Updated Monday, Jan. 3, 2024, to embed the video of the livestream event.

The Recording Academy elevates Indigenous music people year-round — and one day on that calendar has special import. That's Indigenous Peoples Day, of course. And on the very day the Recording Academy and representatives of the acclaimed TV show "Reservation Dogs" will discuss and celebrate Indigenous music and culture in a special livestream.\
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The panel discussion featured the show's composer Mato Wayuhi and music supervisor Tiffany Anders, followed by a performance from Vincent Neil Emerson, who bears the flame of the Texas singer/songwriter tradition.

"Reservation Dogs" is an acclaimed Indigenous American TV series that ran from 2021 to 2023. Featuring a fully Indigenous body of writers and directors — and starring Devery Jacobs, D'Pharoah Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, and Pauliina Alexis — "Reservation Dogs" follows four rural, Indigenous teens as they spend their days "committing crime and fighting it."

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The soundtrack to "Reservation Dogs" has been acclaimed on multiple levels, from "its distinctive vision and… its total centering of Indigenous experience" in rural Oklahoma" to its personal nature: "Whether twangy and fierce, hushed and melancholy, or catchy and celebratory, the songs reflect each character's journey as much as the show's dialogue."

Falling on the second Monday of October as a counterweight to Columbus Day, Indigenous People's Day is meant to honor America's first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today.

Composer Mato Wayuhi is an Oglala Lakota multidisciplinary artist originally from South Dakota. Tiffany Anders is a musician, music supervisor and radio DJ who has worked on films by Drake Doremus, Gregg Araki, Ry Russo-Young, and more. Vincent Neil Emerson is an acclaimed Indigenous songwriter hailing from East Texas. And Sean Smith is the Executive Vice President of Communications at the Recording Academy, as well as a freelance writer.

Watch the informative and candid conversation in the video below — and in its wake, take some time to consider the invaluable contributions of Indigenous peoples the world over.

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