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 Thunderbird's 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.