Oldal 308 [308]
KRISZTINA Kopó
For Keesic, the realization is that his culture has been lost, since the language
has disappeared, the sweatlodge as well, there is no tribal warfare, no
warriors, and Dreamer’s Rock, a sacred and spiritual place, has been turned
into a touristic attraction. Communication, however, is the key to finding
their answers as they slowly comprehend that “those who don’t remember
the past are condemned to relive it.”° Keesic, then, is the past and with it the
Native heritage that Rusty and Michael must “relive” and grasp. Rusty and
Michael must come to understand that culture, language and heritage, hence
their Native identity, is not lost after all, because “we still exist. Changed,
but Odawa.””° And the reason they have met on Dreamer’s Rock is because
this is “part of the land, part of Mother Earth. [...] The land is the basis for
everything. We have survived not just on the land, but with it.””' Therefore,
Taylor’s underlying humor and the Dickensian formula of linking past¬
present-future also functions effectively here in directing Rusty back to his
roots, heritage and ultimately his identity.
CONCLUSION
The concept of identity is a fluid term that incorporates many perspectives
which outline specific human features and historical associations. Native
theater provides an outlet for Native storytelling through humor, and as
presented in the article offers both the Native and non-native audiences a
glimpse of contemporary Indigenous transcultural identity. With the use
of humor, Native comedians and writers awaken their people to persistent
stereotypes and the major social-political issues prevailing within their own
communities. Native humor is thus an inherent entity in Native cultural
history and an essential element of cultural survival. The four plays by
Drew Hayden Taylor that were analyzed within the scope of this article are
experiments within the Blues and the Gothic genres highlighting the notion
that both comedy and serious drama work well within this dramatic range.
Major themes that were elaborated show that there is a constant movement,
shifting and even mix-up between Native culture and the dominant forms
of culture. However, this progress does not necessarily entail a one-way
development, but rather a bi-directional tendency in which some cultural
identities are incorporated into the everyday lives of the Indigenous peoples,
while there is also a tendency to move toward a pure and clear vision of Native
heritage and identity. What Taylor conclusively offers in his plays through the
scope of humor is the importance of maintaining both cultures consciously
69 Ibid., 42-43.
70 Tbid., 69.
7 Tbid., 70.
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