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Diane Fraher I took a train from Oklahoma to New York because I had a scholarship to attend school in the east. The energy of New York was inspiring. It made me feel I could go anywhere and do anything. I believed if Native people could harness that energy they could use its power to break through all the barriers to true creative freedom and recognition here. I was the director of the Performing Arts department at American Indian Community House from 1982-1985. I followed on the heels of Hanay Geigomah and his were large “mocs” to fill in many respects. Hanay was the founder of the first Native American Theater company in the United States. In addition to that he was a playwright who grew up in Oklahoma, where I’m from. Because of my respect for him, I decided right away not to try and be Hanay all over again but to find my own voice. One belief we shared though was an emphasis on the creation of the work. The artistic climate of the time in theater was one of people laying groundwork in diversity programming and presenting. The word “multi-culturalism” was not a buzz word yet. Everyone, at least in the mainstream performing arts world, was still getting used to the concept of diversity. Because things were just opening up there was more experimentation and risk taking with audiences. It was also important that Native people be seen by non-Natives as capable rather than the “helpless” stereotype perpetuated by decades of government paternalism. It feels very remote nowadays, but non-Native audiences either didn’t know, or were just beginning to discover, what Native playwrights and actors could deliver, much the way they react now days to Native filmmaking. The funding available for developing professional theater and performing arts was very different from that of now. Funding sources were directly supporting the actual creative process in artistic organizations. Censorship and attempted government control of content had not happened yet. The National Endowment for the Arts made direct grants to individual playwrights rather than organizations only and the Endowment had an entire program dedicated to nurturing the arts in culturally diverse communities. An actor needs a script, so while I was at AICH I spent a great deal of time looking for Native writers and was able to stage several play readings. We produced The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, the first fully Native produced AEA contracted Off Broadway production in New York in November, 1984. Gary Farmer and Jane Lind, among others, performed in it. Gloria Miguel was the Assistant Director, and Pena Bonita did the costumes. I also produced the first professional Native Actors showcase at AEA in April, 1985 which Marta Carlson directed. There were other workshop productions, one of which was directed by Muriel Miguel and presented at the AICH Gallery, which was located on West Broadway in Soho at that time. I am grateful for the opportunity, including the mistakes, which my AICH experience provided me to learn more about the process of creating Native performing arts. For any creative process to take root, it must be nurtured in an artistic environment where even the administrative decisions are made by people with artistic training. Native people see themselves as related to one an another. For Native theater to emerge outside of the communities, a true sense of artistic community has to emerge before the actual creative process can even begin. That is one of the reasons why I founded AMERINDA, a community-based Native arts organization. |
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