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KRISZTINA Kopó
of inter- as well as intracultural oppression, exclusion, and appropriation,
which is in dire need of revision."? Ihis, according to Dáwes, is a model for
interculturalism — a dynamic construct under continuous alteration.”°
The blues then becomes a clay-like substance ready to be molded into form
in the hands of Native playwrights. The blues, by definition, is not linked in
any way with Native culture but was originally developed in the southern
United States following the American Civil War (1861-1865). It is a form of
secular folk music created by African Americans, which originates from work
songs and field hollers, minstrel show music, ragtime, church music, and the
folk and popular music of the white population. The creation of the blues was
largely connected to Southern black men, most of whom were agricultural
workers. The earliest references to blues date back to the 1890s and early
1900s. Contrary to the etymological origins of the word, in which blue means
sadness and melancholy in its various connotations, the blues were songs
about “overcoming bad luck, saying what you feel, getting rid of frustrations,
letting your hair down, and just plain having fun. No other form of music
communicates more genuine personal emotion.””’
Drew Hayden Taylor uses the blues theme in his plays to contradict the
“tragic” and “stoic” Indian stereotype and present stories and everyday
situations that “have their roots in the belly laughs of the communities.””*
The driving force of these plays is, therefore the aboriginal sense of humor at
its best. The blues appears in Drew Hayden Taylor’s so-called blues tetralogy
that consists of four plays: The Bootlegger Blues (1991), The Baby Blues (1999),
The Buz’Gem Blues (2001) and Berlin Blues (2007). The focus of this article,
however, will consider the first two plays from the 1990s, which were Taylor’s
first experiments within the dramatic genre and the blues theme.
By writing The Bootlegger Blues Taylor was intent on writing a comedy
“with absolutely no socially redeeming qualities whatsoever.” His focus was
on telling a funny story, and the foundation of the play is based on a similar
incident he had heard from someone on the reserve. The location of the play
is a present-day reserve located in central Ontario, Canada and the duration
is the twenty-four hours of a powwow weekend.* The cast consists of six
characters altogether, all Natives and representing three generational groups:
°5 Birgit Dawes: “How Native is Native if You’re Native?” Deconstructions of Authenticity in
Drew Hayden Taylor’s Performative Project, in Robert Nunn (ed.), Drew Hayden Taylor,
Essays on his Works, Toronto, Guernica, 2008, 22.
26 Dawes, “How Native is Native?”, 22.
2? Blues-Music, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/art/blues-music (accessed
20 March 2020).
28 Drew Hayden Taylor, The Baby Blues, Vancouver, Talonbooks, 1999, 7.
2 Birgit Dawes — Robert Nunn: Interview with Drew Hayden Taylor, in Robert Nunn (ed.),
Drew Hayden Taylor, Essays on his Works, Toronto, Guernica, 2008, 220.
30 Drew Hayden Taylor, The Bootlegger Blues, Saskatoon, Fifth House Publishers, 1991, 8.
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