“The Indian” is gone
On the death of Terry Ree: Dakota Sioux, musician, comedian
They were a successful music-comedy duo for 55 years. Their political incorrectness made “The Indian and the White Guy” from the US state of South Dakota legendary in both cultures. Now Terry Ree, the “Indian”, passed on. He was 75 years old.
The Indian and the White Guy
“Then we'll swap: You give me your land and I'll give you my guitar”. A typical stage banter between Terry Ree, the “Indian”, and Bruce Williams, the “white man”. Poking fun at each other and their respective cultures was the trademark of the duo, who, according to their website, skillfully “eschews political correctness and conformity”. In 2018, “The Indian and the White Guy” were inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The fact that their stage name alone caused a stir among some politically correct people didn't bother the two musicians one bit.
Two more examples: Bruce Willams, the white guy, performs his self-composed song “I love fat women” with fervor. His partner Terry Ree, the Indian, objects on stage: “You can't do that. You're embarrassing me.” Williams replies: “Who can tell when you're blushing!” In another sketch, Terry Ree, the Native American, mocked the dispute over the nickname of the University of North Dakota's track and field athletes: Fighting Sioux. The term was derived from the Sioux Indians and criticized as disrespectful. Terry Ree on stage. “Everybody that I know they don’t have a problem with the ‘Fighting Sioux’, only apparently some sensitive white people.”
Back to the beginning
The duo's real name is simply “Williams and Ree”, according to their surnames. But that didn't go down so well with the public. “We started calling ourselves ‘The Indian and the White Guy’ because nobody could remember our real names. But when we said 'The Indian and the White Guy', people knew who we were,” Terry Ree told a Country Road TV show, among others. He himself belonged to the Crow Creek Sioux tribe and was not born on a reservation, but in Huron, South Dakota. “We talk about how my land was stolen and how Bruce wants to be my partner in case we ever get paid for it,” he gave another skit in an interview with the Citrus County Chronicle. And Bruce Williams, who is white, added: “Our show is unique because we talk about things from a First Nation perspective, always with humor. We make people laugh and they say 'Oooooh, they can sing too'. When that kind of feedback comes from a loving audience, it's very hypnotizing.”
The two met in 1968 at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. Williams heard Ree playing guitar and singing during freshman orientation and began jamming with him in a dorm room. Together, they formed a two-man stand-up comedy band, filling the time between songs at music band concerts with skits - and, gradually, satirical comedy songs. After a decade of opening for local bands, Williams and Ree moved to Los Angeles. There they made a name for themselves at the Comedy Store, a comedy club on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, and on TV shows. For nine years, they prepared the musical desert at the “Country Kitchen” cooking show. Their stage program: a mix of mainly country music, some rock'n'roll and lots of crass jokes. Over the last few decades, they have toured all over the USA with detours to Canada. In 2000, they co-founded the Williams and Ree Scholarship for students of the performing arts.
Up close and personal
In November 2022, I had the opportunity to see and hear “Williams and Ree” at a home game, i.e. a concert in Deadwood in South Dakota. Barely 25 kilometers away from the place where the Native American and the white man met in 1968. At their concert in Deadwood, my companion and I were even allowed to visit them backstage.
Terry Ree (1949 - December 21, 2024)
They also granted me an interview shortly before the concert started and were always up for a joke. Terry Ree and Bruce Williams talked about their audition at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, how they improvise a lot on stage, why they don't want to hurt others and yet continue to call indigenous people “Indians”, why Terry Ree doesn't speak the language of his tribe and why racism will never die out - and why they received death threats after a concert in Canada.
Talking to Terry Ree und Bruce Williams, November 26, 2022
Farewell
In April 2024, The Indian and the White Guy gave their farewell concert at the Grand Falls Casino in Iowa, on the border with South Dakota. “We just love what we do,” Terry Ree told a Dakota Scout reporter. “For 55 years people have been coming to see us. We appreciate that so much. We just want to do it until we can’t do it anymore”
R.I.P. Terry Ree
This text was first published in German on my website.