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.

1971–72 Florida, Southern California, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan 1972–73 Southern California, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Alberta, Saskatchewan 1973–74 Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, Germany 1974–75 Alberta, Saskatchewan, Oklahoma, British Columbia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela 1975–76 Ohio, Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington D.C., Ontario, Quebec 1976–77 Arizona, Southern California, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Canada 1977–78 Colorado, Arizona, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland 1978–79 Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma 1979–80 Southern California, Nevada, Romania, Hungary, Poland 1980–81 Arizona, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan 1981–82 Arizona, Northern California, Nevada, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, Hawaii 1982–83 New Mexico, Arizona, North Dakota, South Dakota, England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark 1984–85 Wyoming, Montana, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Mexico 1985–86 Arizona, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Hawaii 1986–87 California, Oregon, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Florida 1987–88 New Mexico, German Democratic Republic, Federal Republic of Germany 1988–89 Southern California, Nevada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Germany 1989–90 Northern California, Nevada, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Idaho, Minnesota, Washington 1990–91 Arizona, Croatia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Germany 1991–92 Idaho, Oregon, Washington, People's Republic of China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan 1992–93 Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Texas 1993–94 New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Wyoming 1994–95 California, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Austria 1995–96 Nevada, California, Austria, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia 1996–97 Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Tahiti, Western Samoa, Cook Islands, New Zealand, Hawaii 1997–98 Arizona, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Ontario, Quebec 1998–99 Nevada, California, Denmark, Norway, Sweden 1999–2000 Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay 2000–01 Nevada, California, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan 2001–02 Alaska 2002–03 New Mexico 2003–04 Alaska, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, South Africa 2004–05 Arizona, Nevada, California, Mexico 2005–06 Wyoming, Montana, Germany, Austria 2006–07 Alaska, Nevada, California, South Dakota, Iowa, North Dakota, Canada 2007–08 Colorado, Wyoming, Chile 2008–09 Arizona, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay 2009–10 China, Utah 2010–11 Russia, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Alaska 2011–12 Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nauvoo, Illinois 2012–13 Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua 2013–14 California, Nevada, Nauvoo, Illinois 2014–15 New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Canada, Alaska 2015–16 New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa 2016–17 Idaho, Washington, Oregon 2017–18 Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska 2018–19 Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil

Recording Go My Son (album)

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, 1991–1994, 1997–1999, 2001–2004, 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