age 6 she began cultural dancing through a Metis and Powwow
dance program at her school and performed regularly throughout western Canada with the Red River Wheelers
and her school’s powwow performance group.

Her background in Hip–Hop dance began as a B–girl in 2003 through the influence, mentorship and collaboration of
Indigenous Hip–Hop performance group, The Red Power Squad and became a member of the Fly Girlz Dance Crew
in 2008.

Since 2016, Angela has toured as one of the lead dancers for The Halluci Nation (Formally known as A Tribe Called Red) and has also performed alongside The Doors, Lido Pimienta, Jeremy Dutcher, and Cris Derksen to name a few. She has opened up for major recording artists such as TLC, Sean Paul, Lil’ Kim, Maestro, GrandMaster Flash, Busta Rhymes, and the America’s Best Dance Crew tour. Selected accomplishments include: Performing and choreographing at the 2007, 2008, 2013 and 2015 Indspire Awards (formally the National Indigenous Achievement Awards), 2016 PoundMaker Lodge Pow-Wow – Iron Woman Champion, Performing at the 2017 Juno Awards with The Halluci Nation, 2016 PoundMaker Lodge Pow-Wow Iron Woman Champion, a World Hip-Hop Championship Bronze Medalist with her crew the Fly Girlz who also won 1st Place at the Canadian Hip-Hop Championships and are three time winners of Artists Emerge Dance Crew Competition. She is currently a dance educator through The Washington Ballet and City Dance DC and a 2023-2024 Culture Caucus Member at The Kennedy Center, Social Impact program.

Mary Phillips is from the Umonhon (Omaha) Tribe of Nebraska and an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe of New Mexico. She is a women’s southern cloth traditional powwow dancer and sings as a “lady back-up singer” which is the women’s contribution to powwow drumming stemming from a tradition hundreds of years old. Ms. Phillips’ Core Partnership will include Native-centered arts engagement community development and traditional Native American performances for dance and singing. 

Ralph Zotigh, of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, comes from a long line of Native song composers. In 1996, he lent his last name to a new drum group and became known as the Zotigh Singers. Their unique sounds blend southern plains powwow songs with southwestern tribal sounds and influences. 

Dennis W. Zotigh (Kiowa/Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo/Isante Dakota Indian) is a member of the Kiowa Gourd Clan and San Juan Pueblo Winter Clan and a descendant of Sitting Bear and No Retreat, both principal war chiefs of the Kiowas. Dennis works as a writer and cultural specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. 

In 1997 the Zotigh singers won the most prestigious of all singing competitions at the Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque New Mexico. From this title they were invited to serve as host drum at the biggest powwows from coast to coast, in Canada and Alaska. The Zotigh singers have produced six CDs on the Indian House, Sweet Grass and Cool Runnings recording labels. These CDs are sold globally in music outlets in world music sections. Two of their CDs have been nominated for Native American Music Awards. Another CD has been nominated for the Aboriginal Peoples Award in Canada. The lead singer, Ralph Zotigh, was asked to join the staff of the Institute of American Indian Arts and teach Native singing. This group has recently relocated to the East Coast providing music for powwows, conventions, symposiums, meetings and banquets. In January of and 2013 and 2017, The Zotigh Singers were the host drum for the Inaugural Powwow and Ball held in Washington D.C.