Atsiaktonkie

NATIVE FOLK ARTIST ATSIAKTONKIE WINS AWARD FOR BEST FOLK RECORDING AT THE 11th ANNUAL NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS

MASSENA, NY (October 5, 2009)— Strong Wind Records is pleased to announce that Native Folk Singer-Songwriter Atsiaktonkie (ah-jeeak-doon-gee-ay) and his current CD Four Wolves Prophecy was the winning recipient of a NAMMY Award for Best Folk Recording at the 11th Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMA) held Saturday, October 3 at the Seneca Niagara Hotel & Casino in Niagara Falls, NY.

"This is such a great honor," said Atsiaktonkie about winning a NAMMY Award. "I would like to thank everybody who has supported me along the way; the Creator, my family, friends, fans, the media, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Akwesasne People, Saxon Recordings, and all the great musicians who shared their talent on the album; Bobby Jacobs, Matt Dailey, Billy Lashomb, Stacy Herne, and Dave Anderson."

The Native American Music Awards & Association is the world's leading membership-based association consisting of music industry professionals directly involved in the recording and distribution of traditional and contemporary Native American Music initiatives. The growing success of the Awards show features over one hundred and fifty nominees annually, with at least one third of those nominees being new artists. For the past eleven years the Awards has set industry standards for professional Native American musicians who are gaining greater acceptance and exposure from both national and international audience. Most of the GRAMMY Award recipients in the Native category have previously won a NAMMY Award.

Atsiaktonkie, who is currently working on his new album, is the first Mohawk from the Akwesasne region to win a NAMMY, which is the equivalent to winning a GRAMMY Award. Atsiaktonkie is donating half the proceeds of all CD sales to the Akwesasne Freedom School, which helps preserve the Mohawk culture and language that is diminishing rapidly.

"This is such an amazing experience," said Atsiaktonkie. "Maybe with a NAMMY under my belt, I will be able to sell enough CDs to give a substantial amount of money to Freedom School."

Atsiaktonkie's Four Wolves Prophecy CD can be purchased locally on the St. Regis Mohawk reservation at CKON Radio, The Bear's Den, Nation Bookstore, Wild Bill's, #9 Truckstop, Kanienkehaka Fuels, as well as at www.atsiaktonkie.com and www.drumbeatindianarts.com.