William S. Yellow Robe Jr.
William S. Yellow Robe Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 4, 1960 Poplar, Montana[1] |
| Died | July 19, 2021 (aged 61) Bangor, Maine |
| Occupation |
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| Nationality | Fort Peck Assiniboine |
| Genre | Native American literature |
| Notable works | Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers: And Other Untold Stories, Where the Pavement Ends |
| Notable awards | First Nations Book Award for Drama |
William S. Yellow Robe Jr. (February 4, 1960 – July 19, 2021) was an Assiniboine actor, author, director, educator, playwright, and poet.[2]
Life and career
[edit]A member of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Yellow Robe was raised by his mother on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana.[3] He studied writing and performing arts at the University of Montana.[4]
Yellow Robe's works have been performed in venues across the United States, including the Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul;[5] the Public Theater in New York;[6] the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI;[7] and the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.[8] He was a member of Penumbra, as well as the Ensemble Studio Theater,[9] Amerinda, Inc.,[2] and the advisory board for Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre.[10]
Yellow Robe has also taught at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Brown University,[11] and the University of Maine.[12]
He died following a long illness in Bangor on July 19, 2021.[13] The day after he died, Yellow Robe was named the recipient of a $40,000 award in recognition of his contributions to theatre.[14] His papers joined the many playwright and poetry archives at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin in 2022 and are available there for research.[15]
Awards
[edit]- New England Theater Conference Special Award winner (2004)[16]
- New York Community Trust Helen Merril Award for Playwrighting (2021), announced one day after Yellow Robe died.
Bibliography
[edit]- Where the Pavement Ends: Five Native American Plays. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. 2003. ISBN 0806132655.
- Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers and Other Untold Stories. UCLA American Indian Studies Center. 2009. ISBN 978-0935626599.
- The Body Guards. ASIN: B014613HLM
- The Burning of Uncle. *from Learner, A. (Ed.). (1990). Dancing on the rim of the world: an anthology of contemporary Northwest native American writing. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0816512157
- The Council. ASIN: B014617O4S
- Independence of Eddie Rose. ASIN: B00LLPCN1C *from Mojica, M. and Knowles, R. (Eds.). (2003). Staging coyote's dream: an anthology of First Nations drama in English. Toronto: Playwrights Canada Press. ISBN 978-0887546259
- Restless Spirits: plays. Albany: State University of New York Press, [2020]. ISBN 978-1438478647
- Rez Politics. ASIN: B0146168YK
- Sneaky. ASIN: B014619D42
- The Star Quilter. ASIN: B01461109S
Notes
[edit]- ^ "William Yellow Robe Receives Lifetime Achievement Award". Department of English. University of Maine. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
- ^ a b c "William S. Yellow Robe Jr". Amerinda.org. Amerinda. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Uno, Roberta; Robe, William Yellow (Fall 1989). "Interview: William Yellow Robe". MELUS. 16 (3): 83. doi:10.2307/467568. JSTOR 467568.
- ^ Pulitano, Elvira (Spring 1998). "Telling Stories through the Stage: A Conversation with William Yellow Robe". Studies in American Indian Literatures. 10 (1): 19.
- ^ "Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers". Penumbra. Penumbra Theatre. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Hetrick, Adam (August 3, 2011). "William S. YellowRobe Jr.'s Thieves Arrives at the Public". Playbill. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ "Past Seasons". Trinity Repertory Company. Archived from the original on 2012-02-28. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
- ^ "National Museum of the American Indian Presents Production of Grandchildren of the Buffalo Soldiers". Newsdesk. Smithsonian. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Geiogamah, Hanay. "Interview with William S. Yellow Robe Jr. (2007)". Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ "Acclaimed playwright William S. Yellow Robe Jr. to read works at Hangin' Art Gallery". Char-Koosta News. November 8, 2012. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ McElwain, Diana (April 21, 2003). "William Yellow Robe: No One's Stray Dog". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ "Faculty — William Yellow Robe". Department of English. University of Maine. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- ^ Burnham, Emily (21 July 2021). "Acclaimed Native playwright and UMaine lecturer William Yellow Robe dies at 61". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
- ^ "Helen Merrill Awards Announce 6 Winners". 20 July 2021.
- ^ "My Friend Bill Yellow Robe". sites.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
- ^ Watts, Jeff (Fall 2004). "Countdown to Convention 2004" (PDF). NETC News (PDF). 13 (4). Retrieved 2015-03-24.
Further reading
[edit]- Krasner, David (2009). "Coming-of-Age on the Rez: William S. Yellow Robe's The Independence of Eddie Rose as Native American Bildungsdrama". In Wilmer, S. E. (ed.). Native American Performance and Representation. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. pp. 171–181. ISBN 978-0816526468.
- Rooks, David (2005). "The Real Thing: Identity and cultural authenticity are dramatic fodder for William S. Yellow Robe Jr. An interview". American Theater. Theatre Communications Group. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
- Stoudt, Charlotte (2004). "Border Crossings: Theatre, Tribalism and Twenty-First-Century America. Luis Valdez at San Diego Repertory Theatre and William Yellow Robe Jr., at Trinity Repertory Company". In Stoudt, Charlotte (ed.). Stages of Transformation: Collaborations of the National Theatre Artist Residency Program. New York: Theatre Communications Group. pp. 56–67. ISBN 978-1559362771.
- Weagel, Deborah Fillerup (2011). "The Quilt as (Non-)Commodity in William S. Yellow Robe Jr.'s The Star Quilter". Western American Literature. 46 (1): 46–64. doi:10.1353/wal.2011.0038. S2CID 163056238.
- Weinert-Kendt, Rob. "In the Trenches: William Yellow Robe". tgc circle. Theater Communications Group. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
External links
[edit]- William S. Yellow Robe Jr. Papers at the Harry Ransom Center
- Faculty Profile at the University of Maine
- Bill Yellow Robe Spoke Native Truth to White Power by Rhiana Yazzie at American Theatre
| International | |
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| National | |
Categories:
- 1960 births
- 2021 deaths
- 20th-century American poets
- 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American male actors
- 20th-century Native Americans
- 21st-century American poets
- 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights
- 21st-century American male writers
- 21st-century American male actors
- American male dramatists and playwrights
- American male poets
- Assiniboine people
- Black Native American people
- Brown University faculty
- Institute of American Indian Arts faculty
- Male actors from Montana
- Native American dramatists and playwrights
- Native American male actors
- Native American poets
- People from Poplar, Montana
- University of Maine faculty
- University of Montana alumni
- Writers from Montana
- 21st-century Native American writers
- Native American people from Montana