Performances from events and festivals from the end of the 19th century through the present can be found in American Folklife Center collections. Concerts by tribal musicians, singers, and dancers have specifically been programmed here at the Library of Congress since the early days of the American Folklife Center. Many of these early concerts were given as part of the Neptune Plaza concert series at the front of the Library beginning in 1977. Audio recordings of early onsite concerts are available through each year's series collection. Many of the later Homegrown Concerts videos are available online.
To aid in navigation, Homegrown Concert collections available online through the Library's digital platform have been arranged under two separate tabbed sections below. The first allows researchers to search for Homegrown Concerts by the regional or tribal affiliation of the Indigenous performers featured. These classifications have been made according to the tribal affiliations provided by the performers themselves, with the understanding that many Indigenous people in the Americas claim kinship with more than one Tribal Nation. Researchers can also search for Homegrown Concerts by performance genre using the second tabbed box.
In addition to Homegrown Concert series performances, this page also identifies the Center's Folklife Archive Challenge events, public performances from the earlier Neptune Plaza Concert Series, examples of other AFC-sponsored concert collections, and sample collections of concerts sourced from other organizations.
This special presentation highlighted the work of Operation Song, a Tennessee based not-for-profit program that pairs veterans, active duty military and their families with professional songwriters to help them tell their stories. Since 2012, Operation Song has written more than 700 songs with veterans of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. The event concluded with a performance by Jamie Fox, a Metis fiddler of the Aaniih and Nakoda tribes. She performed selections from the songs of her home, Fort Belknap Reservation of Northern Montana. The songs of the Native country are derived from a mixture of Celtic, French, Native American cultures and some other popular Metis tunes.
Ollin Yoliztli Calmecac performs Aztec dance from Pennsylvania, another in the 2009 Homegrown Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center.
A "Homegrown from Home" performance by Sihasin, the musical duo of siblings Jeneda and Clayson Benally, award-winning musicians from the Diné Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. The siblings performed in the 2019 Homegrown Concert series as members of the Jones Benally Family Dancers. They have also made their mark (along with brother Klee) as the award-winning "alter-Native" punk band Blackfire. The name Sihasin is a Diné word that means hope and assurance, and the music reflects hope for equality, healthy and respectful communities, and social and environmental justice. Sihasin combines harmony vocals with bass and drums, in a style rooted in Native, rock, punk and world music. They have also conducted research in the AFC's Navajo collections.
Digital sound recordings, video recordings, and photographs documenting a concert performed by R. Carlos Nakai in the Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress on November 17, 2010 as part of the Homegrown concert series sponsored by the American Folklife Center. Solo performance by R. Carlos Nakai, who also discusses musical, cultural, political, and historical aspects of American Indian flute music. R.Carlos Nakai is of Diné-Ute heritage.
The Jones Benally Family Dancers sign, chant and perform a repertoire of over 20 traditional Navajo dances. They are particularly well known for the hoop dance, in which they evoke traditional figures and shapes using five, nine, a dozen or many more hoops. Navajo dance is a sacred tradition encompassing a wide variety of forms, all of which aim to heal the body, mind or spirit. When presented outside the Navajo community, these dances are modified for public viewing, but they retain their deep capacity to move hearts and minds. Jones Benally's grandchildren are the next generation to take up the family legacy of Navajo music and dance.
Sisters Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay, originally from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, blend traditional Inuit style throat singing with new compositions featuring live improvisational looping.
NEA National Heritage Fellow Mary Louise Defender Wilson and Keith Bear perform Sioux and Mandan Hidatsa storytelling and music from North Dakota, another in the Homegrown Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center. Keith Bear is a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes in Fort Berthold, North Dakota. Mary Louise Defender Wilson is a Dakotah-Hidatsa Traditionalist and Storyteller living on the Standing Rock (Sioux) Indian Reservation.
In this August 7, 2019 performance in the Homegrown Concert series, Lakota John and Kin perform blues music with a Native American twist. The group includes young musician Lakota John Locklear and members of his family who belong to the Lakota/Tuscarora and Lumbee Nations of South Dakota and North Carolina. The Lumbee Nation is the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi and is a recognized tribe by the state of North Carolina, although it has gained only partial Federal recognition. Lakota John looks to have Native Americans recognized for their long overlooked but important contributions to the blues tradition.
