Native America : SilverCloud Singers & Thunderbird American Indian Dancers.

For several years the American Indian Community House (AICH) produced a cable network show titled Native America. Select performances in the Circle at AICH were videotaped, edited, and aired on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network in half hour segments. This episode contains performances by the SilverCloud Singers, an inter-tribal drum group whose members are a part of the Native community of New York City. The SilverClouds perform traditional Native American pow-wow songs and demonstrate three different styles of dances popular at today's pow-wows. Also featured in this episode are the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers. The SilverCloud Singers are an intertribal Native American singing & dance troupe weaving the traditional with the contemporary of Native song & dance. SilverCloud was founded in 1991 and takes its name in tribute of Josephine Mofsie Tarrant, the mother of founding members Kevin Tarrant and Michael Tarrant, and current members Donald Tarrant and Judy Tarrant Fields. The singers of SilverCloud come from many tribes, and from many parts of the U.S and Canada. The group was started with the intention of using traditional methods of Native culture as a means to educate through song and dance. The Thunderbird American Indian Dancers traces its roots back to a group of teenagers called the Little Eagles, which included director Louis Mofsie. Each member had a very distinct and different cultural background and as a group they were determined to first learn and preserve the songs and dances of their own tribes and then to branch out to include those of other tribes. As adults, the Little Eagles transformed themselves into the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers. Today, the Thunderbirds annual powwow, performance, and auction raise critical scholarship money for Indian students. Now over 30 years old, the group brings the beauty of traditional Native American culture to both American Indian and non-Indian audiences. Specializing in a variety of distinct regional tribal dances, their performances are wonderfully presented with narrative stories. The American Indian Community House (AICH) is an urban Indian center that services the needs of the Native people living in New York City and welcomes Native visitors to the city. AICH was founded in 1969 and has become a de facto neighborhood serving as a meeting place for the diverse Native community of the New York City area. The Community House offers a variety of services ranging from substance abuse and HIV counseling, to career assistance. It is also home to the only Indian owned and operated art gallery in New York City. The AICHs Performing Arts Department has become an important resource for Native visual and performance artists. Through its programming, performance has become an important educational vehicle, both for the Native and non-Native NY community. The Badger's Corner, initiated in the 1980s, is an education-via-entertainment vehicle for the AICHs visual and performing arts department programs. Taking its name from the Pueblo legend of the four-legged creature who led the Pueblo people out of the underworld after the great flood, the intent of its programming is to inform and challenge people to rethink their concept(s) of Native American people and customs. All performances at AICH are presented under the auspices of the Badgers Corner. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics