William S. Yellow Robe Jr. (February 4, 1960 – July 19, 2021) was an Assiniboine actor, author, director, educator, playwright, and poet.[2]

William S. Yellow Robe Jr.
Born	(1960-02-04)February 4, 1960 Poplar, Montana[1]
Died	July 19, 2021(2021-07-19) (aged 61) Bangor, Maine
Occupation	Actor author director educator playwright poet[2]
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

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

Further reading

• 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

• 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