Native American Art Market

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 consultant and advocate specializing in Native American issues, with expertise in community development, asset-based research and evaluation, Native American mascots, and the protection of Native American sacred places. Mary grew up immersed in the Native American powwow tradition and is a women’s Southern cloth traditional powwow dancer. She also sings as a lady back-up singer, the women’s contribution to powwow drumming, a tradition that spans hundreds of years. Her singing includes both Northern and Southern styles of powwow music, and she performs with drum groups in the Washington, D.C. area, including the Zotigh Singers.

“As an Umoⁿhoⁿ and Pueblo woman, I am self-determined to show the power of culture through music and the arts. The sounds and songs that guided my ancestors and continue to guide our people in ceremony, social gatherings, and daily life, are ever present in my mind and in my heart. I am inspired by their sheer ability to survive through the strength of the tribe as a people, not a government. Each time I step into the powwow arena and hear the first beat of the drum, I am reminded that music is inherent in the world I seek to honor. 

My purpose is to carry the words, the spirit, and the essence of what makes our music ours—what makes our language and stories uniquely our own. The songs that were once silenced now are sung out freely wherever we gather, reminding us that our culture will exist as long as we continue to practice it.”