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Showtime wins the Northern Singing contest at Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque this past weekend for the second time in three years, the drum group included BJ Brave Heart, Xavier Little Head, Brand White Eyes, Hunter Blasingame, Brandon Brave Heart, American Brave Heart, Floyd Silas III, Desmond Madera, Tawanna Williams, Elias Her Many Horses, Ted Phelps with Novi Runs Above, Anthony Gutierrez, Tevin Sage and Terrance Morgan Sr. not pictured.
Albuquerque for the second time in three years, Showtime won the Northern Singing contest at Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque this past weekend; there were 27 drum groups entered this year, 20 in the Northern competition worth $10,000 in prize money.
Top five placers in each category included 1)Showtime/Pine Ridge, SD, 2)Meskwacis/ Alberta,Canada, 3) Cree Federation/St. Paul, Alberta,Canada, 4)Sharpshooter/Sacramento, CA, 5)Young Spirit/Frog Lake,Alberta. Top five in Southern 1)Southern Style/ Montezuma Creek,UT, 2)Cozad/Laughton,OK, 3)Thunder Hill/Weatherford, OK, 4)Blazing Bear/Anadarko,OK, 5) Whitetail Boyz/Macy, NE.
According to drum keeper BJ Brave Heart, Showtime came together in 2015, their first Pow wow was the He- Sapa Wacipi in Rapid City where they took second place. We were a new drum group, started slow, we had to pay our dues, build our credibility, make some changes along the long road, make our song more lively, added Brave Heart, we had a lot of support, encouragement from around us, family and friends, we’ve been to Canada, as far away as Nova Scotia, out to California and all around the plains; we first went to Gathering of Nations in 2016 where we took fifth.
There is a core group of four or five, Novi Runs Above is the lead singer then there are three Brave Heart brothers BJ, Brandon and Avery, stated Brave Heart, we have a group of 10-12 singers with at least 5-6 at each Pow wow, BJ is the oldest at 44, Floyd Silas III from Wisconsin is the youngest at 24, we’re already booked up for the year. The drum group also includes Xavier Littlehead, Brand White Eyes, Hunter Blasingame, Desmond Madera, Tawanna Williams, Elias Her Many Horses, Ted Phelps, Anthony Gutierrez, Tevin Sage and Terrance Morgan St.
“We’ve had plenty of role models, Sons of the Oglalas with Matt Two Bulls and Fred Stands, others including Charlie Eagle Hawk, Wilmer Mesteth, Melvin Young Bear, Bill Runs Above and groups like Badlands Singers, Eagle Whistle, High Noon,” said Brave Heart, “some of us sang with my dad on Cante Tinza and sang with Native Thunder and Eagle Mountain, it was all part of the learning process, learning all the songs you need to know; we’ve started an LLC where we take a cut of our winnings and once a year we distribute it as a scholarship fund, deciding on six recipients, we have three or four of us that compose songs then test them out to see what works the best.”
We do from 25-30 pow wows a year, it’s every weekend during the summer, we’re always looking for new talent, added Brave Heart, we want to leave a good crew, we have sons coming up, we’ve recorded a couple of albums but streaming has taken over everything, but we’re still singing, it’s fun, we love the competition.
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