About Native Praise
Native Praise is presently in its sixth year as a singing group.
It is a choir of approximately 100 women (ages 16-86) of Native
American descent, or affiliated with Indian church congregations
throughout Oklahoma. The songs are traditional hymns,
unaccompanied, with lead singers, rather than a director,
and sung in the languages of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma.
The Native Praise choir is a direct result of Native American LINK,
a non-profit Christian organization, whose key efforts are to establish
LINKs among our tribes in our Christian work. Its purpose is also to
link Native American women with the non-Indian women in our
churches, and to strengthen the family unit among our Indian people.
Willene Pierce serves as founder and Director of Native American LINK
and Augusta Smith is the Native Praise choir coordinator.
The choir has sung throughout Oklahoma from the Panhandle in
northwest Oklahoma to Durant in the southeast corner, and from
Weatherford in southwestern Oklahoma to Tahlequah in the northeast,
and many places in between. The choir also toured the mid-Atlantic
states of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware in the
spring of 2003, which included singing in the U.S. Capitol Building.
In June 2003, Native Praise sung for a Native American rally held at
the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, a rally sponsored by the Billy
Graham Association. They have sung in churches, state and national
annual meetings (BGCO, Arkansas WMU, OK-WMU, SBC-WMU, Promise
Seekers Ladies Retreat, Indian Falls Creek), for tribal events and
celebrations, for wedding and funeral services, and for various
conference gatherings bearing Native American emphases.
In September 2004, Native Praise was featured on the KOTV television
program, “Inside Native America”, hosted by George Tiger. The choir
recently recorded a CD, which was released in July 2005.
The Native Praise choir accepted the invitation to represent the
North American Baptist Women’s Union at the worldwide meeting
of Baptist Women held in Birmingham, England in July 2005. They
also were a participating choir for the International Music Concert
while in Birmingham, which also featured Larnelle Harris.
The choir continues to participate in worship experiences
throughout churches in Oklahoma and surrounding states.
It is a choir of approximately 100 women (ages 16-86) of Native
American descent, or affiliated with Indian church congregations
throughout Oklahoma. The songs are traditional hymns,
unaccompanied, with lead singers, rather than a director,
and sung in the languages of the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma.
The Native Praise choir is a direct result of Native American LINK,
a non-profit Christian organization, whose key efforts are to establish
LINKs among our tribes in our Christian work. Its purpose is also to
link Native American women with the non-Indian women in our
churches, and to strengthen the family unit among our Indian people.
Willene Pierce serves as founder and Director of Native American LINK
and Augusta Smith is the Native Praise choir coordinator.
The choir has sung throughout Oklahoma from the Panhandle in
northwest Oklahoma to Durant in the southeast corner, and from
Weatherford in southwestern Oklahoma to Tahlequah in the northeast,
and many places in between. The choir also toured the mid-Atlantic
states of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware in the
spring of 2003, which included singing in the U.S. Capitol Building.
In June 2003, Native Praise sung for a Native American rally held at
the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, a rally sponsored by the Billy
Graham Association. They have sung in churches, state and national
annual meetings (BGCO, Arkansas WMU, OK-WMU, SBC-WMU, Promise
Seekers Ladies Retreat, Indian Falls Creek), for tribal events and
celebrations, for wedding and funeral services, and for various
conference gatherings bearing Native American emphases.
In September 2004, Native Praise was featured on the KOTV television
program, “Inside Native America”, hosted by George Tiger. The choir
recently recorded a CD, which was released in July 2005.
The Native Praise choir accepted the invitation to represent the
North American Baptist Women’s Union at the worldwide meeting
of Baptist Women held in Birmingham, England in July 2005. They
also were a participating choir for the International Music Concert
while in Birmingham, which also featured Larnelle Harris.
The choir continues to participate in worship experiences
throughout churches in Oklahoma and surrounding states.