Standing out - Musician goes beyond stereotypes

Although he has been likened to musicians such as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, toured with Tori Amos and Pearl Jam, and is currently working on a symphonic piece and a blues album, Bill Miller inevitably gets tagged with the title "Native American" musician.

It is a label that after 27 years spent touring and recording albums, he has learned to live with, however uneasily.

"I'll take that label, but I'm way beyond it," Miller said.

Not that Miller shies away from his American Indian heritage. He frequently utilizes native instruments on his albums and addresses American Indian issues through his lyrics and talks he gives at colleges nationwide.

He performs Friday at Southeast Missouri State University as part of the ceremony to retire the school's Indian and Otahkian nicknames.

"I'm really proud of the university for taking a courageous step like this. I feel very honored to be a part of it," Miller said.

The Nashville-based Miller is the son of Mohican-German parents who grew up on the Stockbridge-Munsee Reservation in Wisconsin. Miller started playing the guitar at age 12 and by 19 he had dropped out of college, where he was studying to be an artist, and started touring.

Miller experienced racism early on in his music career, when he played venues in the Dakotas, New Mexico, Wisconsin and other places with a sizable American Indian population.

"There was a sense of hatred and bitterness toward Native Americans," Miller said. "People would say, 'I'm not paying to see an Indian perform.'"

And Miller said a lot of hatred and ignorance still exists when it comes to American Indians.

As for the use of American Indian names or likenesses by school and professional sports teams, Miller said he is offended by some, but not all, of it. The Washington Redskins, for instance, is an insulting team name because redskins is a blatant racial slur, Miller said. More often, the nicknames make Miller feel like a cartoon character instead of an individual.

A sports fan himself, Miller said he has been to baseball games featuring the Atlanta Braves where fans see him and immediately perform a tomahawk chop or put their hands to their mouths as if to mimic a war whoop, which is embarrassing, especially when he is with his children, Miller said.

"It's just another stereotype we have to live with," he said.

It has not been all hardship for Miller, though. He is a five-time Native American Music Award winner who has recorded more than 10 albums, most recently the instrumental "Cedar Dream Songs," and is constantly in demand for live performances.

So in demand that he will not return to his home in Nashville until Nov. 24 and then only for three days before he is back on the road.

"It gets tiring, but I love traveling America," he said.

kalfisi@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182

Want to go?

What: Musician Bill Miller performing in concert

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22

Where: Academic Auditorium