Robin & Colett Williams
Name: Robin and Colette Williams
Tribe: Miami (Robin), Miami/Cherokee (Colette)
Tribal Position: n/a
Profession: Director of Multi-cultural Arts Programs AYS, Inc.
Education: BAS Degree Indiana University 1989-Music, Business
Favorite Sports: None really
Hobbies/Special Interests: Music (cellist, drummer), cultural events, painting, jewelry making
Religion: Catholic
Ways you celebrate being an American Indian: My daughter and I are actors with the Indiana American Indian Theater Company.
Ways you preserve your culture and heritage: By attending and dancing in intertribal pow wows. I am also a playwright. I recently wrote a play call “Brotherhood in Conga Square,” a story of the struggle of Native Americans and Senegalese slaves in French Colonial Louisiana. “Brotherhood” was premiered at the Indiana History Center in July 2003 and has been asked to be performed in Senegal in January 2005.
This play illustrates the relationships that ensued between the African and Indians, and how these unions were the basis for the Mardi Gras Indian traditions of today.
Do you speak your tribal language? A bit—some words here and there.
Misconceptions: That we are non-educated, alcohol-addicted, poor.
Offensive words/actions: “Squaw” “Injun,” the use of charactures for team logos
