This remarkable two-disc collection features sixty-six Native Christian hymns sung by the Kiowa elder and singer Ralph Kotay. Particularly well-known for their song traditions, which range from peyote and powwow songs to hand-game and church songs, the Kiowas are a Southern Plains Indian tribe that today resides in southwestern Oklahoma. The Kiowa Christian hymn tradition first emerged around the turn of the twentieth century and combined the sound, structure, and style of European-American Christian hymns with pre-Christian Kiowa songs. To preserve the knowledge of these songs for future generations, Kotay sat down on a sultry July afternoon in July 2002 at his home in Apache, Oklahoma, and recorded them. The resulting collection will help ensure that these hymns remain a rich and enduring part of the cultural heritage of the Kiowa people.

Ralph Kotay is a noted Kiowa singer whose work has been featured in a number of publications and recordings, including Songs of Indian Territory and Remaining Ourselves: Music and Tribal Memory. The Kiowa Hymns CD set was produced by Ralph Kotay, Luke Eric Lassiter, and Chris Wendt, and is sponsored by the Center for Media Design at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.