My Mother, a Living Legend
Cliff Dwelling photo: My mom is in the blue shiny cape on the ladder of the cliff dwelling image. Courtesy Kwani Povi Winder.
By Kwani Povi Winder
My history with Living Legends goes back to the very beginning, before I was even born, when the performance group started out as Lamanite Generation. Even though I have never been a part of the group, I have always felt a sense of pride and connection to them. Matter of fact, I’m not even sure I would be the person I am today without it. My mom was one of the very first performing members, and both of my parents helped as the group was just getting up and running.
The group came about through several different people and avenues. Dale Tingey, then mission president of the Southwest Indian Mission, asked for a group from Brigham Young University to come tour and perform in the mission after having witnessed the previous impact that performing missionaries and youth missionaries had in the mission. My mother, Ima, was a part of Brown Sounds, a singing group that was part of the initial groups gathered. Under the direction of Janie Thompson, founder of BYU’s Young Ambassadors, Lamanite Generations took to the road for their first official tour performing in the Southwest Indian Mission. Janie was so invested in the group, that she even lifted the feet of the performers to help them feel the beats of the music. This initial group consisted of mostly Native American performers with a couple Polynesians and one Latino (who became one of my mother’s best friends).
The shows for Lamanite Generation included a lot of contemporary songs, plus original compositions, and a few traditional pieces. The main song used was, “Go My Son,” written by Arliene Nofchissey and Carnes Burson, which has a beautiful history to how it came to be written and is still used today. The initial performers played instruments, sang, and danced; they truly did it all themselves. Their purpose: to be missionaries through sharing their talents and to touch and inspire the youth. To show everyone that are special, and that they are a Child of God who loves them. Lamanite Generation wanted to be an example to the Native youth and inspire them to dream big.
This initial group did this all as volunteers, accomplished everything outside of their classes in early mornings and late nights, and they didn’t receive any college credit. Their dedication and sacrifices laid the foundation 52 years ago for Living Legends that is well known today. The name of the group changed from Laminate Generation to Living Legends in the 1990s. As my mom shared, each of those in the beginning have countless stories of things that were able to just fall into place. Help that was given when it was needed. There were many miracles that brought the group together while they were touring.
My mom shared that while they were in Canada during the second leg of their first ever tour, it was raining incredibly hard. They were going to be performing in a metal barn and the rain was so intense that they had to shout and even then, they could barely hear each other over the hammering drops. Then the electricity went out, so no microphones. They all gathered together and prayed, and were asked to continue with a prayer in their hearts as the performance time drew closer. And then, 15-20 minutes before they were to take the stage, the lights came on and the rain stopped, and they were able to perform. The whole time they were touring that first year, my mom said it was like that, “Any time we had concerns, the Lord would lead someone to the group that would fill that need. A lot of prayers were answered along the whole way and allowed the group to go forth.”
Before they went to Canada, the group stopped for a week at BYU. They had just finished touring the Southwest Indian Mission for the first time. Because of their success, the Northwest Indian Mission asked Lamanite Generation to come to their mission, and so they extend their tour. While there at BYU, the group wasn’t sure how they would be able to go on. They were without a chauffeur to drive them and left without someone to manage the lights and sound. While recording and practicing, they prayed for an answer to their need. My dad heard the group practicing from the hallway and stopped in to say hello (he was roommates and friends with some of the performers in the group). Janie, the director, got upset with at him for interrupting practice and told my dad to leave unless he had a chauffeur license or knew how to do lights/sound. My dad sheepishly said he could do both. He was an answer to their prayer. He was able to drive them on the second leg of their tour that first summer and was the light and sound guy for the next four years while my parents were in the group. Through Lamanite Generation, my parents were able to get to know each other better, started dating, and were even married during the last year that they participated in the group.
Images above, left to right: Gabriel Eagle dancing, photo courtesy of Gabriel Abello; photo of my parents (and others) at Alcatraz, my mom and dad are on the far right, courtesy of Kwani Povi Winder; Lamanite Generation cover: photo courtesy of Jessica Hill. My mom is on the far right.
My life has been greatly influenced by my parent’s participation in Lamanite Generation. Their stories and experiences strengthen me and help me to see and recognize the small miracles and guidance in my own life. I’ve been blessed to learn from and get to know many of the lifelong friends my mom has made from being a part of the group and community. It truly is a family that continues to touch many generations.
For my mom, it was the first time she didn’t feel like she was out there alone. Here were others of similar cultures and experiences who were trying to live the gospel. She came into her own, overcoming shyness. She attributes her strong confidence to her time with the group. She spent her career teaching kindergarten and second grade and feels very strongly that Lamanite Generation allowed her to break out of her shell and be able to share herself, her culture, and her light more openly with her students and community. She said that it has helped her to feel proud of who she is and share with others throughout her life. Her story and experiences have inspired others to connect with the group, one such friend is Gabriel. He’s performing on his very first tour with Living Legends right now.
I know Gabriel through my mother, but he’s become family to me. How Gabriel came to find himself in the group is multi-faceted, but it started with his father. His dad saw Lamanite Generation perform when he was an 8–10-year little boy in the Philippines and was amazed! It was his dad’s first exposure to BYU and played a role in his father going on to attend BYU-Hawaii, where he met Gabriel’s mother. Gabriel was even born in Hawaii!
Gabriel wanted to join Living Legends because he was drawn to the great missionary spirit that the group carries. Learning more about the group through elders in the Indigenous community, like my mom, Gabriel’s desire to be part of a group grew. His sisters’ interest in Living Legends also played a big role in his desire to try out for the group himself. He worked long and hard to prepare for his audition and it was so exciting for me and my mother to hear the amazing news that he had made it into the group!
I asked Gabriel what it feels like for him now that he’s in Living Legends and what hopes he has for himself as part of the group. Gabriel responded that he has loved the spiritual growth that he’s experienced through the new avenues and opportunities Living Legends has already given him. And the “…new ways I can be an instrument in His hands.” Gabriel went on to share his testimony that, “This is the greatest work on Earth [that] we can engage in and sharing it in the unique ways that we can share it is the best way we can help touch the hearts of others. While being kind, empathetic, and charitable, we can be unapologetic about who we are, our testimonies of truth and sharing our cultures because of how [they can] connect us to God in beautiful ways.”
Lamanite Generation started with humble beginnings yet went on to do great things. Those first few years forged a family through sacrifice; those spiritual experiences bonded them. And since then, that family has only continued to grow, reaching across cultures, generations, and continents. While today’s Living Legends bears little resemblance to the variety show of its Lamanite Generation beginnings, it still holds the main goal and focus of sharing the light of Christ through culture, connection, and love. It has been a great honor to me to have a mother who was one of the initial members of a group that has gone on to touch and inspire so many. I couldn’t say it better than how Gabriel put it, “I hope that life long service and finding unique ways to engage in the Lord’s work becomes an integral part of my life even more than what I am experiencing now. It is a constant search to help better the work and share the light of the gospel and testimony of Christ in powerful ways that meet the needs of each individual, God’s children, my brothers and sisters.”