Red Leaf Takoja – Song of the Heartbeat

Hosted by Wes Studi and Howard Bad Hand
Featuring the music of Red Leaf Takoja $24.95 

A music performance video featuring a singer's eye view of Red Leaf Takoja, one the most popular Lakota drum groups of the 80s and early 90s. Extensive footage of contemporary Native American song and dance performance. Get a peek inside this singing tradition in interviews with singers, elders and spectators. A soundtrack CD and a full color 16 page booklet are included with the DVD. Words to each song in Lakota and English are also found in the booklet.

The Red Leaf Takoja Singers, now known as The Heart Beat Singers, were drawn from reservation communities in South Dakota, from Denver, from Oklahoma and from the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. In portions of this video they are joined by other talented singers from several other locations in New Mexico, South Dakota and Oklahoma.

The original Red Leaf singers and their younger offshoot, Red Leaf Takoja, were known as traditional song keepers for the Sicangu Lakota (the Rosebud Sioux Tribe), several group members were also widely recognized for their skill at composing appropriate songs for any occasion upon request. Several such songs are included in this video. Also included is the most extensive known video recording of Lakota Victory Songs.

Recorded at the Taos Pueblo Powwow, the Rosebud (South Dakota) Fair in 1990 and at Denver March Powwow in 1990 and 1991, this music performance video documents an aspect of contemporary Lakota culture poorly understood by the general public -- the celebration of life in song and dance, and the central part played by these musical expressions in virtually all of contemporary Native American society. The producers invite you to relax and allow yourself to sink into the melodies and become saturated by the color and movement of the dancers and experience first hand, the compelling, life-affirming feelings engendered by this musical way of life.