Musical revisits legacy of Black Hawk
The old adage that history is written by the victors may be a cliché, but it also happens to be true. Most historical events can be seen from various points of view, and certain stories seldom have received wide circulation, at least until recently.
One of those is the story of Black Hawk, a noted leader of the Sauk and Fox Indians who challenged U.S. government attempts to take Indian land. Black Hawk refused government orders to vacate tribal villages along the Rock River in Illinois, leading to the Black Hawk War of 1832. The war ended with a massacre of Indians by U.S. troops at the Bad Axe River in Wisconsin.
Now a new musical, running Friday at Lindsay's on Liberty, revisits the legacy of Black Hawk and American Indians generally. "Black Hawk's Band: A Native American View of Illinois History," is the creation of storyteller Brian "Fox" Ellis, and features central Illinois performer Barrry Cloyd; Pekin Community High School teacher Jo Lakota and members of the Eagle Ridge Singers, a local American Indian drum group.
It's an evening of music and storytelling based on a fanciful meeting with Black Hawk just before the 1832 war.
"One of my goals in writing this piece is to celebrate traditional American Indian culture and the heritage and tradition as much as possible before the European invasion," Ellis said. "And then to talk about the conflict in its early stages from the American Indian point of view."
The accent here is on celebration; Ellis wants the upcoming musical to be a history lesson that's painless and fun as well as informative.
"People will have a good time," Ellis said. "We dispel some of the myths of Indian culture -but kind of tongue-in-cheek, with a sense of humor and without a lot of browbeating about how terrible things were. It's actually got an upbeat tone and some funny stories."
Many of the stories are really fables or myths. The evening opens with a creation myth told by Great Lakes American Indians, which tells how "Grandma Turtle" swam to the bottom of the stream and brought up mud, which formed the world.
Another story is about a kind of frog known as the spring peeper. When winter first came, the animals had to hibernate and they worried about who would wake them up on time for spring so they could raise their young. The animals decide that Bear, the mightiest creature in the woods, should give the wakeup call. But Bear oversleeps. Nobody wants the responsibility; if Bear can't do it, who can? Eventually, the peeper frogs volunteer. At first, they are mocked because of their small size, but they prove to be effective heralds of spring.
For Ellis, the spring peeper frog is both a story about nature and a metaphor for Black Hawk, who in his own way tried to wake up his people.
"He was a very humble, unpretentious man, but he knew he could be the voice for his people and wake them up from their slumber," Ellis said. "Black Hawk said, 'Wake up, we've got to take a stand.'"
Article written by
Gary Panetta
Peoria Journal Star
July 2002
Prairie Folklore Theatre * P.O. Box 10800, Peoria, IL 61612 * 309-689-8000 * Contact Us
“Where history comes to life with a healthy scoop of good ol’ American humor.”