Talk at Migizi

I met with students at Migizi communications yesterday and talked about being a native playwright. It was very encouraging to see their interest; to have them read from my script Bring the Children Home and see the acknowledgement on their faces and in their voices that they, as young native people, understood the story - understood the context of the story. They also wrote songs on a moments notice and a handful were brave enough to read them out-loud. I talked with them about the need for native actors; as playwright we can write for stage but when it comes to production we need native folks up there playing the parts.

Raving Native Radio

Alright!! check out this site: http://www.ravingnativeradio.com/

Working with Ananya Dance

this past month i have been working with Ananya Dance company, writing poetry for a dance piece.

It has been amazing watching the discipline these women have to create dance - all women of color

DAAK, Call to Action
Shows: June 12-15, 2008, Thursday - Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 7pm.
Post-show discussion Friday and Saturday
Venue: The Southern Theatre, 1420 Washington Ave. South, Minneapolis 55454
Box Office 612/ 340-1725 Tickets: $19 (includes $2 building preservation fee)

DAAK, Call to Action, responds to aggressive lands rights violations in several communities across the world. The project seeks to create relationships between transnational and diasporic communities through the sharing of the stories of women affected by such violations historically and currently. Testimonies from the Native communities of Leech Lake and Lower Sioux Reservations- where women are leading the Truth and Reconciliation Project in an effort to re-write the history of this state, a project particularly potent as the Sesquicentennial Commission proceeds with its plans to celebrate 150 years of MN's statehood without acknowledging the history of ethnic cleansing, genocide, and land appropriation that lies underneath our feet- will inform the project. We will also learn about the struggles of activists and artists in government-designated "special economic zones" in West Bengal, India, where agricultural land is being appropriated violently from poor farmers by the state in order to sponsor global industrial projects; and from the maquiladoras of Tijuana and Juarez, Mexico, where once again women are being forced to work in factories established on land violently seized from their communities. The piece will end with a "call to action" to audiences, inviting them into awareness of the trauma suffered by communities endangered by environmental racism, as well as the innovative ways in which they resist these phenomena. The piece itself will articulate the struggle over land rights through the innovative use of space and by imagining different relationships between bodies and land/ground.

show is over

spirit in the house is over - at least our part of it - we had a good run. tonight raphael - singer, songwriter, recording artist (formerly of NYC) joined the show for two closing songs - folks loved him!! i saw a small crowd around him at the end of the show.
kohl performed superbly and added a new short piece for the last two shows
sigwan had to leave early today to do a video shoot for some thing to do with the city of minneapolis, i think. she also got lots of good encouragement about her acting. many folks commented that the federal parolee added to a larger understanding of the whole border issue.

so on to new and different writing and much better working relationships

spirit in the house - stands alone

we have had two shows at spirit in the house for Stands Alone featuring kohl miner in his storytelling series; and sigwan and kohl in borders uncrossed. kohl tells funny and poignant stories of his life as a gay native man. the second half of the show showcases sigwan as a young girl dumped by coyotes on the border - it also includes the initial scene of the native american federal parolee

yesterday sigwan answered questions about her acting; her opinion of her involvement and take on the border show she was originally cast in and let go from

yesterday we were honored to have big name guests in the audience: Juliana Pegues who wrote Q&A which is running at Mixed Blood theater in Minneapolis; and Bao Phi who stars in Q&A (sigwan is a big fan of Bao)

also Elizabeth O’Sullivan who wrote and stars in a show here at the fest: Witnessing to a Murder
Two women meet briefly in a hallway. Gunshots kill one of them send the other crashing through the boundaries that separate her from horror and from the voice of God.

Spirit in the House

Spirit in the House

Stands Alone
curated by Marcie Rendon, Raving Native Productions

Featuring:
Kohl Miner: The SemiConscious Memoirs of a Negligent Native
and!

Sigwan Rendon and Kohl Miner in: Borders Uncrossed
the uncut opening of Borders Uncrossed
the US/Mexican border from a Native perspective

5:30pm May 24 - Saturday - Kohl, Sigwan and Kohl
7pm May 25 - Sunday - Kohl, Sigwan and Kohl

Thursday, May 29, 5:30 PM - Kohl Miner and Amy Salloway
Friday, May 30, 7:00 PM - Kohl, Sigwan and Kohl
Saturday, May 31, 2:30 PM - Kohl, Sigwan and Kohl

at: Spirit in the House
The Art Gallery (upstairs in the church)
Hennipen Ave Methodist Church
511 Groveland Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55403

$12 adults, $10 Student and Senior
$8 kids under 12. Available at the door

have been in california for this week - yesterday was a heat wave; quite the experience for this minnesota body not yet acclimated to summer weather - i wilted by late afternoon in the heat approaching 100 degrees. i have been thinking about indigenous people and how we have our tribal identity - based on language, spiritual beliefs and connection to a particular piece of land, area of land. so many indigenous people have been led to believe, through genocide and forced assimilation, acculturation that they are singularly 'indigenous' - 'native' - or some national identity - this erasing of tribal identity appears to create much internal confusion, and also lessens the ability to relate with other tribal identified folks. it is heartbreaking in the same way of meeting folks who are the product of foster/adoption out who have not figure out how to come home. we recognize them as family but it is like they cannot see us as them.... that was one of the strengths of the indigenous conference - the peoples there KNEW who they were and stood firmly in their selves, their tribal identities and their sense of belonging. this is my hope for all native peoples - that we can all find once again that being, that place, that sureness of being and standing exactly where we are - belonging there/here.