A Native View of Illinois History
Imagine sitting around a campfire with Black Hawk and his friends sharing creation myths and history, fancy dancing and drumming songs. Revisit the legacy of Black Hawk in this dynamic interpretation of American History from a Native American point of view. This performance of music, storytelling and dance is based on a meeting with Black Hawk’s band of warriors just before the 1832 war. Much of the play is taken from Black Hawk’s autobiography published in 1834 and celebrates American Indian culture, heritage and traditions before the arrival of Europeans. Be a part of this evening’s celebration of an undying spirit that inhabits the land where Black Hawk once roamed and his descendants still thrive.
Time is a circle not a line, the present, past & future intertwine.
A Warm Spring Evening April 1832
“Hey-hey-hey-hey-hey um-gu-wah”
My grandmother was Cherokee...
How Many Ravens?
Jackson and the Forced Removal
Trail of Tears
We came to Illinois with a wave of Immigrants
El-a-noy
Deer Hunting and Encounter with Blackhawk
Deer Dance Song
We stoked up the fire and began telling tales in earnest:
Grandma Turtle
Ponca Intertribal Song
Spring Peepers Sing the Sun Up
Ponca Intertribal Song
Vision of his Grandfather and Western Migration
My Spirit is Already There
INTERMISSION
Makataimeshekiukkiuk’s Childhood
Battle’s Won and Lost
Ponca War Dance
European Origins of Scalping
Crane Dance into Round Dance
Mendowmin - Origin of Corn
Corn Planting Song
Epilogue
My Spirit is Already There - Reprise
Black Hawk’s Band
Director's Note:
Several years ago I put together a performance of stories that answered the question I am most often asked: “So Fox, how did you get your name?” I began with the beginning and told a creation myth about a fox singing the world, the world was made of song. I wove in a fox fable. I then told stories about my family tree and Great Uncle Johnny, who was half Cherokee and had a pet fox. Only at the end of the performance did I tell a personal story about my pet fox and the dream in which I was given my name. All of this to say: Who we are is a collage of family stories and cultural cosmology.
Thinking this was a clever and original idea, I was deeply humbled and amazed to find that Black Hawk, too, began his autobiography with several pages about his family tree, his grandfather’s vision and his tribal history. He could not separate his individual life from the ongoing story of creation.
Our Creation Myth is an integral part of our personal narrative. What is our personal story in light of our cultural history? How do our parents and great-grandparents still influence our choices? How does our cultural myth color our daily decisions? How can we act as the hands and mind of Creator? What are the future implications of today’s actions? How will our lives influence the next seven generations?
It is through our stories that we know this larger self and our place within the cosmos. It is through our family stories that we keep our ancestors alive. Tonight, we celebrate an important chapter in our collective story.
Black Hawk’s story is really our story. It is a personal drama that illuminates an important chapter in American History that happened dozens of times, yet is often overlooked. He knew the implications of his actions and his role in the bigger drama of Indian history.
This story is our story. My great-great grandma was full blood Cherokee and great-great grandpa was Scots – Irish. This photo is my great uncle Johnny; he is the character I portray in this evening’s performance. (Notice the pet fox on his lap.) His life flows in my veins.
Your ancestors are living with us as immigrants and as natives, toiling in you for a better world, toiling in you for their great-great grand children.
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.”