YARINA ENLIGHTS & ENTERTAINS
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Song By Jan Michael Looking Wolf
Courtesy Spirit Wind Records - GIVE HOPE TO THE CHILDREN OF HAITI HELP THE EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS NOW or visit HOPE FOR HAITI NOW A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief www.Hopeforhaitinow.org |
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Our Goal for 2010 Begins Today!
As a global community we can immediately reach out to help those most in need
in a time of crisis. While many of us are reaching out to help HAITI, we must keep in mnd that there is still a looming problem here in our own backyard... sick children battling cancer and undergoing treatment, children in need of a Christmas, families in need of Winter heat, and Single mothers in need of a place to live. Please make a donation so that we can directly purchase toys or heat for those on the reservations, or help a single mother find a home, or allow a sick child and their family to forget their challenges & enjoy one of our music programs for an entire evening. Donations may be mailed or submitted online on our website, www.nammys.org. Your donation is tax deductible. 100% of all donated funds go directly to the cause. Kindly contact us if you have any questions or would like more information on these families in need. Please pass this on to others who may be in a position to help. Thank you! The Native American Music Association LET THE CHILDREN PLAY Ongoing Music Program "Let The Children Play," is an effort to directly provide educational events featuring Native American Music Awards winners and nominees for sick and disadvantaged children. Since 2001, NAMA continues to visit and entertain sick children undergoing treatment for their illnesses at the Ronald McDonald House charities. Next Event at RMD House in NYC: TBA To make a donation, click the Donate Now button or mail in your donation at the address below. |
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NATIONAL MUSIC ARCHIVES
The Native American Music Association, a 501(c)(3) organization preserves and promotes the rich oral history of Native America. Used in all aspects of life, music and song marked every public event and private occasion in American Indian life. Historical information, lineage, stories and tales were passed from generation to generation through song. But traditional Native American music is becoming lost forever. For the true generations that can preserve the stories and the songs, they are the oldest – the elders – who comprise a population that is steadily dwindling. Today, there are only 187,000 Native Elders remaining in our country, 7% of the total American Indian and Alaska Native population nationwide. With the loss of elders also comes the loss of language, cultural traditions and an important part of our own history, the oral history of the First Americans. Native Americans also suffer twice the proportions of unemployment, poverty, and alcohol related deaths than the national average. Native youth face immense pressures, challenges and limited opportunities.
With it’s roots firmly planted in traditions hundreds of years old, music and song were, and still are, an integral part of Native American life. Without a written language, care was taken to transmit songs accurately, from generation to generation. As part of this nation’s folklife, the early fieldwork of scholars, anthropologists, and ethnomusicologists proved that traditional music was just as emotional, complex and cultivated as any other modern art form. The drum is considered the heartbeat of all that is. Other natural instruments such as; Rattle, Whistle, Cowhorn, Flute, and Bells, whether given by the “Creator” or made by skilled craftsman, facilitated a symbolism of sound and image and an interaction and relationship to all parts of the living world. As Native American music evolves, artists compensate their lost nature world using European-influenced and electric recreating earth sounds. Like the tradition keepers of ancient times, today’s musicians still can offer their communities the capacity for cultural renewal and tribal enrichment.
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Record Breaking Blizzard hits South DakotaStephanie M. Schwartz, Link Center Foundation's President and Director, passed away on August 17, 2009. Her sudden death was a tragic loss to her family, friends, and the Lakota people whom she served and loved. NAMA remembers Stephanie fondly, and will continue our Emergency Heat efforts in honor of her and those she remained so committed in assisting on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The Native American Music Association, N.A.M.A., a non profit 501(c)(3), (Fed Id# 13-4032761) lead a national effort in Winter 2008 - 2009 to provide emergency heating assistance for the Elders, children, the disabled, and the sick on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. In early November '08, a severe blizzard throughout South Dakota knocked over 1,000 power lines down, created 20 foot snow drifts, and left residents of Pine Ridge burning their furniture and melting snow as their only source of heat and fresh water. This blizzard which was reported as South Dakota's worst in 60 years, arrived early for the Winter Season with predictions of more to come and the brutally cold months from January to March where tempatures go below 0. And it has come. A second blizzard with wind up to 80mph and 8 to 30 inches of snow arrived on Pine Ridge on March 23 and March 24th leaving many more in need of emergency heat and utilities. N.A.M.A. continued to call upon its international membership to make donations in order to purchase and provide emergency heating assistance determined by the needs reported to each local Community Action Program office (CAP) throughout all nine districts of the reservation. N.A.M.A. also built its own task force in South Dakota to monitor and assist in filing emergency applications for those most in need of heat and Winter necessities on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The N.A.M.A. task force also maintained a current "Wish List" from local schools, churches and organizations in need of Winter Necessities. In the first two days of NAMA's Winter Aid campaign, individual donations reached just over 10% of the current goal of $15,000.and was immediately allocated to directly purchase propane for ten households with elderly, disabled, and the sick currently without any heat. An open line of communication is available with Propane and Electric companies and the ability for refer an emergency recipient who cannot afford heat or propane on their own. Assistance is provided in the order Emergency heat applications are received or in cases of dire or life-threatening emergencies which then take precedence. .The various propane and wood companies are requiring $120-$150 minimum purchase per delivery. FACTS: Average income on the Oglala Lakota Sioux Pine Ridge Reservation is about $3,500.00 per YEAR. Jobs are extremely scarce; unemployment hovers around 85% on this 11,000-square-mile reservation which houses about 40,000 people. Death by hypothermia is always a concern There is a high incidence of infant mortality rate. Each winter (October – March), temperatures drop well below 0*F. Many families must choose between food and heat. In some cases, they have neither. Tribal Assistance Programs offer each low-income family approximately $300 per year which is not enough to assist families throughout the harsh winter season. |
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