Being an Indian actor myself, I’ve always approached the idea of the “Native American Actor’s Showcase” with a mixture of hope and trepidation. The hope is that an agent or casting director will be impressed with my talent and soon I’ll be booked all over town in worthy productions. The trepidation comes with the knowledge that as my skills are being evaluated, so to is my “Indianness”. It is a known and non-debatable fact that when an Indian actor “makes it”, the actor is always known as the “Indian actor”. These actors then portray “Indian roles” in “Indian themed movies’. Happily, we have some terrific Indian actors and some successful and upcoming Indian moviemakers. Many of the roles created for us are much more than the one dimensional prop from the past, and even better, these roles aren’t always there to allow a white man to discover his humanity in a precious version of ours (with some major exceptions for sure – the notorious “Dances with Wolves” comes to mind). Still, Indian actors tend to live out their creative lives in our own particular version of Spike Lee’s “Hollywood Shuffle”.

     I was once at an audition for a telephone company. Most of the men there were older than I, and had that practiced grizzled yet spiritual look down pat. As we waited, these guys would out- Indian each other, with the hopes that the casting director waiting for us in the hotel room would overhear them. One would say to another, in his best buffalo talk, “man, I prayed for you when I was filming in Switzerland”. The other would reply “I prayed for you when I was in LA” and so on. None of us got the job – it went to a non-actor with beautiful long black hair and several chokers.

     So, when it comes to the Indian showcase what is an actor to do? Do you play white, or do you play Indian, or do you play Indian playing white? Some chose to do Shakespeare, some do Albee, some chose to do Thompson Highway. Some speak much slower than normally; some do Southern accents, and some pin braids to their hair for that prairie look. Some get hired, some go to Hollywood, some write about it. And, all are thankful for it – for many, this is the only opportunity to show our chops to an audience of potential employers, whether you look the part or not.

     Several years ago I participated in the American Indian Community House Actors Showcase at Here in Soho. I was extremely proud and honored to be amongst such talent, all of us Indians, all of us bitten by the bug of performing. Were this back in the day, we’d be telling stories to our family, friends and guests around a fire.

     Instead, we nervously waited backstage for our turn to tell our stories and entertain a paying audience.

     Joe Cross and Donna Couteau were on the bill that evening. Now, I had been aware of Joe and Donna for many years, chiefly as storytellers and educators with their company Leaf Arrow Storytellers, which performs in New York City schools and other cultural and educational institutions. I also knew that Joe did some TV work, usually as an “Indian”, and that Donna had been involved in the New York Native performing community since the 70’s. I was prepared for a beautiful story and maybe a dance, highlighting their cultures and talents in the indigenous arts. What I was not prepared for was the riotous and subversive comedy performance the two of them gave that evening.

     Based on an old vaudeville skit once performed by Dean Martin and Shirley McClaine called “The Chicken Farm”, the piece featured two white performers as they prepared to go onstage and do their “Indian act” at a vaudeville performance. Joe and Donna adapted the piece, changed some of the jokes and ingeniously, gave us a performance of two Indians playing white people playing Indians doing “Indian shtick”. The house was howling as they witnessed diva fits, arguments about regalia, disagreements about proper make up, and very solemn white people- doing – Indian dancing antics.

     The piece highlighted the absurd way in which white people have portrayed Indians over the years, and it also highlighted the delightful sense of absurdity and comedy inherent in Joe and Donna. As I watched, I was reminded of Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, of Lucy and Ricky…of sheer entertainment, and I thought “here we have our own comedy team – why aren’t they major stars?”

     I met with Joe and Donna recently to talk about the piece, amongst other things. Married since 1987, the two of them have created a way to make a living as actors through theircompany, Leaf Arrow Storytellers. Referring to themselves as “edutainers”, their performances feature songs and dances that are culturally specific to whom they are (Joe is Caddo and Donna Sac and Fox, both from Oklahoma). They take the time to explain the meaning and reasons behind pieces of regalia they wear, and to discuss origins of the stories, hence the “edutainers” tag.

     Joe and Donna have been entertaining and performing for many years. Donna came to NYC in the early 70’s on a scholarship with the Harkness Ballet Company, and Joe arrived in 1978 “to see New York and all its opportunities. I wasn’t sure what path I was going to take.”

     Donna spent a time as Peter Pan, touring with Disney on Parade, and Joe became immersed in work at the early American Indian Community House on 38th street, where he worked in crisis intervention. Both became involved in the bubbling Native arts scene of the time.

     Donna began working in the Native theatre scene, performing in productions at Le Mama and with Spiderwoman Theatre. She says,

     “I was very attracted to Spiderwoman and I would hang out with them. Soon, they made me their stage manager. I learned a lot from them. There was also Marie Antoinette Rogers, who used to make me read Shakespeare. She taught me the difference between Indian time and theatre time, which you have to know if you want to make it! There was Jane Lind, a director…a group of us would meet at the community house and work on ourselves. They taught me about headshots and how to pursue the business.” (A video tape of one of Donna’s performances with Spiderwoman ‘Women In Violence’ is featured in Spiderwoman’s most current piece, ‘Persistence of Memory”. It is a truly memorable portrayal of a crazed nun).

     By the late 80’s, however, Donna had tired of the constant rejection and subjection of the audition process: “They never knew what to do with me. I made my hair blond at one point. I met an agent who said she would take me on and get me work if I was blond. I wanted an agent so bad that I did it. And, I got into SAG because of it. Still, I was never what they were looking for.”

     Joe and Donna were both involved in the activism of the late 80’s. At one point Joe took a trip to Arizona to witness the Big Mountain situation. He went as a representative of Vietnam Vets Against the War. The experience resulted in a sense of clarity and purpose for him. Says Joe, “When I came back to New York I knew the path I wanted to take. Donna and I set up our storytelling company together. Originally, it was to be a company that performed nationally, in theatres…but we started to get so many offers here to educate and perform in schools.”

     Joe also began to get work in TV shows and films, and as he says “But then, Dances with Wolves came out and all of a sudden all Indians had to have braids and live in teepees again. When I came to New York, people were trying to fight against this representation. It set people back a decade.”

     Many Indians in this position have tried to find work that doesn’t highlight their race. For Joe, this would mean, “playing Latino and having to get my hair cut.” In the work he does he is “treated like an actor. ‘Are you a real Indian’ doesn’t come up. It has to be professional or I’m not doing it.” Though he has raised his eyebrows at some of the parts he has been offered he says, “I’m being hired as an actor, not as a philosopher.”

     So, how about the showcase? Donna says that even though she tired of the toil of the audition process, after several years away, she is considering another try: “It’s been so many years now, they won’t know me anymore and I can start new.” Joe says the piece they performed was close to their lives- “entertainers getting ready to get on stage”, and the added bonus of playing white playing Indian made the idea even more alluring.

     That night, I heard there were talent scouts from NBC in the house. Was the piece perhaps a little too close to home for them? Hmmm…I thought it should be shown in every home, on Sunday nights. “The Joe and Donna Comedy Hour” awaits you, NBC. Now, that’s entertainment.

     Joe Cross and Donna Cotueau will be performing as Leaf Arrow Storytellers at Lincoln Center’s “Meet the Artist” program on December 18, 19 and 20. To contact Leaf Arrow Storytellers contact amindianstories@earthlink.com

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