Oklahoma born and raised, and recently semi-retired there after living in St. Paul, Minnesota for many years, Mitch Walking Elk is an enrolled member of the Southern Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. He also is part Hopi. Mitch founded the Indigenous Youth Ceremonial Mentoring Society, a select group of Indigenous youth attending school in the St. Paul School District who are taught traditional ceremonial life ways of Indigenous Tribal Nations. He has been a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) since 1974. AIM originated in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1968 initially in response to police brutality against Native people but evolved into a national movement that encourages the survival and revival of Indian traditions. He is a recording artist, songwriter and blues singer who has performed throughout the U.S., South America, Japan, toured European countries more than 50 times, won Best Blues Recording for “Up From the Ashes” at the 2013 Native American Music Awards (NAMA), and is also the author of an autobiography titled “There Will Be No Surrender” which has been published in Germany.