Reginald and Gladys Laubin, American Indian Dancers

Abstract

Friends and cultural historians of many Indian families among the Sioux, Crow, and Shoshone-Bannock, Reginald and Gladys Laubin devoted their lives to preserving a vanishing culture by presenting authentic Indian dances, costumes, and songs. Through their performances, the Laubins helped white Americans to appreciate these expressions of Native culture as an art that should be preserved. Applauded by audiences across the United States and in Europe, Israel, and Africa, the Laubins were also praised by Indians of many tribes as worthy envoys of their cultures. In addition to live performances, which they continued into the late 1980s, the Laubins wrote and illustrated books on American Indian tipis, dances, and archery. The Laubins' endeavors belong to a bygone age, but this little book celebrates, within the proper historical context, their accomplishments and their true dedication to serving and preserving Native American culture. Their extensive collection of Indian artifacts are part of the permanent display in the Americas Gallery of the Spurlock Museum on the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois.