| Reginald and Gladys Laubin's new book is an unusual one, depicting not only Indian dancing, but also Indian life, customs, rituals, and traditions from the time Jacques Cartier in 1534 first saw Indians dancing in a canoe, to the new revival of interest among Indians in their own heritage, now encouraged by the Government in the new acculturation program on the reservations today. |
| Aiding us with this new project, the Laubins have given concerts, demonstrative lectures, and have held seminars for Indian youth and leadership conferences in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Montana and for Indian schools in Pierre, South Dakota, on the Fort Thompson, Lower Brul, and Pine Ridge reservations, and for the new Navajo College at Many Farms, Arizona. |
| The Laubins were named Tatanka Wanjila and Wiyaka Wastewin when adopted by Chief One Bull, famous "fighting nephew" of the great Sitting Bull of history. Because of their adoption, Indians everywhere have accepted the Laubins as their own. I have known them and of their lifetime dedication to the preservation of Indian dance and culture for a long time, when they first presented their Ancient Indian Dances for the National Congress of American Indians, which now represents 105 tribes with a membership of 350,000. Without question, it was one of the finest programs I have ever witnessed and I have seen many Indian performances. We Indians are very skeptical of non-Indians interpreting our dances, but Reginald and Gladys are imbued with their true spirit and character, and are the first to present real Indian dancing on the concert stage, either here at home or abroad. |
| Chief One Bull and his brother, Chief White Bull, lived in the Laubins' tipi on several occasions on the Standing Rock Reservation. The two old men and their old cronies were so grateful for the Laubins' interest, when not even their own young people showed any, that they requested them to record and preserve the old ways. One Bull said, "You know exactly the real Indian ways. You are more Indian than our own Indian children." Kills Pretty Enemy added, "It is a good thing you are doing, keeping alive the old ways for coming generations, both Indian and white." No wonder our Indian people are warm in their praise of the Laubins. |
| This book, with its historical rsum and the Laubins' personal observations and experiences, is most timely and will be welcome, not only to the dancer, the anthropologist, the historian, and the educator, but to the layman and to the Indian people as well. Reginald and Gladys have spent most of their lives with and as Indians, and this book reflects their years of effort in our behalf. They have cut a clear path through the wilderness of misinterpretation, misunderstanding, and prejudice, making no concessions to preconceived notions, and present us as people with cul- |
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