Two first place World Hoop Dance Champions have joined together to model and dance a vision of male and female balance, harmony and respect as traditionally practiced by their ancestors. Dallas Chief Eagle, Rosebud Sioux tribal member, and Jasmine Pickner of the Crow Creek Sioux tribe are both world-traveled hoop dancers. They performed as part of the American Folklife Center's Homegrown Concert Series.
Charly Lowry is a dynamic singer-songwriter from Pembroke, North Carolina. An Indigenous woman belonging to the Lumbee and Tuscarora Tribes, she considers her work a platform for raising awareness around issues that plague underdeveloped and underserved Native communities. Lowry is a songwriter who accompanies herself on acoustic and electric guitars and Native American hand drum. She earned a semi-finalist spot on season 3 of American Idol, and tours solo and as the frontwoman for the multi award-winning band, "Dark Water Rising." Most recently, Lowry and the members of her newest project "Charly & The Sunshine" were selected by the U.S. Department of State and American Music Abroad to participate in their 2021-2022 Season. Lowry is guided by her life experiences to focus her music career on increasing Indigenous visibility on a global scale. She serves as a voice for her ancestors, as well as the youth of today, and remains committed to music that honors roots but lives vibrantly in the here and now by revitalizing and preserving her own culture while exploring her own genre of World/Folk/Native-Contemporary Fusion music. For this concert, Lowry was accompanied by Derek Miller (guitar), Andrew Ferrier MacKay (drums, and Gary Rugala (bass).
In this August 7, 2019 performance in the Homegrown Concert series, Lakota John and Kin perform blues music with a Native American twist. The group includes young musician Lakota John Locklear and members of his family who belong to the Lakota/Tuscarora and Lumbee Nations of South Dakota and North Carolina. The Lumbee Nation is the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi and is a recognized tribe by the state of North Carolina, although it has gained only partial Federal recognition. Lakota John looks to have Native Americans recognized for their long overlooked but important contributions to the blues tradition.
The American Folklife Center presents the ensemble Pamyua, who performs traditional Inuit (Yup'ik) drum-songs from Alaska with a distinct and unique American sound. Their performance encourages audiences to appreciate Indigenous traditions while relating ancient traditional wisdom to modern culture.
Master Hawaiian slack key guitarist, ukelele player and vocalist Ledward Kaapana performs for AFC's Homegrown Concert series. Ledward "Led" Kaapana is a master of the two leading string instruments in Hawaii: the Hawaiian ukelele and ki ho'alu, the slack key guitar, a fingerstyle guitar art form that originated in Hawaii. He was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2011.
Video recording and photographs of a concert in the Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress on June 26, 2012 as part of the Homegrown concert series sponsored by the American Folklife Center. The concert featured traditional dances and songs, rooted in the sacred `Aiha`a Pele (Ritual dance of volcanic phenomena) performed by members of Unukupukupu, meaning "Shrine of ferns [rooted in fresh lava]," the Hālau Hula of Hawaii Community College, Hilo, Hawaii. The vision of Unukupukupu is to bring into a modern global context an awareness of the role and the spirit of hula as one of the world's sacred dances of environmental kinship.
Gary Haleamau and his band perform traditional Hawaiian slack-key guitar from Nevada, another in the Homegrown Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center.
Nakotah LaRance (Hopi/Tewa/Assiniboine) of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo performance as part of AFC's Homegrown Concert Series on May 18, 2016. LaRance won the adult division championship title in the World Championship of Hoop Dance at the Heard Museum for both 2015 and 2016. He has been the master instructor for the Pueblo of Pojoaque Youth Hoop Dancers for three years, performed with Cirque Du Soleil, and improvised traditional hoop dance and contemporary hip hop dance. Joining Nakota and Steve LaRance in this performance of Native American hoop dancing are Steve LaRance's granddaughter Shade Phea Young and nephew Quotsvenma Denipah-Cook.
Nakotah LaRance, Native American hoop dancing, 2016 May 18NEA National Heritage Fellow Mary Louise Defender Wilson and Keith Bear perform Sioux and Mandan Hidatsa storytelling and music from North Dakota, another in the Homegrown Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center. Keith Bear is a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes in Fort Berthold, North Dakota. Mary Louise Defender Wilson is a Dakotah-Hidatsa Traditionalist and Storyteller living on the Standing Rock (Sioux) Indian Reservation.
