William S. Yellow Robe Jr.

William S. Yellow Robe Jr.
William S. Yellow Robe Jr.
Born	February 4, 1960; Poplar, Montana
Died	July 19, 2021 (aged 61); Bangor, Maine
Occupation	Actor; author; director; educator; playwright; poet;
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

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

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

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

^ "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.