Native Americans Featured at the Virtual Inauguration Ceremony

Shortly after Joseph R. Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States of America, several Native American groups and individuals represented at the virtual “Parade Across America,” which featured performances by entertainers and organizations from around the country.

First, six members of Native American Women Warriors, the nation’s first all-female organization of Native American women veterans, represented the state of Connecticut.

The nonprofit was founded by Mitchelene BigMan of the Crow nation. In total, Native American Women Warriors contains 14 members from 14 tribal nations, representing all five branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and the Coast Guard.

TikTok Star Nathan “DoggFace” Apodaca, who’s part Northern Arapaho, followed up the Warriors in the broadcast. Apodaca rose to fame last year after filming himself casually gliding down a highway on his skateboard while drinking a bottle of Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice, with Fleetwood Mac’s song “Dreams” playing in the background. 

Later in the broadcast, the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone Dancers from Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation, the seventh largest reservation in the country, showed the world their unique dance style. 

Lastly, Arizona-based Navajo dance troupe, Indigenous Enterprise, made full use of their brief cameo.

Indigenous Enterprise, however, is no stranger to the national stage. Last spring, Indigenous Enterprise scored an audition on the NBC television show “World of Dance” with Jennifer Lopez. That audition was broadcast to millions of people.

Watch their “World of Dance” performance below:

That performance caught the eye of filmmaker and director Kenny Ortega. Ortega is best known for directing the films “Newsies,” “Hocus Pocus,” “High School Musical,” “Descendants,” and others. He arranged to have Indigenous Enterprise dance at the virtual inauguration ceremony.

“He made sure to reach out to the [“World of Dance”] executive producers and specifically said, ‘I want those Native American brothers right there. I want to make sure they’re featured on this because we think it’s important that culturally they’re represented and included in this presidential inauguration,’” Kenneth Shirley, founder and CEO of Indigenous Enterprises, told 12 News KPNX

Indigenous Enterprise formed in 2015. Since then, they’ve performed everywhere from local colleges to the Sydney Opera House. Their goal is to both entertain and educate people on Native American culture, history and tradition.

They focus on what they call the three P’s: Preservation, Performance, and Progression, as stated on their website. “We understand that culture changes with its people and that we, as the Native young bloods of America…are the pioneers of this cultural movement.”

The group is also producing a mini-documentary on Native Americans' role in turning Arizona “blue” in 2020. Hence, their performance at the virtual inauguration ceremony comes full circle.

To watch more Native American dance videos, visit the Powwows.com Youtube Channel.

Last Updated on January 27, 2021 by Jared McKiernan