| Native Sounds: Gabriel Ayala (Yaqui) |
 Gabriel Ayala is a member of the Yaqui Tribe of Southern Arizona. He recently won a Nammy Award from the Native American Music Association for Artist of the Year. Gabriel also holds a Master's Degree from the University of Arizona. His road to success was an outcome of Gabriel's perserverance. One of Gabriel's first instructors told him that playing classical guitar music would be too difficult for him, but that didn't stop him from pursuing his dream. Gabriel would go on to break Native American stereotypes and the glass ceiling for himself, as well as classical Native American guitarists.
Gabriel feels that Native American musicians should be categorized outside of the Native American genre. He hopes to one day enter his music into the World Music category and be nominated for an American Music Award or a Grammy. Currently, he is independently recording and promoting his upcoming album.
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| Native American Heritage Month 2011 | |
 Information courtesy of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
At the turn of the century, an effort was put forth to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions that Native Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States. The first American Indian Day occurred in New York in May 1916. In 1990, President George H.W. Bush designated November 1990 as National Native American Heritage Month which has been celebrated annually ever since.
Visit the official Native American Heritage Month government website |
| Thanksgiving by Shirley K. Sneve, part of the blog series "Setting the Record Straight" | |
 "Over the River and Through the Woods" is the song from grade school that still rings in my head when I think of Thanksgiving. Summer is over. The air is as crisp as the leaves beneath my feet. I love the colors of fall. I love the smells of fall. In Nebraska, we reap the harvest of our local farmers--apples, squash, corn and beans--and my favorite, sweet potatoes.
Ask anybody what Thanksgiving Day means to them and you'll get the same idea: We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing. We give thanks for family, friends, home--and food.
It all started in 1621 with a celebration between the newly arrived English colonists and the Wampanoag Indians in 1621. Without the help of the Tribal people in what is now Massachusetts, they wouldn't have made it.
However, it wasn't until November 21, 1941, that President Roosevelt established the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. Oddly enough, even then, it was tied to the beginning of the Christmas holiday shopping season.
Continue reading the blog |
| AIROS' interview with NAPT Founding Executive Director Frank Blythe and his daughter Francine Blythe, Director of the National Geographic All Roads Film Project | |
NAPT Production Assistant Tobias Grant recently interviewed his grandfather, NAPT's Founding Executive Director Frank Blythe, and his mother, Francine Blyhe, who is the Director of the National Geographic All Roads Film Project.
Francine would follow in her father's footsteps when she decided to pursue a career in the media.
Here is an interview from April 2011 featuring Tobias, Frank and Francine dicussing their experiences as Native media makers during a family cookout in New Mexico.
Download the podcast | Download the extended podcast | Read the blog |
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Producer Profile:
Chris Bashinelli | |
 Bridge the Gap to Pine Ridge, a new episode in the Bridge the Gap TV series, follows executive producer and host Chris Bashinelli (MTV, The Sopranos) as he drops in on the day-to-day lives of residents in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, to find out about life on the Pine Ridge, their stories and to see how they see themselves in the larger context of the world.
Bashinelli started the documentary series to expose people to locations around the world that often receive negative media attention. By presenting a positive perspective on places like Pine Ridge, Bridge the Gap TV aims to change the world for the better through intercultural communication and understanding.
Listen to the Interview
Read the Article
Subscribe to the Producer Profile Podcast | |
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