WELCOME TO INDIAN COUNTRY Begins At The Cedar Thursday, August 11, Tickets On Sale Now

Hennepin Theatre Trust announced that it is partnering with The Cedar Cultural Center and Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) to present Welcome to Indian Country at The Cedar Cultural Center (416 Cedar Ave., Minneapolis) on Thursday, Aug. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

A world class five-piece musical ensemble is joined by storyteller, Washington State Poet Laureate, Rena Priest. Together they weave new compositions and songs with witty, wise and poignant poetry and satire to honor the elders and ancestors. Their performance unearths the depth, joy and solidarity that Native people find in their community, culture and family.

Tickets are on sale now to the public by visiting HennepinTheatreTrust.org.

Andre Bouchard, artistic director (of Kootenai/Ojibwe/Pend d'Oreille/Salish descent) is an internationally recognized agent, producer and consultant who was born and raised on the Flathead Reservation in western Montana, the son of a CSKT-enrolled father and a white mother. As a person with a background in both Native and non-native worlds Andre aspires to serve as an inter-cultural activist, working to build bridges and reverse the invisibility that serves to marginalize Native people in the US. Andre's primary background is as producer of dance, theatre, music and multi-disciplinary performance but has worked in practically every roll in the performing arts since he began as an active artist and arts administrator in 1999 In 2001 he founded Walrus Performance Productions, a non-profit dedicated to providing first opportunities to choreographers, playwrights and multi-disciplinary performing artists in the Pacific Northwest. In 2010 he founded Walrus Arts Management and Consulting which was expanded in 2015 to serve as a home to the first Native run performing arts booking agency representing Indigenous dance, theatre, music and multi-disciplinary artists. In 2019 he founded Indigenous Performance Productions, a non-profit company dedicated to production of touring Indigenous performing arts festivals.

Delbert Anderson, musical director, composition/trumpet/theremin, (Diné, Najavo) is enjoying a music career as one of today's most forward-thinking artists. Recording, touring, community outreach, music educational workshops, composing and arranging and guest appearances keep Anderson busy not only in his hometown of Farmington, NM but worldwide. Anderson has been featured on Jazz Times, Grammy.com, NASA, NPR Music Top 10, Smithsonian Magazine, Yahoo/Mic.com, TEDx, PBS, FNX Television and much more. Anderson has also been awarded the 2021 Presenters Consortium for Jazz Award from Chamber Music America funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, 2021 Jazz Road Creative Residency from South Arts funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, 2021 Emerging/Leaders of Color Program from Western States Arts Federation and the 2019 Native Launchpad Award by Advancing Indigenous Performance with Western Arts Alliance.

Rena Priest, poet/storyteller, is an enrolled member of the Lhaq'temish (Lummi) Nation. She has been appointed to serve as Washington State's Poet Laureate for the term of April 2021-2023. She is also the recipient of the Vadon Foundation Fellowship (2020), and an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award (2020). She has attended residencies at Hedgebrook, Mineral School, and Hawthornden Castle. Her debut collection, Patriarchy Blues was published by Moon Path Press and received an American Book Award. Her second collection, Sublime Subliminal is available from Floating Bridge Press. Individual poems are featured at Poets.org, Poetry Northwest, Pontoon Poetry, A Dozen Nothing and elsewhere. Priest has also published non-fiction pieces in High Country News, YES! Magazine, Seattle Met, Adventures NW and Nautilus. She is a National Geographic Explorer (2018-2020) and a Jack Straw Writer (2019). She holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.

Nokosee Fields, composition/fiddler/guitar, (Osage) was born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, studying orchestral violin at a young age. After years of learning and performing Classical music, Nokosee turned his attention to traditional American music, performing, teaching, and touring professionally. As a bassist, he tours with the Country band Western Centuries, as well as the old-time band Steam Machine. As a teacher, he has taught at the Augusta Heritage Center, tutored at Centrum's festival of American fiddle tunes, and was the artist in residence for the Portland old time gathering. He's placed in numerous fiddle contests and most notably took first in the 2019 Clifftop Fiddle Competition. Nokosee's lengthy and diverse experience in the performing arts gives him a unique approach to creating, listening and facilitating music.

Nicholas Lucero, composition/drumset/percussion, was born in Albuquerque, NM and raised in Southern Colorado - Nicholas has had the opportunity to play with several great jazz artists ranging from Kevin Eubanks to Bud Shank. Playing music since he was five years old, Nicholas has worked on integrating his Peruvian and Spanish culture into a modern funky style. Currently touring with D'DAT, Nicholas is also on the board for the San Juan Jazz Society and is a founder of the Indigenous Youth Arts Education Foundation. He has been featured on NPR Music Top 10, Smithsonian Magazine, Yahoo/Mic.com, TEDx, FNX Television and much more.

Mali Obomsawin, composition/voice/bass/guitar, is a bassist, singer, composer and songwriter from OdanakW8banaki First Nation. With an eclectic background in jazz & creative music, American roots & folk, and indie rock, Obomsawin carries several music traditions. A Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artist, Mali has toured internationally, receiving acclaim from NPR and Rolling Stone and several Boston Music Awards nominations with her band Lula Wiles. She frequents the folk & roots circuit as both frontwoman and side woman, appearing at Newport and Philly Folk festivals, and performs as a bassist & singer in the jazz and creative music scene with the likes of Bill Cole, Taylor Ho Bynum, Peter Apfelbaum and Delbert Anderson. In 2020 she joined Welcome to Indian Country, an Indigenous Performance Production featuring six leading Indigenous artists in Jazz and roots music. In fall 2021 she launched her first project as a bandleader with her suite for sextet, Sweet Tooth, exploring concepts of Indigenous identity, colonization and resistance.

Hennepin Theatre Trust drives cultural and economic vitality in Minnesota through leadership of the dynamic Hennepin Theatre District in downtown Minneapolis and educational programming that reaches every area of the state. Its historic theatres - Orpheum, State and Pantages - and event center at 900 Hennepin Avenue light up Hennepin Avenue with top-tier entertainment, including the best of Broadway and a wide variety of arts programming. Hennepin Theatre Trust is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at HennepinTheatreTrust.org.

To honor the centennial, Hennepin Theatre Trust is kicking off a yearlong celebration for the Orpheum, State and Pantages theatres, along with The Hennepin event center and 824 Hennepin, home to the Brave New Workshop comedy theatre. This year-long centennial celebration honors the history of the Hennepin Theatre District and looks ahead to what the future holds for the arts, the Trust and downtown neighbors. HennepinTheatreTrust.org/centennial.

The Cedar Cultural Center, from world legends to up-and-coming new bands, The Cedar presents unique voices from around the globe through 200+ shows a year. The Cedar's programming spans global roots, folk, indie, experimental, bluegrass, and much more. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, The Cedar's mission is to promote intercultural appreciation and understanding through the presentation of global music and dance.

Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI)'s work is founded on the belief that all American Indian people have a place, purpose, and a future strengthened by sustainable asset-based community development. Since 2007, NACDI's work facilitates systems change through our integrated pathways of Community Engagement, Community Organizing, Community Development, and Indigenous Arts and Culture. NACDI utilizes these strategies to control our narrative, influence policy, and lead systems change while shifting power dynamics through shared Native values, traditions, cultures, and practices. Support NACDI & its signature programs All My Relations Arts, Make Voting A Tradition, and Four Sisters Farmers Market & Farm.

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