Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1978)
Page 2 April 21, 1978 "Black Elk Speaks" Not Light Entertainment Actors’ performances were in a few cases inspiring, with special cred it due to Clayton Corbin’s elderly Black Elk whose beautifully resonant voice boomed from a stooped body with a faltering step. Henry “Kaimu” Bal’s ver satility in portraying not only a proud Red Cloud but an uncouth, spitting bystander and a cold, precise Colonel Chivington was also noteworthy. But too often acto rs relied on shouting and melodramatic gestures to convey anger and fering. As one viewer comment ed, he felt uncomfortable being yelled at. The desired effect was clear enough. T here w as a shocking story to tell and acto rs used every bit of th eir energy and emotion telling it. Horrified and humiliated voices shrieked and wept at the starvation and m ur der of m en, women and child ren. For those unacquainted with Black Elk (second from left) and an impressive array of Indian leaders and warriors retold the the Indians’ story, “Black Elk” history of Indians’ encounters with the white man in the Folger Theater Group’s presentation of “ Black was enlightening. As they learn Elk Speaks’’ at the Warm Springs Community Center April 14. C.O.C.C. sponsored the event. CDS Photo ed, the “ Indian Wars” went far beyond retaliation against “hos- tile s” and into the realm of enced by those who lost it,’ was to rical figures as Christopher slaughter, with unprovoked at War whoops accen ted the brought to the W arm Springs Columbus, Andrew Jackson, tacks on peaceful cam ps a applause when Black Elk’s nar Community Center April 14 by M anuelito, L ittle Crow, Black common occurrence. The play rative ended, but elsewhere in Central Oregon Community Col Kettle and Crazy Horse. was a te a rfu l and exhausting the crow d th e re w ere te a rs, lege. For a rare cultural event of experience for some. this kind, it did not draw the full embarrassment, exhaustion, Their messages to modernity Although th ere w ere both house expected, but perhaps the shock and even anxiety. were dramatized in a simple set pathetic and heroic Indians with The intensity of “Black Elk same qualities that made it dif of wooden p latfo rm s and a whom to sympathize and iden Speak s,” a tw o-hour history ficult to watch also made it easy hanging buffalo skin. Costumes tify, th e re w ere only buffoons lesson dramatized by the Folger for some to avoid. w ere P lain s Indian style and sad ists and hypocrites among Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux T h eatre Group of W ashington when the Anglo m ilita ry was the Anglo characters (with the portrayed, a brass-buttoned coat exception of two very brief D.C. left no one untouched. It whose visions and historical was above all else, not an accounts were recorded by John and military hat were thrown on appearances). This proved to be evening of light entertainment. G. Neihardt in the book “Black over the buckskin and braids, embarrassing for some viewers. “Did you enjoy Black E lk?” has Elk S p eak s,” was assigned a creating visual irony. Such exaggerations on both been an inappropriate question different role to play ip this new The sound was also simple, sides were, of course, excusable drama. He gave a guided tour of consisting p rim a rily of flutes for the sake of d ra m a . But to ask. “ Did you endure Black and drums. Lighting, often sub perhaps in the long run subtlety Elk?” might better be answer Sand C reek, L ittle Big Horn, Bosque Redondo, Wounded Knee ed. dued but occasionally m ade was more powerful. harsh for emphasis, cast bigger- “ B lack E lk S p eak s,” a and other sites of the so-called The m ore subtle m om ents than-life shadows on the black When an Anglo was caught in a ‘short shattering history of the “Indian W ars” of the late 1800’s. winning of the w est as ex p eri He acquainted us with such his backdrop. flaw of logic, an irony of intent or a backfired bit of deceit were Loomis Honored With Health Award An unsuspecting Lee Loo m is, h ealth-educator a t W arm Springs Indian Health Service, went to a re g u la r W ednesday staff meeting April 12 and was su rp rised to find him self the cen ter of atten tio n and the r e cipient of a very special award. Loomis, who has been with the PHS h e re for the p a st five y e a rs, w as honored with a plaque from the U.S. Public H ealth Service for “ sustained h igher quality work p erfo rm ance and dedication in the area of h ealth education se rv ic e s” here at Warm Springs. Service unit director Garet Soules, who p resented the a- ward, has been here for 15 years and cannot re c a ll any other em ployee here being honored with such an award during that time. Soules said that Loomis re ceived the honor because of his effectiveness and dedication in performance of his duties. Soul- les cited Loomis as the moving force behind the development of the Warm Springs Emergency M edical T echnician Courses which have been conducted in cooperation with the fire depart m ent, the trib a l police, and m em bers of the reservation community. Loomis has also designed a p atien t health education pro gram specifically for the people on the reservation. “An impor tant component of this has been the development of an extensive library of health-related video tapes to be used in small group educational programs, accord ing to Soules. In the evenings, Loomis has conducted training in the proper use of fire -a rm s through the establishm ent of rifle safety clubs for youth on the reserva tion. In addition, Loomis has pro vided classes in Defensive Driv ing to 300 people, 200 of whom have completed the course. This has provided the T ribal Court with an alternative to just hand ing out fines. He has also con ducted Medical Self-Help cour ses, p a rtic ip a te d in the design all too rare. We begged for more understanding of how the “hoop” of Black Elk’s vision was broken by the confusion of a divided people. We should have seen both cultures through individu als and not stereotypes. What we got was a barrage of bitter words and a parade of good buys and bad guys. When the play ended, the m ore tim id non-Indians in the audience reached up to check for their scalps. Black Elk’s call for peace tended to be lost am idst the angry words that preceded it. The folks who were familiar with the historical and contem porary Indian felt som ewhat cheated by the enormous detail (straight out of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) without the benefit of increased' understand ing. (And in c id e n ta lly , kids might have been better left with a babysitter. The dialogue was on an adult level and kids grew restless and became disruptive.) As an initial consciousness- raising effort, “ Black Elk S peaks” was powerful and in formative. It was an unforget table experience for all. We need to be shocked at least once, but we also need to go beyond ill feelings to real insight. Producer Bob Handy refer red to his play as a “ m ission” and “ m edicine” . “ Black Elk Speaks” might have performed these functions more effectively if it had been m ore faithful to the spirit of the original Black Elk. His keen observations of the horror and irony of history, his vision of a closed hoop and his quiet eloquence commanded attention and empathy. D ram a in such a m anner would lend dignity to the voices of Indians and inspire respect from those whose e a rs have been closed to their words. and prom otion of special d ia betic clinics, prenatal classes, and has been extrem ely effec tive in the promotion of a school health dental program a t the W arm Springs e le m e n ta ry school, says Soules. “ F o r the p a st five years, this Officer (Loomis) has effec tively put into practice the prin ciples of com m unity involve m ent in the identification and solution of health p roblem s,” noted Soules at the award pre sentation. S p ilyay Tym oo SPILYAY TYMOO STAFF Pnstiila Sqoiemphen ' % R^ er S**s*r FOUNDED IN' MARCH 1976 ¿ 5 Published bi-weekly by the Confederated Tribes of the W arm Springs R eserv atio n of Oregon. W arm Springs, Oregon 97761. Any written m aterial to the Spilyay Tymoo should be addressed to: < 'Spilyay Tymoo F O . Box 7$6 x W arin'Springs, Oregon lllllll Subscription Rate $6.00 per year. (A Comment) Garet Soules (left) presents PHS award to Lee Loomis.
