Living Legends, originally the Lamanite Generation, is a song and dance performing group at Brigham Young University made up of performers of Native American, Polynesian and Hispanic or Latino origin. They perform dances that originate in these cultures as well. Living Legends was formed in 1971 by Janie Thompson.
History
Living Legends originally started as the Lamanite Generation which was an all-Native American performing group organized by Janie Thompson. The organization was first formed in 1971 and their first tour was across Indian reservations. They toured the Eastern United States in 1974 and they toured in Central and South American the following year. Thompson stated that the 1975 tour was, "the most significant tour in [her] entire career", because it impacted and influenced Native Americans south of the United States. Living Legends has performed around the world including China and the 1992 International Expo in Seville, Spain.
In the 1970s, the group was noted for its closing song at most performances "Go My Son", written by Arliene Nofchissey and Carnes Burson. The song encourages Native Americans to receive an education. This idea comes from the Navajo chief Manuelito who urged Native Americans to obtain an education. Native communities did not always see this message from the Lamanite Generation positively.
The transition to its current name was a long drawn out process. For example, in 1991 they still were using the name "Lamanite Generation" but performed a program entitled "Living Legends". Professor and historian Jared Farmer considers that BYU may have changed the name of the group to "Living Legends" to avoid racism associated with the word "Lamanite".
Tour history
This tour history begins in 1971 and ends in 2019.
- 1971âÂÂ72 Florida, Southern California, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan
- 1972âÂÂ73 Southern California, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Alberta, Saskatchewan
- 1973âÂÂ74 Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, Germany
- 1974âÂÂ75 Alberta, Saskatchewan, Oklahoma, British Columbia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
- 1975âÂÂ76 Ohio, Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., Ontario, Quebec
- 1976âÂÂ77 Arizona, Southern California, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Canada
- 1977âÂÂ78 Colorado, Arizona, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland
- 1978âÂÂ79 Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma
- 1979âÂÂ80 Southern California, Nevada, Romania, Hungary, Poland
- 1980âÂÂ81 Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan
- 1981âÂÂ82 Arizona, Northern California, Nevada, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, Hawaii
- 1982âÂÂ83 New Mexico, Arizona, North Dakota, South Dakota, England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark
- 1984âÂÂ85 Wyoming, Montana, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Mexico
- 1985âÂÂ86 Arizona, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii
- 1986âÂÂ87 California, Oregon, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Florida
- 1987âÂÂ88 New Mexico, German Democratic Republic, Federal Republic of Germany
- 1988âÂÂ89 Southern California, Nevada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Germany
- 1989âÂÂ90 Northern California, Nevada, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Idaho, Minnesota, Washington
- 1990âÂÂ91 Arizona, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Germany
- 1991âÂÂ92 Idaho, Oregon, Washington, People's Republic of China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan
- 1992âÂÂ93 Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Texas
- 1993âÂÂ94 New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming
- 1994âÂÂ95 California, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Austria
- 1995âÂÂ96 Nevada, California, Austria, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia
- 1996âÂÂ97 Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Tahiti, Western Samoa, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Hawaii
- 1997âÂÂ98 Arizona, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Ontario, Quebec
- 1998âÂÂ99 Nevada, California, Denmark, Norway, Sweden
- 1999âÂÂ2000 Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
- 2000âÂÂ01 Nevada, California, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan
- 2001âÂÂ02 Alaska
- 2002âÂÂ03 New Mexico
- 2003âÂÂ04 Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, South Africa
- 2004âÂÂ05 Arizona, Nevada, California, Mexico
- 2005âÂÂ06 Wyoming, Montana, Germany, Austria
- 2006âÂÂ07 Alaska, Nevada, California, South Dakota, Iowa, North Dakota, Canada
- 2007âÂÂ08 Colorado, Wyoming, Chile
- 2008âÂÂ09 Arizona, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay
- 2009âÂÂ10 China, Utah
- 2010âÂÂ11 Russia, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Alaska
- 2011âÂÂ12 Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nauvoo, Illinois
- 2012âÂÂ13 Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua
- 2013âÂÂ14 California, Nevada, Nauvoo, Illinois
- 2014âÂÂ15 New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Canada, Alaska
- 2015âÂÂ16 New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa
- 2016âÂÂ17 Idaho, Washington, Oregon
- 2017âÂÂ18 Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska
- 2018âÂÂ19 Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil
Recording
References
External links
- Living legends: maintaining a trans-cultural identity, 2019, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
- Performing Arts Management records on Living Legends, 1991âÂÂ1994, 1997âÂÂ1999, 2001âÂÂ2004, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University
- Group web page
- LDS Music store link to Go My Son
- BYU Records page for group