In this August 7, 2019 performance in the Homegrown Concert series, Lakota John and Kin perform blues music with a Native American twist. The group includes young musician Lakota John Locklear and members of his family who belong to the Lakota/Tuscarora and Lumbee Nations of South Dakota and North Carolina. The Lumbee Nation is the largest Native American tribe east of the Mississippi and is a recognized tribe by the state of North Carolina, although it has gained only partial Federal recognition. Lakota John looks to have Native Americans recognized for their long overlooked but important contributions to the blues tradition.
Nakotah LaRance (Hopi/Tewa/Assiniboine) of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo performance as part of AFC's Homegrown Concert Series on May 18, 2016. LaRance won the adult division championship title in the World Championship of Hoop Dance at the Heard Museum for both 2015 and 2016. He has been the master instructor for the Pueblo of Pojoaque Youth Hoop Dancers for three years, performed with Cirque Du Soleil, and improvised traditional hoop dance and contemporary hip hop dance. Joining Nakota and Steve LaRance in this performance of Native American hoop dancing are Steve LaRance's granddaughter Shade Phea Young and nephew Quotsvenma Denipah-Cook.
Nakotah LaRance, Native American hoop dancing, 2016 May 18Video recording and photographs of a concert in the Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress on June 26, 2012 as part of the Homegrown concert series sponsored by the American Folklife Center. The concert featured traditional dances and songs, rooted in the sacred `Aiha`a Pele (Ritual dance of volcanic phenomena) performed by members of Unukupukupu, meaning "Shrine of ferns [rooted in fresh lava]," the Hālau Hula of Hawaii Community College, Hilo, Hawaii. The vision of Unukupukupu is to bring into a modern global context an awareness of the role and the spirit of hula as one of the world's sacred dances of environmental kinship.
The Jones Benally Family Dancers sign, chant and perform a repertoire of over 20 traditional Navajo dances. They are particularly well known for the hoop dance, in which they evoke traditional figures and shapes using five, nine, a dozen or many more hoops. Navajo dance is a sacred tradition encompassing a wide variety of forms, all of which aim to heal the body, mind or spirit. When presented outside the Navajo community, these dances are modified for public viewing, but they retain their deep capacity to move hearts and minds. Jones Benally's grandchildren are the next generation to take up the family legacy of Navajo music and dance.
Ollin Yoliztli Calmecac performs Aztec dance from Pennsylvania, another in the 2009 Homegrown Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center.
Two first place World Hoop Dance Champions have joined together to model and dance a vision of male and female balance, harmony and respect as traditionally practiced by their ancestors. Dallas Chief Eagle, Rosebud Sioux tribal member, and Jasmine Pickner of the Crow Creek Sioux tribe are both world-traveled hoop dancers. They performed as part of the American Folklife Center's Homegrown Concert Series.
Digital sound recordings, video recordings, and photographs documenting a concert performed by R. Carlos Nakai in the Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress on November 17, 2010 as part of the Homegrown concert series sponsored by the American Folklife Center. Solo performance by R. Carlos Nakai, who also discusses musical, cultural, political, and historical aspects of American Indian flute music. R.Carlos Nakai is of Diné-Ute heritage.
Master Hawaiian slack key guitarist, ukelele player and vocalist Ledward Kaapana performs for AFC's Homegrown Concert series. Ledward "Led" Kaapana is a master of the two leading string instruments in Hawaii: the Hawaiian ukelele and ki ho'alu, the slack key guitar, a fingerstyle guitar art form that originated in Hawaii. He was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2011.
Gary Haleamau and his band perform traditional Hawaiian slack-key guitar from Nevada, another in the Homegrown Concert Series sponsored by the American Folklife Center.
Sisters Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay, originally from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, blend traditional Inuit style throat singing with new compositions featuring live improvisational looping.
This special presentation highlighted the work of Operation Song, a Tennessee based not-for-profit program that pairs veterans, active duty military and their families with professional songwriters to help them tell their stories. Since 2012, Operation Song has written more than 700 songs with veterans of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. The event concluded with a performance by Jamie Fox, a Metis fiddler of the Aaniih and Nakoda tribes. She performed selections from the songs of her home, Fort Belknap Reservation of Northern Montana. The songs of the Native country are derived from a mixture of Celtic, French, Native American cultures and some other popular Metis tunes.
