KEVIN “MINGO” GLASS
Native American drummer/flautist

Mingo is a widely respected artist of Choctaw-Tunica and Cheyenne descent who drums and sings at Pow Wows for sixteen Native American tribes from Oklahoma to Alaska. He studied singing and drumming with master artists Jack Anquoe of the Kyowa People, Perry Aunco of the Kiowa People and Vernon Atkins of the Otoe and Navajo People. In addition, he performs and studies with flautist Evans Barr of the Kiowa People and studied medicine with Sam Drywater of the Keetowah, Cherokee and Lakota People.

When Mingo’s mother died in Louisiana on his thirteenth birthday, he was sent north to live with his grandfather, John Armond Glass (Whitehorse) and his uncles. He was adopted by the Cheyenne and lived on the Canadian/Alaskan border for seven years. He went on a two-year walkabout with his grandfather, where he practiced a subsistence lifestyle and learned to integrate the spiritual, physical and mental aspects of the Native American life.

Mingo learned the northern tribal songs and was honored to study with the Great Ponca People; Oliver Littlecook who runs the top drum in the United States and Morgan Grass, famous drummer and son of Martha Grass, the first female Native American representative for the Ponca People in Washington, D.C. When Mingo’s last uncle died, he moved south to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he continues to study and perform, and share the unique knowledge of his people.

<-- back