Two Choctaw women and I went to see the play "Black Elk Speaks"
performed in Ada, Oklahoma, in March. We
were just friends having a girl's day out and thought this would be a pleasant
way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Boy,
were we wrong!
The
"message of unity of all creation is one bound to have a profound effect on
all who experience it" was promised by the play's promotion.
The effect was profound alright, but the message of unity never
materialized.
We
left at intermission. By this time,
we had been through more massacres and atrocities than we could stomach.
After consulting the program and realizing how many more massacres and
atrocities we had to endure, we opted for a Braum's ice cream.
It would sit better than more slaughter of Indian people.
Over
our sundaes, we discussed the effect the play had on us.
It depressed all of us. Sandy
said she could relate to the mothers whose children were killed, having a small
child herself. Joyce said it was
just depressing and perpetuated the victimization mentality of Indian people.
As a counselor for battered women, she recognized the devastation of the
psyche inflicted by victimization mentality.
I agreed.
The
play portrayed Indians as the victims of the white man's greed.
That may be true 100 years ago, but now white men are the victims of
Indian greed. Portraying massacre
of the Navajo, Comanche, Kiowa, etc., serve to inflame racial tensions and keep
the races separate for something that happened before any of us were born.
Sponsors of the play were the Choctaw and Chickasaw
Nations of Oklahoma. Many of the 70
people in the audience were tribal employees transported to Ada on tribal buses.
You have to question the motives of the tribes for sponsoring this type
of play. Well, okay, no "you"
don't, but as a Choctaw member, I do.
Being
jaded from years of interaction with the Choctaw Nation, I cannot believe their
motive for bringing this play to Ada was purely innocent.
For one thing, the play was based, or so I thought, on the John G.
Neihardt book "Black Elk Speaks."
Black Elk was a Sioux holy man, and the book chronicled Sioux religious
practices. Excuse me, but why would
the Choctaw Nation want to bring Sioux religion to Oklahoma?
The
intent was to massage the collective white guilt to squeeze a few more bucks for
the tribe. "We are a poor
pitiful people who need more handouts. We
deserve it because you slaughtered some Navajo at some point."
That was the effect the Choctaws wanted to instill in the audience.
And it worked. If I were
white, I would sure be feeling guilty after the first act.
I'd have been ready to sign over everything I own to the first Indian
what crossed my path after the second act--if I had stayed!
The
play did not deal with Sioux religion at all.
In fact, Sioux were barely mentioned in the first act.
They would have been heavily featured in the second act when they
defeated Custer. But we would have
sit through more Arapaho and Wichita slaughter before we got there in the second
act.
Or
maybe I missed the point. Maybe
being a victim has become a religion among Indian people. Deliver us, dear Lord, if that is the case.