This years guest drum is

Lakota Thunder

Lakota Thunder Biography

My drum group is named Lakota Thunder we come from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe located in south central North Dakota and north central South Dakota.. We are all Sioux but we call ourselves Lakota we come from the Hunkpapa band of Lakota. The Hunkpapa band is well known for their participation in the Battle of Little Bighorn and our Chief Sitting Bull .A little background on Lakota Thunder we started Lakota Thunder back in 1994 but many of us sang many years prior to that. We started the drum group in order to preserve our traditional, spiritual and celebration songs, as no one was doing anything to preserve them. We achieved national and international acclaim for work we have done preserving our songs, as were nominated for the very first Grammy award for Native American Music back in 2001 for a recording entitled “Veteran Songs”. That year we received a Native American Music Award for the same recording, and in 2006 we recording a CD entitled “Way of Life” which went on to win another Native American Music Award. Our drum group has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada sharing our culture through song. We have been asked many times to be host drum or invited drum throughout many Powwows’ in Indian Country. We have not been hitting many celebration as of lately, because we all decided to pursue our college education and most of us currently work in the school system as teachers, some us work at the local Radio station as Disc Jockeys and in other professional programs. We are a very spiritual group, we practice our culture and religion daily, we take part in many of our sacred rites such as the Sundance, the Sweat Lodge, the Vision Quest etc. When you follow a spiritual life and walk on the red road we have do it with a clear mind and soul, so I am very proud to say we are all drug and alcohol free.
Singers include:
Courtney Yellow Fat (Lead)
Dana Yellow Fat (Lead)
Virgil Taken Alive
Wade Claymore sr. (Drum Keeper)
Terry Yellow Fat
Sage Claymore
Wade Claymore Jr.
Rodney Claymore
Stephan Claymore
Wayland Bad Hand

Next Generation:
Dawson Yellow Fat
Joe Keeps Eagle
Akicita Claymore
Cody Wasin Zi
Cetan Hota Claymore
Takcha Bad Hand

(All Hunkpapa Lakota)

Video or Drum Group

Video1 mpeg(Veterans_Songs)

Video 2 mpeg(Way of Life)

Video 1 mov(Veterans Songs)

Video2 mov(Way of Life)

Video 1 wmv(Veterans Songs)

Video2 wmv(Way of Life)

Please click on the above to see

This years guest drum is

Lakota Thunder

The Midnight Sun Intertribal Powwow Council

is organized exclusively to bring together

Alaska Natives, American Indians, and First Nations People of Canada in a powwow setting to share similarities and diversities, to honor the elders, and children, and to educate the general public of the heritage of the indigenous people of North America.