Source: Native American Music Awards Press Release

New York, NY — The Native American Music Association, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) has just released a special benefit CD entitled, WOLF, featuring songs from award-winning and nominated recording artists in an effort to honor and pay tribute to the wolf, especially the Gray Wolf which may become delisted as an endangered species.

The WOLF CD is being released nationally on Thursday, January 16th or during a full Wolf Moonreferred to by Native Peoples because wolves could be heard howling and echoing on the clear moonlit snow-covered nights of January.  The WOLF CD retails for $9.99 and is available nationally for purchase through Amazon.com.  The CD is also available on the NAMA website www.NAMALIVE.com as a digital download or hard copy.

WOLF features songs by various tribal nation voices and wolf clan members including; Jack Gladstone (Blackfeet),  Jimmy Lee Young (Mayan) & international Swiss artist Davide Buzzi, Joanne Shenandoah (Oneida), Joe Firecrow (Northern Cheyenne), Lee Plentywolf & The PlentyWolf Singers (Lakota), The Gray Wolf Blues Band (Yaqui), Jan Michael Looking Wolf (Grand Ronde), Bobby Bullet St Germaine (Lac du Flambeau), Austrian group Big City Indians, world music duo Painted Raven, Rushingwind & Mucklow (Cashuilla/Opata), Silverwolf  (Cherokee), a special bonus track for the download version by Wade Fernandez (Menominee) and more including artist Cal Silverfox’s (Apache’) own little set of howling wolf pups he’s helping to raise which can be heard on the CD.

The CD which aims to honor and pay tribute to the wolf, will be donated as a fundraiser for the NY Wolf Conservation Center  (http://www.nywolf.org) and other wildlife organizations who fear that a delisting of the Gray Wolf’s endangerd species protection by the US Fish & Wildlife service is premature in its recovery and will leave it subject to recreational hunting and trapping.

The concept behind the CD was sparked when NAMA Founder, Ellen Bello, made a visit with Ambassador Wolf, Atka, at the NY Wolf Conservation Center  who was recently featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and following news that the Gray Wolf may be removed from endangered species protections.

Currently, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission calls for hiring a hunter-trapper to eliminate two of six packs of wolves due to a low elk population.  In 1995 – 1996 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service introduced 35 wolves into Idaho, augmenting several lone wolves living in the state.  In 2002, Idaho had 300 wolves and the number was growing; the Legislature approved a state management plan.  In 2011, Congress removed wolves from the threatened species list in the states of Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington and northern Utah.  Wolf and wildlife advocates believe that removing any protections are premature.

At one time there were hundreds of thousands of wolves that roamed the lower 48 states. Today, there are 5,000 – 6,000 remaining after facing extinction.

Native American music was distinctly born outdoors and is expressly connected to the nature world and all related living things.  The Native American Music Association which also presents the annual Native American Music Awards is the world’s largest professional membership-based organization for contemporary and traditional Native American music initiatives.  

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