Dennis Zotigh
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Dennis Zotigh
Dennis W. Zotigh, is a Native American representing the Kiowa, San Juan Pueblo and Santee Dakota tribes and resides in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Dennis is currently the director of The Great American Indian Dance Company and has a bachelor's degree in Journalism/ Public Relations from the University of Oklahoma. He has just returned to school to start on his master's degree in business management.
Dennis began singing and dancing at Native American celebrations at a very young age.
He grew up learning traditional values and has extended his capabilities as a cultural promoter
by learning songs, dances and their significance from Indigenous Nations across North America. With this wealth of knowledge he has lectured at universities, educational conferences and symposiums both domestically and internationally on topics concerning American Indian Culture.
In 1990, he and his father revived an historical Indian art form by founded the "Worlds Championship Hoop Dance Contest", held annually at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. He has been the Master of Ceremonies for three consecutive years at the "Miss Indian World Competition", at the Gathering of Nations in Albuquerque, New Mexico in addition to serving various roles in numerous other Native American pageants.
In 1991, he was commissioned to write a text encompassing Native American dance entitled, MOVING HISTORY: The Evolution Of The Pow-Wow. It is permanently housed and distributed by Oklahoma City's Red Earth Center, formally the Center of the American Indian. Currently, Dennis is doing additional research in order to re-publish his book and distribute it nationwide through Graphic Arts Publishing Company of Portland, Oregon.
As a performer, Dennis has toured 49 states and 21 foreign countries. In January of 1996, he performed in Germany representing North America in Stuttgart's world renowned "CMT INTERNATIONAL TOURISM CONFERENCE". In August he returned for a three-week tour in Korea with the Great American Indian Dancers. He later performed in the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan, in November, to help celebrate their five years of independence from the former Soviet Union. In February of 1997, he toured the Netherlands for three weeks.
Culturally, Dennis is a proud member of the Kiowa Gourd Clan and the San Juan Pueblo Winter Clan. As both Indian dancer and singer, he has competed and won numerous awards for his talents. He currently sings with the newly organized Indian drum group the "Zotigh Singers" and recently released their debut cassette through the Indian House Recording label. In 1998, the Zotigh Singers will be the host drum group at two of the largest pow-wows in North America:
The Gathering of Nations in New Mexico and Schemitzun in Connecticut.
Dennis has served on the Oklahoma City "Mayor's Indian Commission", The Mid-America Arts Alliance "Multicultural Advisory Board", in Kansas City, Missouri, The Oklahoma State Commission of Indian Affair's "Cultural Arts Promotion Society" and as a cultural advisor for the Joseph Harp Correctional Facility in Lexington, Oklahoma. This summer, he will return to the Oklahoma Children's Theater, for his third year, to teach theater techniques and direct a play using Native themes and creation stories.
Dennis seeks to preserve the past, to broaden how Native Americans are viewed in the present and to create new opportunities for Indian youth in the future.