Washington, D.C. put out the welcome mat for Seminole Tribe of Florida brothers Spencer Battiest and Doc Native as they made their marks around the district recently.

Together they performed at the National Museum of the American Indian’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival on June 28. It was the first after-hours concert on the Four Directions stage in a show called “First Beats: Indigenous Hip Hop.” They performed 11 songs, had a guest singer and two dancers from Indigenous Enterprise.

“We had a really good response from the crowd. We had about 15 family members with us,” said Native, who won an MTV Video Music Award in 2017 with Spencer as part of an all-Native group.

The theme of the Folklife Festival, which ran from June 26 to July 1, was “Indigenous Voices of the Americas: Celebrating the National Museum of the American Indian.” The festival on the National Mall featured more than 250 participants from 60 Indigenous communities from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Additionally, the festival marked the 20th anniversary of NMAI in Washington and the 30th anniversary of the museum’s New York City location.

Battiest and his partner Jay Valle also attended the White House’s Pride celebration June 27.

“Everything this week leads up to when we perform at the museum,” Battiest said. “When we got the invitation to the White House it was the icing on the cake.”

It has been a busy year for Battiest, who was honored with the Harvey Milk Medal in March. Valle, a journalist for NBC Universal in New York, won a GLADD media award this year.

“You work and you never know if people are paying attention,” Battiest said. “Just being visible and being yourself is enough. We were honored to be [at the White House Pride event].”

Battiest asked his friend Melissa DeMayo to make him a pride jacket to wear to the Milk award ceremony, but instead he was inspired by fellow awardee Billie Porter and wore a traditional Seminole long shirt instead. In May, he asked DeMayo if she could make the jacket in time for him to attend the Pride parade in New York City on June 30.

“Melissa was able to combine all of who I am in the jacket,” Battiest said. “It’s man on horse patchwork done in pride flag and trans flag colors.”

He wore the jacket to the White House event, where he met other Natives from Oklahoma. He said it was cool to see other Natives at the White House wearing their tribe’s regalia, jewelry and clothing.

The POTUS, (President of the United States) Instagram and Facebook accounts posted only seven photos from the event. The photo of Battiest and Valle was among the chosen few. The Instagram post read “Last night, the White House opened its doors to thousands of Americans from all across the country to honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of the LGBTQI+ community, and to celebrate their legacy and progress.”

“I don’t lead by being a queer artist, but it’s who I am,” Battiest said. “This year I’ve been celebrated more and I’m grateful for it.”