What's all this about?

Hello everyone! I knew you wouldn't be able to wait any longer for a new entry, so here I am.

We know that this blog is about the play The Rez Sisters, we have dealt with history, with the author and with some more theater. So now it's time to get work done, let's start with the sisters!

And that's how you start writing your own story

I am not going to summarize the play, because that would take too long, and I can almost assume that most of you have read it already (if not, what exactly are you waiting for?). I will just say this: Seven women, the biggest bingo in the world, one van and plenty of hidden stories. What could possibly go wrong?

Now I'll be briefly talking about the depiction of Native reality portrayed in the play. Somethings will be just mentioned and discussed in greater detail later on.

In the play there is an accurate depiction of the native reality (remember I told you about native people telling their own stories? There it goes), such as alcoholism and materialism. But, above all, there is an overwhelming sense of being left behind, for example, Pelajia's son works in Toronto and Annie's daughter “lives with this white guy in Sadbury”.

The younger generations are gone, and they are stucked in the reservation, in the middle of nowhere. As Pelajia (my dear and brilliant Pelajia) puts it, “Everyone here's crazy. No jobs. Nothing to do but drink and screw each other's wives and husbands and forget about our Nanabush” (6)

All this has to do with the post-colonial nature of the society that the play is talking about. In general terms, we could say that the play represents the collision of the cultural and spiritual values of natives and non-natives.

For example, the reserve functions as a representation of all the Native communities in Canada, indeed, its name, “Wasaychigan” means “window” in Ojibway. Outside the reserve, we can see an all powerful white economy, while inside it shows signs of self-destruction and self-preservation.

This play explores the problems that are destroying native society. White and native culture collide, for their differences are not accommodated.

A good example of this problem, are the goals the women want to accomplish by winning the bingo's jackpot. Pelajia wants paved roads, Philomela wants a need bathroom, Annie a record-player and Veronique a new stove.

While some might see these needs as mere materialistic desires, they are, indeed needs created by white society. On the other hand, these goals are unconscious ways to survive to the negative consequences derived from the collision with the white world: Emily was daily beaten by an alcoholic husband (here alcohol is an escape), Philomena was abandoned by a white lover and forced to leave her baby and finally Zhaboonigan, who was raped by some white boys.

This rape wants to express the violence experienced by the native community on the hands of white culture (and it also is a recurrent topic in Highway's work). Actually it is based on the rape and murder of Helen Betty Osborne, a native Cree girl, by a bunch of white boys. The most hideous thing about this crime is not just the crime itself, but the reaction of the people directly and indirectly involved in it. Even though everybody knew about it , it took ten years to get it to trial and only one of the four guys involved went to jail, and just with a light sentence. If you want to know more, nowadays there is a big movement in Canada for the crimes committed against native women.

Another example of this collision can be seen in the suicide of Rose (Rosabella Baez), driven to self-destruction by the destructive force of a dominant culture or, to put it in her own words, of “how fucking hard it is to be an Indian in this country”.(97)

Now, don't get all sad, because despite this tragic, native philosophy of rebirth and hope is also present throughout the play.

So, what do you think about the cultural collision? Do you think it is accurately represented? Do you think that the consequences Highway shows are realistic?