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- By Kaili Berg
The 2025 Native American Music Awards (NAMMAs) took place yesterday, in Niagara Falls, NY, celebrating the best in Native music this year and showcasing a range of Indigenous artists across traditional and contemporary genres.
Founded in 1998 by music industry veteran Ellen Bello, NAMA is the largest and longest-running music awards program dedicated to Native artists.
The all-volunteer, industry-led organization has become a foundation for Indigenous musicians, giving them a national platform, professional recognition, and a space to preserve and innovate their cultures through music.
Each year, nominees are chosen by NAMA’s members, and winners are decided by a combination of membership and public votes, with over a million ballots cast annually.
Here’s the full list of this year’s honorees:
Best Alternative Recording: Indian Route 15 — One Way Sky (Gila River)
Best Americana Recording: Good People — Indian City (Sagkeeng First Nation/T'Karonto)
Best Blues Recording: The Witch Queen of New Orleans — Quartz featuring Raven Hernandez and Pat Vegas (Yaqui/Shoshone/Navajo/Chumash)
Best Country Recording: Sandbar Sunsets — Mickie James (Powhatan)
Best Folk Recording: Just To Be — Indigie Femme (Navajo/Diné, Samoan and Māori)
Best Hip Hop Recording: Top Mike Bone Tracks — Lil Mike & Funny Bone (Pawnee)
Best Instrumental Recording: Butterfly Moon — Michael Charette & Severin Behnen (Ojibwe)
Best Pop Recording: The Light In My Bones — Annie Humphrey (Ojibwe)
Best R&B Recording: Tribal Roots featuring Edmund Bull — Tribal Roots (Métis/Anishinaabe/Cree)
Best Rap Recording: Blessings — Stella Standingbear (Oglala Lakota)
Best Rock Recording: A Light In The Attic — Logan Staats (Mohawk)
Best Traditional Roots Recording: Sing. Pray. Love. — Joel Wood (Cree)
Native Heart Award: Rise Up On Eagle Wings — Wolfsheart
Best Music Video: REZ CHICK — Callie Bennett and Keith Secola (Navajo/Ojibwa)
Best Music Video Animation: THE SHE WOLF — Jimmy Lee Young (Mayan)
Best Music Video Narrative: We Are The Medicine - Native American Flute Music Album — Max "Wind" Cameo and Wayne "Standing Bear" Snellgrove (Mendota Mdewakanton/Fishing Lake First)
Best Live Music Performance Video: War Bonnet — Bigfoot
Record of the Year: Wicahpi Olowan Vol. 1 — Various Artists, Program Managers Talon Bazille Ducheneaux and Tiana Spotted Thunder
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