Who else remembers the BYU dance and music group for native american tribes, The Lamanite Generation? They were heavily promoted at one time to show how inclusive the Church was! The title would be a NO NO nowadays! I was reminded if it when i saw a postcard for them on Ebay!

Yep Britboy, I remember a performance in the 1970's. I also recall, on another occasion, missionaries performing an American Indian 'Hoop Dance'. Regards.

Bloody science! Sucking all the fun out of the Mormon activities. ;o)

It was one of the big performing groups when I was there in the 70s. I enjoyed their shows.

And what would Seminary have been without the Tom Trails soap opera? Gawd, we were so brainwashed and naive.

I was in the International Folk Dance Ensemble and we had some interaction with LG members. I think the guys in that group were just as ghey as we were (well, I know for sure that some of them were). I don't know what we would have all done if there hadn't been places like that to hide out in plain sight at YBU.

Have you posted about that before?

About IFD? Hmm... probably a little onece or twice. I'd love to catch up with some exmo dancers someday and get some of the stories on record. There's some important LGBT community history there.

Yeah. I was in Folk Dancers in the early seventies. Only thing that made BYU bearable. Mary Bee is having her 99th birthday party on Sunday I hear. She's still kicking higher than anyone.

Mary Bee is a phenomenon for sure. She did finally get baptized, around the time I was there but I don't think she ever drank the kool-aid.

I kinda want to do interviews with dancers like the ones I've been doing of gay guys who served missions and maybe do another short documentary. I was so clueless about the shenanigans going on right under my nose... sigh.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2016 05:10PM by Inverso.

I happen to know she did not drink the kook-aid. The baptism was a "gift" to the missionary son I would say. The lady always knew what was what.

Another story from the 70s... In 1978, my family lived in San Antonio, Texas. Half our stake was "Lamanite". Anyway, there were just a hand full of us going to BYU at the time and only one was "Lamanite". She was fabulously talented and tried out for cheerleader. She got cut on the final cut. One of the judges came up to her afterwards and told her flat out she didn't make the team because she was dark skinned and stuck out amongst the blondes. The judge told her to try out for Lamanite Generation. She did, and made it into the group.

It's so breathtakingly appalling what BYU still gets away with.

Now that you mention it I vaguely remember it. It was during the Saturday's Warrior time period. I wonder whatever became of that, other than DNA debunking the whole erroneous story.

played the piano and accompanied them the very day in 1974 on BYU campus that SWK visited and gave his incredibly bad speech to the Lamanites.....amazing times...

God. Is there any group that mormons haven't offended? Mormonism is like the Donald Trump of religion.

^^^^ FUNNY ^^^^

StillAnon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> God. Is there any group that mormons haven't
> offended? Mormonism is like the Donald Trump of
> religion.


Good one!

"Go my son, go and climb the ladder,
Go my son, get an education,
Go my son, make your people proud of you--"

Of course, I remember The Lamanite Generation dancing to Cherokee Nation and BYU's Tribe of Many Feathers.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2016 04:00PM by BYU Boner.

I was a musician for the Entertainment Division/Program Bureau after some of you ealier folks. I worked with the YA-YAs during the late 70s.

Was anyone else here around then, or, more specifically, part of the 1st India trip in 1/1980? (also Nepal, Sri Lanka) I don't mind calling it out openly. We could commiserate together! What a "character-building" experience that was, huh?! OMG, I needed therapy after that thing.

Yes, I was a YA and went on that India trip. Were you in the band? I remember Randy castigating me on the plane one day because I didn't have my 'journal entries' done yet for my assigned days, as though I had betrayed a country and committed some mortal sin. It was obvious he was being 'righteous' for the listening audience. What a dick. I also remember we had to LOOK AT THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS the whole time they were giving the pre-flight speeches--because that's what respectful Mormons do-- and some general authority taking offense at the fact that I leaned against another cast member while falling asleep during some 15 hour flight.

I was also on the trip to china the following year with Bruce R. McConkie, I realize now he must have been banished from SLC for his fight with professor England, and traveling with us was his punishment!!

Hey YA_waybackthen!

Yes, I was with an India tour. Unfortunately, it was the maiden voyage 1 year before yours. I went with another man I admired a lot at the time, Newell Dayley. Not Randy. Our special guest? Jeff Holland. JH was semi-normal then, folks. What happened? He was with church education back then, right?

Newell's love for jazz seemed to tell me where his real heart lay... but I think he had to deal with too many TBMs that he couldn't escape.

I was sorry to hear that KND left music and was promoted into more administrative work. Back in 1975, he was pretty darn cool, playing that trumpet with Synthesis. :)

In addition to Mary Bee (who I have heard of but unfortunately never worked with), one more YBU dance teacher really "got it." He helped me and my friends cope with the repressive environment there and took us under his wing. Im referring to Dee Winterton.

Dee began in modern dance and became a big part of The Ririe-Woodbury (sp?) Modern Company in SLC. He then taught modern dance at the Y. He branched out and choreographed for the Program Bureau/Division, and the Music and Theater departments. As well as being a great help to me when I hated being stuck at the Y, or whatever my gripes were, I loved his great choreography and performing talent.

While Dee worked at the Y, Bob Redford asked him to become artistic director at Sundance Summer Theater up in the Provo Canyon each summer. He did that from the mid-70s until the time of his death, roughly 1984 .


So to Dee, and all the other YBU teachers who were really THERE for us radicals, I say, "CHEERS!" and "THANK YOU!"

I wish I had known that side of Dee! all I knew was that he seemed to utterly despise me for having been classically trained in ballet, not modern dance. I danced with the byu ballet company for a year and then performed with young ambassadors after that. Dee never failed to express his disdain for my training, except one time, when he needed me to choreograph a ballet number for him to use. When I presented my choreography, as he requested, he rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically, but then used my work for the rest of the year in our show. You were lucky to have seen a different aide of him, I wish I had also.

Yes, I had friends in the LG back in the 80's.

The name of the group was changed to "Living Legends"

Anybody remember Al Edwards from LG in the early 70's? Tall singer.

Anyone remember Al Edwards from LG in the early 70's? Tall singer. Swinomish from Washington state.

I remember seeing them perform at BYU in a variety show when I was visiting the campus with a friend. That trip had a number of head-scratching moments, and thinking, "What's a Lamanite, they look like Native Americans?" was one of them.

"Go my son, go and earn your feather."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjYt3OxRWZE


The descendant-group of the LG is now called "Living Legends."

I think "Cherokee People" was a better song!

Yes, I do. Had some friend in them during the 80's

They changed the name to Living Legends, now, and I think they incorporate Asians? Not sure. The lady behind them, Janie Thompson, died in the past few years

(Opps sorry. I realize someone just unentombed an old thread ;) )



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2017 05:58PM by angela.

> Who else remembers the BYU dance and music group
> for native american tribes, The Lamanite
> Generation?

Wasn't Wei-Wei Wong in that group?

Ahhh, no - that was The Second Generation :-)

(you have to be a Brit of a certain age lol).