Native American fiddler Arvel bird won the Nammy (the Native American Music Awards) for Best Instrumental. This is Arvel's Nammy thank you statement: "I would like to thank the Native American Music Awards for all the work they've done to produce the Nammy Awards and the Seminole Nation for hosting the event in their beautiful Hard Rock Live venue. Thank you, Ellen Bello, for the opportunity to perform this year, also Donald Kelly, Uncle Joe Bello and all the volunteers who dedicated themselves to putting on this wonderful event. Big thank you to Daniel Tramper and the other dancers who added so much to each performance! James and Ernie were the perfect MCs for the show and really kept things fun and moving!

I would also like to thank all the advisory board members that voted for me and the estimated one million people who took the time to go to the Nammys.com website to vote for their favorite artists. Thank you. With that kind of growing support, Native American entertainers are quickly becoming a force to reckon with.

I'd like to especially thank all the people who bought Animal Totems, my first Native American CD, and the multitudes who asked if the stories I tell in my live performance were on the Animal Totems CD (which they were not) because without their requests, Arvel Bird Live! CD would never have been recorded.

And most of all, I want to thank my biggest fan, Kimberly Kelley, whose tireless efforts and dedication made it possible for me to be there.

This is not only a win for me it's also a win for the Southern Paiutes of Utah, Arizona and Nevada who have been much overlooked and underestimated for far too long."