Native American Music Awards

While Native American performers in a variety of genres are also recognized, nominees do not have to be Native American themselves. The organization was founded by music industry executive Ellen Bello in 1998, with the aim of offering Native American musicians greater recognition from the American music industry and to create opportunities for international exposure and recognition. They state that their Annual Native American Music Awards is the largest membership-based organization for Native American music initiatives and consists of over 20,000 registered voting members and professionals in the field. They report holding the largest Native American music library in the world with a national archive featuring a collection of over 10,000 audio and video recordings in all formats housed since 1990.

Awards show

The awards show honors national recordings released in the previous calendar year that encompass traditional and contemporary Native American music instrumentation and/or lyrics. Traditional music through history has been an integral part of Native American life and tribal identity, for example: pow wow music, round dance songs, and Native American flute music. Contemporary Native American music has grown to encompass many popular genres (for example: rock, pop, blues, hip hop, and country), as well as uniquely distinctive genres including Waila (or Chicken scratch) and Native American Church music. There is also a "Native Heart category", an award given specifically to non-native artists in the field.

Nominees are submitted and selected by a national advisory membership, consisting of professionals who pay an annual membership to join the organization. Winners are selected by a combined vote by the national membership and the general public, who can listen to and vote on nominees' songs featured on the Native American Music Awards website.

The awards ceremony features live artist performances and 30 awards categories in various traditional and contemporary music genres, as well as Lifetime Achievement Awards and Hall of Fame inductions. The program often reaches beyond talent from Indian reservations and embraces internationally renowned artists such as; Robbie Robertson, Rita Coolidge, John Densmore, Nelly Furtado, Rickey Medlocke, Felipe Rose, and others.

Other mainstream celebrities who have supported the Native American Music Awards include: Nile Rodgers, Richie Havens, Wayne Newton, Jennifer Warnes, Bruce Cockburn, Crystal Gayle, Kitty Wells, Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, Janice Marie Johnson of A Taste of Honey, KC of KC and the Sunshine Band, Little Steven Van Zandt, Nokie Edwards, and more.