Gladys Laubin

Gladys Laubin (1907–1996) was a performer of Plains Indian dances along with her husband Reginald Laubin. They were part of a movement of white Americans who sought to preserve the traditional cultures of Indigenous people by bringing them to white audiences.

Early life Gladys Laubin was born in 1907. In 1922, while attending Norwich Free Academy, she met her future husband Reginald Laubin, who was attending Norwich Art School. His interest in "Indian dance" interested her, and she quickly decided to pursue it as well. The two married in October 1928.

Career The Laubins began regular performances of Plains Indian dances sometime before 1928. They originally performed for local civic clubs, school groups, museums, Scout troops, and churches. In 1928, the pair decided to quit their jobs and perform professionally. Their performances were praised based on their stage presence and dramatic flair, with one Hartford Courant review in 1929 describing their "sinuous and muscular grace."

The couple's correspondence shows appreciation and positive regard from many contemporaneous Indigenous people of the northern plains. This positive regard may have come from the way white audiences responded to the Laubins' performances, which was with sympathy and admiration for Plains Indian cultures.

Gladys Laubin died in 1996.

Legacy Although the Laubins were extremely well-received in their time, more recent scholarship has questioned the impact of their work on Indigenous peoples. Historian Clyde Ellis argues that their work suggested that Indigenous people belonged in the past tense and made it difficult for Indigenous people to take their place in the modern world. Their intentions to preserve Indigenous culture were sincere, but their programs were still not as authentic or accurate as they promoted them to be. Additionally, Janet Catherine Berlo remarks on the paternalism in their book Indian Dances of North America--they noted that "the Indians must be encouraged" to preserve their own dancing at a time when a new wave of scholarship that include Native performers was already growing.