The Nammys Versus the Grammys: Celebrity, Technology, and the Creation of an Indigenous Music Recording Industry in North America

The Native American Music Awards, N.A.M.A., was founded as a showcase for Native American "people and youth" from "the four directions." Patterned after the annual Grammy Music Awards, the organization's annual Nammy awards ceremony is a prime opportunity for contemporary Native American musicians to present themselves as a unified industry. Since its inception in 1998, approximately thirty awards have been presented annually to artists, songwriters, and producers in a wide variety of popular, traditional, and historical categories. The annual ceremonies also include the presentation of Lifetime Achievement, Humanitarian, and Hall of Fame Awards. Using the Eighth Annual Native American Music Awards, held June 8, 2006 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, as a locus for investigation, this article explores how the Nammys incorporate celebrity and technology as an important means for the establishment of an indigenized music recording industry.