Indigenous to perform at Dakota Prairie
Playhouse
Concert kicks off Native American Heritage Month
at DSU
Dakota State University Office of Diversity Services kicks
off the Native American Heritage Month by bringing in the talented
band, Indigenous. The concert is November 7 at 8pm
The effort to get the band to play in Madison was
spearheaded by Erik Miller, DSU director of AOD programming, Scott
Zlotak, Diversity Coordinator and Steve Martin, DSU Native
American Advisor.
Martin gave credit to Miller. “Erik worked really hard to
make this happen,” Martin said. “We’re extremely grateful
for all of his hard work.”
Miller said Indigenous had played here in the past but he
never dreamed of getting them back after all of their success.
“They’ve been so
successful, I never dreamed of getting them back,” Miller
stated. “It’s because of the efforts of Scott and Steve and
the Diversity Office. We couldn’t have done it without the
diversity movement.”
Indigenous, a blues
and rock group from Marty, SD is a family within a family. The
four band members belong to the Nakota Nation in South Dakota and
come from the same family tree. Wanbdi Win (Good Eagle Woman)
plays drums, Ptehcaka Wicasa (Little Buffalo Man) plays bass,
Tasunka (Horse) supplies percussion with tongas, bongos and
tambourine. On guitar is Mato Nanji (Standing Bear) whose talents
at 25 have already been compared to legends Jimi Hendrix and
Stevie Ray Vaughn.
They are the first
Native American band to have a top 10 single. They have shared the
stage with the likes of B.B.
King, Bob Dylan and the Dave Matthews Band. Dave Matthews said
about the band in August of 2000 "they have an amazing
guitarist - he's kind of intimidating."
Nanji, the talented
guitarist for the band shared the stage with one of his idols,
Carlos Santana, for a medley of Bob Marley's “Exodus” and
“Get Up, Stand Up.”
The Diversity Office
will also be bringing in students from Madison High School and
Native American High Schools across the state to see the concert.
Students from Marty Indian School, Flandreau Indian School, St.
Joseph’s and St. Francis will all be on campus the day of the
show. These students will get a tour of the campus in the Discover
DSU format. They will also receive free tickets to the concert and
have the opportunity to eat dinner with the band before the show.
Zlotak expects up to 60 students to be on campus from the
aforementioned schools.
“One of the
priorities of the Office of Diversity Services is to provide
opportunities for Native American High School Students to attend
college,” Martin stated. “By inviting the Native American
students from the tribal schools to the Dakota State campus, the
students will gain a further understanding of the campus
experience. Most importantly, we hope that the Native American
students will have the aspirations that they too can be successful
and obtain a college degree. By having Indigenous participate in
our celebration, we feel it provides a wonderful impetus for
Native American students to become engaged in higher education.”
Advanced tickets,
reserved seating and general admission tickets for Indigenous are
available at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse. Call the box office at
256-5666 for ticket information. Discounts on general admission
tickets with a valid DSU Student ID. Doors open at 7:30pm.
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