Charly Lowry is a dynamic singer-songwriter from Pembroke, North Carolina. An Indigenous woman belonging to the Lumbee and Tuscarora Tribes, she considers her work a platform for raising awareness around issues that plague underdeveloped and underserved Native communities. Lowry is a songwriter who accompanies herself on acoustic and electric guitars and Native American hand drum. She earned a semi-finalist spot on season 3 of American Idol, and tours solo and as the frontwoman for the multi award-winning band, "Dark Water Rising." Most recently, Lowry and the members of her newest project "Charly & The Sunshine" were selected by the U.S. Department of State and American Music Abroad to participate in their 2021-2022 Season. Lowry is guided by her life experiences to focus her music career on increasing Indigenous visibility on a global scale. She serves as a voice for her ancestors, as well as the youth of today, and remains committed to music that honors roots but lives vibrantly in the here and now by revitalizing and preserving her own culture while exploring her own genre of World/Folk/Native-Contemporary Fusion music. For this concert, Lowry was accompanied by Derek Miller (guitar), Andrew Ferrier MacKay (drums, and Gary Rugala (bass).
A "Homegrown from Home" performance by Sihasin, the musical duo of siblings Jeneda and Clayson Benally, award-winning musicians from the Diné Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. The siblings performed in the 2019 Homegrown Concert series as members of the Jones Benally Family Dancers. They have also made their mark (along with brother Klee) as the award-winning "alter-Native" punk band Blackfire. The name Sihasin is a Diné word that means hope and assurance, and the music reflects hope for equality, healthy and respectful communities, and social and environmental justice. Sihasin combines harmony vocals with bass and drums, in a style rooted in Native, rock, punk and world music. They have also conducted research in the AFC's Navajo collections.
The American Folklife Center presents the ensemble Pamyua, who performs traditional Inuit (Yup'ik) drum-songs from Alaska with a distinct and unique American sound. Their performance encourages audiences to appreciate Indigenous traditions while relating ancient traditional wisdom to modern culture.
The American Folklife Center challenged musical artists to interpret material from its unparalleled archive of ethnographic recordings of traditional folk music. Artists were asked to put their own spin on these archival treasures, and to perform them at a special showcase during the Folk Alliance International conference in Kansas City, Missouri. The showcase was recorded and presented as a webcast.
Due to its popularity, the challenge was extended beyond the scope of a single conference, with musicians continuing to send in their renditions of songs found in the archive.
This video features Sihasin (brother and sister Jeneda and Clayson Benally) from the Diné Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona, performing the song "Shi Ni Sha" (Navajo Nation anthem). Drawn from a field recording of a group of school children, recorded by Willard Rhodes at the Indian Service Summer School at Fort Wingate, New Mexico. Willard Rhodes 1941 field recordings collection, AFC 1941/039: AFS 9527:B5 and B6.
This video features Boston, Massachusetts singer-songwriter Thea Hopkins, a member of Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha's Vineyard, performing the song "Creek Lullaby" from a field recording of a young Creek student named Margaret, recorded at Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas in 1943. Performance captured at the Folk Alliance International conference in Kansas City, Missouri from 2022. From the Willard Rhodes 1943 field recordings collection, AFC1943/020: AFS 12,203.
The Neptune Plaza Concert Series was an annual series of concerts, begun in 1977, featuring the presentation of folk traditions from many cultures. The concerts took place on the Neptune Plaza in front of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Concert between April and September. On occasion, adverse weather conditions prompted the concerts to move indoors. Concerts were originally presented with assistance from the National Council for the Traditional Arts and were broadcast live on WAMU-FM as well as being recorded for inclusion in the Center's archive. The concert series spanned 19 years.
1977 Neptune Plaza Concert Series collection, 19771985 Neptune Plaza Concert Series collection, 19851987 Neptune Plaza Concert Series, 19871992 Neptune Plaza Concert Series collection, 19921993 Neptune Plaza Concert Series collection, 19931994 Neptune Plaza Concert Series collection, 1994Kevin Locke concert collection, 2001 February 27Chuna McIntyre and the Nunamta Yup'ik Eskimo Dancers collection, 2003 Nov. 12American Indian Music and Dance Troupe concert collection, 2004 November 17
Cellicion Traditional Zuni Dancers concert collection, 2002 Nov. 13Hālau o nā Maolipua, Hawaiian mele hula concert collection, 2003 May 21American Indian Music and Dance Troupe concert collection, 2004 November 17National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) collection
Arctic Bible Institute Media Center collection of Alaska Native Musicale performances
