Masthead Banner Made with MyBannerMaker.com! Click here to make your own!Of Ojibwe & Tohono O’odham heritage, Darren Thompson has emerged as one of the new generation of Native American flute performers. His musical interest in the Native American flute began while experiencing with different genres of music to help him focus on his studies at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While attending North America’s largest American Indian cultural festival, the Indian Summer Festival, in Milwaukee he was given a traditional cedar flute as a gift and was immediately challenged to master it.Thompson’s first performance was at Marquette University and since then he has traveled the United States performing in over one hundred cities as a solo artist. He has shared his journey as a performer at venues such as the Smithsonian’s grand opening of the National Museum of the American Indian, America’s largest American Indian cultural festival, and many universities throughout the United States and Canada. In addition to his performances, Thompson spends much of his experience giving educational workshops on the revival of American Indian music and efforts of many other artisans. Thompson has contributed music to several projects done by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Native sponsored websites, and to be used by federally recognized tribes in the United States.Thompson earned national attention for a year long struggle concerning a mascot and logo issue at Marquette University. With his experience as a performer and an activist for many issues regarding the indigenous peoples of this hemisphere, Thompson was featured by the National Broadcasting Company for his success in opposing a prestigious academic institution’s attempt to revive a racist tradition in the use of a mascot and logo. He was quoted as “one of the most influential speakers on race today†and since has presented his experience at many conferences, universities, and other events in both the United States and Canada. He was featured as a guest speaker for one of the most prominent sports conferences in Indian Country, the 2006 North American Indigenous Games Educational Conference in Denver, Colorado, where he presented his experience with many attendees including Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills, the United Nations’ Indigenous Representative of the Western Hemisphere Mr. Willie Littlechild, several members of the International Olympic Committee, and USA Today. He is currently writing his first book, an autobiography, which he hopes will educate all people about the perseverance of his proud people, the Indigenous peoples of this hemisphere.For more information regarding Darren Thompson please contact him at
[email protected]
