Indian Actors Workshop

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The Indian Actors Workshop was co-founded by Jay Silverheels [1] in the early 1960s at the Los Angeles Indian Centre, with the support of Buffy Sainte-Marie, Iron Eyes Cody, and Rodd Redwing. [2] [3]

The Workshop aimed to promote Native American writing and acting talent in Hollywood, train Native American actors in theatre arts, and advocated a more accurate representation of Native Americans in theatre, television and film. [1] In 1973, Silverheels stated that: "Our No. 1 goal is to tap into the dormant creativity of the Indians." [4]

The Workshop met weekly at venues such as the Los Angeles Indian Center and the Echo Park United Methodist Church. Acting lessons were given by Silverheels, Noble Kid Chissel and William Bassett. [5]

The published short-lived The Indian Actors Workshop Newsletter in 1976 was created by the Northwestern University Theatre in Evanston, Illinois, and reported on the American Theatre Association sessions. It had no relationship to Silverheels' Indian Actors Workshop in Hollywood. [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 Blaine, John; Baker, Decia, eds. (1973). "Single Arts Experience Orientation". Community Arts of Los Angeles (Report). Los Angeles Community Art Alliance. p. 10. hdl:10139/2728. OCLC   912321031.
  2. Price, John A. (1978). Native studies: American and Canadian Indians . McGraw-Hill Ryerson. ISBN   9780070826953. actors workshop.
  3. Price, John A. (1973). "The Stereotyping of North American Indians in Motion Pictures". Ethnohistory. 20 (2): 153–171. doi:10.2307/481668. JSTOR   481668.
  4. Colonnelli, Elaine (March 11, 1973). "Indians Seek To Revive Creativity". The Press-Courier. p. 7.
  5. "News". Together. XIII (7): 17. July 1969.
  6. Littlefield, Daniel F. Jr. (1986). American Indian and Alaska Native Newspapers and Periodicals: 1971-1985. Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated. ISBN   9780313248344.