Verdell Primeaux is a Dakota

Sioux

The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...

 Yankton/Ponca

Ponca

The Ponca are a Native American people of the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan-language group. There are two federally recognized Ponca tribes: the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma...

 singer and songwriter in the Native American Church

Native American Church

Native American Church, a religious denomination which practices Peyotism or the Peyote religion, originated in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and is the most widespread indigenous religion among Native Americans in the United States...

 tradition of peyote songs, accompanied by rattle

Rattle (percussion)

A rattle is a percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects, like sand or nuts. Rhythmical shaking of this instrument produces repetitive, rather dry timbre noises. In some kinds of music, a rattle assumes the role of the metronome, as an alternative to...

 and water drum

Water drum

Water drums are a category of membranophone characterized by the filling of the drum chamber with some amount of water to create a unique sound. Water drums are common in Native American music, and in some forms of African and Southeast Asian music....

. With Johnny Mike (Diné

Dine

-People named Dine:* Jim Dine , an American pop artist* S. S. Van Dine, an art critic and author* Tom Dine, an American government worker-Other meanings:* Beit ed-Dine, a town in Lebanon* Diné, name for the Navajo Nation in the Navajo language...

), they are known as the duo Primeaux and Mike.

Primeaux was born in 1966 in Scottsbluff, Nebraska

Scottsbluff, Nebraska

Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 15,039 at the 2010 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panhandle, and the 13th largest city in Nebraska....

 to the Pine Ridge

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...

 Oglala Lakota

Oglala Lakota

The Oglala Lakota or Oglala Sioux are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people; along with the Nakota and Dakota, they make up the Great Sioux Nation. A majority of the Oglala live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the eighth-largest Native American reservation in the...

 Nation, South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

, and is the son of noted peyote singer Francis Primeaux Senior and grandson of Harry Primeaux. He currently resides in Tuba City, Arizona

Tuba City, Arizona

Tuba City is a census-designated place in Coconino County, Arizona, United States. The population was 8,225 at the 2000 census. It is the Dine' Nation's largest community, slightly larger than Shiprock, New Mexico. The Hopi town of Moenkopi lies directly to its southeast.The name of the town...

 with his wife and children.

Achievements

• 2002 Grammy Award with Johnny Mike, co-artist, for Best Native American Music Album, Bless The People - Harmonized Peyote Songs, Jack Miller, engineer, Giuli Doyle & Robert Doyle, producers.
• 2002 Nammy Award
  Native American Music Awards
  The Native American Music Awards , commonly known as the Nammys, are an awards program presented annually by The Native American Music Association & Awards, which recognizes outstanding musical achievement among Native Americans...
  
   with Johnny Mike, co-artist, for Best Traditional Recording, Bless the People.

Discography

• Peyote Songs (vol.1) (Canyon Records
  Canyon Records
  Canyon Records of Phoenix, Arizona has produced and distributed Native American music for 56 years. Canyon was founded in 1951 by Ray and Mary Boley, who had opened the first recording studio in Phoenix, Arizona Recording Productions, in 1948...
  
  -16301) with Johnny Mike
• Peyote & Healing Songs (vol.2) (CR-16302) with Robert Attson
• Peyote Songs (vol.3) (CR-16303) with Johnny Mike
• Walk in Beauty: Healing Songs 1995 (vol.4) (CR-16304) with Johnny Mike
• Peyote Songs (vol.5) (CR-16305) with Johnny Mike
• Peyote Songs in Sioux & Navajo (CR-6301) with Johnny Mike
• Sacred Path (vol.6) (CR-6306) with Joe Jakob
• Peyote Songs of the Native American Church (vol.7) (CR-6309) with Johnny Mike
• Gathering of Voices (vol.8) (CR-6310) with Johnny Mike
• Live in Harmony (CR-6313) with Johnny Mike
• Evolution: Generation to Generation 2000 (CR-6314) with Johnny Mike
• Bless the People: Harmonized Peyote Songs
  Bless the People: Harmonized Peyote Songs
  Bless the People: Harmonized Peyote Songs is a studio album by Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike, released through Canyon Records in 2001. The album contains twenty original songs, grouped into five tracks of four songs each...
  
  2001 (CR-6317) with Johnny Mike
• Hours Before Dawn 2002 (CR-6342) with Johnny Mike
• Stories Told 2008 (CR-6432) with Terry Hanks
• The Color of Morning 2007 (CR-7081) with Xavier Quijas Yxayotl
• Healing Winds (Cool Runnings Music) with Johnny Mike
• Mystical Warrior (CRM)
• Peyote Songs From Lakota Country (CRM)
• Veterans and Honor Songs (CRM)

External links

• Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike