Described as “exuberant, sunny and just a little bit haunted,” ‘Diné Nishłį (I Am A Sacred Being) Or, A Boarding School Play’ by Playwright Blossom Johnson marks the first full production of the Native Theater Project (NPT).
According to the press release, the play “celebrates the dreams, hopes, and confidence of young Native women as they each find their own way to honor their cultural traditions and live their dreams in a modern world.”
‘Diné Nishłį’ takes place at a boarding school and centers on the story of four teenage girls who receive an invitation to the 2002 Winter Olympics to perform the traditional song and dance ensemble of the Navajo National Anthem.
“This play deliberately celebrates the dreams of these young women, so it’s a play with so much hope,” stated Jeanette Harrison, Director, Writer and Producer. “It touches on some things that are really complicated and difficult, on things that have residence in our communities, but it does so in a way that I hope audiences will find as healing.”
Jeanette Harrison is also the Creative Director of the NTP—which aims to foster community and provide opportunities to develop and produce theater productions created by Native playwrights. Harrison initially invited writers, including Johnson—Creator of ‘Diné Nishłį’—to join a year-long residency, where she asked each writer to “take a creative risk.”
Harrison described the experience so far as “A joy filled process,” and stated, “There’s a lot of Native work out there, but having the privilege to work on a play that centers on young Native women is rare.”
Starring in the play as one of the four main characters is PSU Second Year Student Cassie Funmaker—who is from the Wisconsin Ho-Chunk Nation.
“It is so beautiful to walk into a room five days a week, and it’s only Native people with the same goal of creating a theater production—it’s an unspoken connection that is very difficult to explain with words,” said Funmaker. “I remember going into the first rehearsal and thinking, it’s a story about a bunch of Native teenage girls. I am genderqueer but I was socialized as a teenage girl, so it was also very personal, and having to revisit that all from a distance has been quite healing.”
When asked about the meaning of the title, ‘Diné Nishłį (I am a sacred being)’, Funmaker stated, “I think the title is incredibly fitting: the story is about four teenage girls who are going through the motions of trying to understand what it means to be a young Indigenous person. We’re often told from the world that we don’t matter and that we’re not sacred beings, but these four girls are more rooted in themselves and in their culture and have the autonomy to be able to reject that line of thinking; to say no, I’m here and reconnecting with my language, I am sacred and I am here for a reason.”
Portland itself is home to a large population of Native people which plays a role in the significance of the production.
“Portland is the 22nd largest media market in the U.S., but it’s also got the 9th largest population of urban Natives, so it just feels like a wonderful place to develop a hub for new theater development by Native writers,” said Harrison. It’s projects like NTP that help to create more opportunities for modern Native stories to be shared with the public. “What my hope is with Native Theater Project is that we can use all of these ingredients: Portland being a center for urban Native people, the fact that there’s so many Native artists who call this community home and the fact that there is so much hunger and thirst for Native work right now.”
It’s stories like ‘Diné Nishłį’ that are becoming more and more desired by the general public.
“These stories have always been necessary,” said Funmaker. “There’s always been a demand and an audience for it—it’s just been the world around us who wasn’t ready for them […] I think there has been major pushes of reconciliation going on… and I think people are finally starting to wake up for that.”
Harrison also cited a telling statistic in regard to the increasing desire to place these kinds of stories in the spotlight.
“There is a study that just came out by IllumiNative, which found that 78% of American people want to hear Native stories that are led by Native creatives,” stated Harrison.
The role of community in the performing arts is also very important—not just when it comes to the NTP—but when it comes to theater itself.
“In Native communities, theater and storytelling has always been a key element of community building and how we interact with one another,” said Harrison, who also describes the arts as “a key part of our culture.”
“The art form of theater is really important to us…” said Funmaker, sharing the same opinion. “It is the radical act of being vulnerable in a community with people around you. For me, theater is more of an outlet and a really powerful one at that.”
It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic played a consequential part in developing a lack of community in the performing arts world—which Harrison describes as “essential” and “at the heart of theater.” It is also something that NTP and productions like ‘Diné Nishłį’ are helping to further cultivate.
“I think theater wouldn’t exist if there’s no community,” said Harrison. “I think part of the reason why American theater is in such a crisis right now is that we are coming back from the pandemic and there is this desire and need for connection and community to combat the isolation we’ve been through.”
The post-pandemic representation of the younger Native generation can “make a big difference in the lives of our youth,” said Harrison, who acknowledges the sense of disconnect that the younger generations may feel. “Even to this day, when Native youth go to college, what they run to is a level of ignorance in American society that is really debilitating.”
A sense of disconnect is particularly understandable for students “who come from reservation communities, who are coming to a new place that they’re not familiar with,” which can cause Native students to “feel adrift, lost, and unwelcome,” said Harrison. To see a production like ‘Diné Nishłį’ may provide people with a realistic and identifiable story—one that is “more human and realistic,” and one that fosters a deeper “understanding of Native communities and Native people.” Maybe then, “those students can stop feeling so at sea.”
When we think of the kinds of Native stories that are popular today, they’re usually stories that cater to a Hollywood-esque depiction of Native American history and culture—with characters who are oftentimes one dimensional and stereotypical. ‘Diné Nishłį’ defies these archaic representations with ones that are not only more accurate, but more relatable and timely.
“These are the kinds of stories I’ve been wanting to hear about my whole life,” said Funmaker. “I think if I had stories like these when I was younger, I might not have had so many issues with figuring out my own identity.”
When many people think of stories about the Native American experience, they usually don’t first think of the word ‘comedic,’ which the press release used to describe ‘Diné Nishłį.’
“There has been a long history, particularly in Hollywood, of Native characters written and directed by non-Native people and the difference in work you get is really substantial,” said Harrison. “It’s important that we’re seen as contemporary people with contemporary histories.”
It’s a side to the story that—as Harrison described—Hollywood usually neglects.
“A lot of us have learned to heal and cope with laughter, which I believe is a healing agent,” said Funmaker. “But we still talk about the past a lot. We talk about the past and how it affects these girls in this boarding school and we bring it up in almost every scene.”
But bringing up the past does not have to be inherently tragic.
“With Native stories, we didn’t really get the chance to tell tragedies outside of our own circles, so I think when we see culturally specific stories that are sad, I think it’s also valid because we have a lot of experience with sadness […] What’s beautiful about this story is that you kind of get the best of both worlds,” stated Funmaker.
“One of the challenges is that Native stories haven’t been allowed to accurately represent Native people in their full complexity,” said Harrison. “It’s one thing as a storyteller to feel like your work matters and to feel like you’re making a difference in the world, but it’s another thing to have studies, with data, that back up the fact that if more Americans had greater context for the stories of contemporary Native people, it can open up their willingness to support things that help to support our community.”
The American education system has the opportunity to better inform and introduce younger people to these stories, but it often falls short in doing so.
“As an educational institution, I don’t think we do enough to acknowledge our past and I don’t think we have the best tools of integrating Indigenous students into this system of higher education,” said Funmaker. “So to be able to tell a story like this is really powerful.”
Schools in the U.S. rarely mention Native American history in depth—regardless of grade level.
This is partly what leads to a cyclical misunderstanding of Native American culture and a lack of historical and land acknowledgement.
“87% of American schools do not teach any Native American history beyond the year 1900,” said Harrison. “There’s a ridiculously high percentage of state curriculum that does not name one single Native American person. Imagine learning American history and never learning the names of any of our American presidents.”
This is just an example of how the suppression or disregard for Native stories can further perpetuate the misrepresentation and underrepresentation of Native people.
“If the American public are led to believe that Native people are extinct, it wouldn’t matter that all the land is stolen, because we’re not here anymore,” said Harrison. “But the truth is that we are here.”
She then explained how Native people are a fast growing demographic in the U.S.
When asked what she would tell any aspiring Indigenous artists, Harrison said, “Create. There is a thirst, a hunger, and a need for your stories, and your stories matter.”
‘Diné Nishłį’ runs from Sept. 18 to Oct. 13 across multiple community spaces in Portland. From Sept. 18–29, it plays at The Vault Theater in Hillsboro, and will continue for four shows at the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) from Oct. 4–6. Portland State University’s Native Student and Community Center will showcase the play from Oct. 10–13 at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s really exciting to be invited to Portland State and to the Native American Student and Community Center,” said Harrison. “The community at PSU has been incredibly welcoming and we can’t wait to share this story and hopefully continue to build longer and deeper relationships, and ultimately bring more work to PSU.”
For more information and details on the production, visit https://bagnbaggage.org/
