René Highway (November 6, 1954 – October 19, 1990) was an Indigenous Canadian dancer and actor of Cree descent from Brochet, Manitoba. He was the brother of playwright Tomson Highway, with whom he frequently collaborated during their time at Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto, and the partner of actor and singer Micah Barnes. Highway studied dance at the Toronto Dance Theatre, at the in Denmark, and at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. Highway helped to create the role of Nanabush in his brother's play The Rez Sisters (1986), and was the choreographer for Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (1989). He died of AIDS-related causes in Toronto in 1990. His partner was singer Micah Barnes. Native Earth Performing Arts started the René Highway Foundation in his memory. Further reading Scudeler, J. ' Fed by Spirits: Mamâhtâwisiwin in René Highway's New Song… New Dance' in Native American and Indigenous Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1 (2016), pp. 1–23, available at: https://www.academia.edu/32593127/Fed_by_Spirits_Mama_hta_wisiwin_in_Rene_Highways_New_Song_New_Dance. References External links 1954 births 1990 deaths First Nations male actors Canadian male stage actors First Nations dancers Canadian gay actors AIDS-related deaths in Canada People from Northern Region, Manitoba Cree people Male actors from Saskatchewan LGBT dancers LGBT First Nations people 20th-century Canadian male actors Male actors from Manitoba 20th-century Canadian dancers 20th-century LGBT people