UNSETTLED TECH SCRIPT 2024

Spot up under moon mountain. Bernadine enters stage left.

Invocation: Bernadine

Please Rise. Creator
Clean our eyes so we see the truth
Clean our ears so we hear the truth
Clean our mouths so we speak the truth
Touch our hearts so we know the truth.
Thank you Creator.
That is all.
Voice over in English Rhona?
Bernadine off, passing by Angie who enters stage left into spot on stage left.

Welcome: Angie

Tonight’s production at Icicle Creek Center for the Arts is located on the ancestral homeland of the p’squosa (Wenatchi) people and honors them as the original stewards of this land.

Tonight we offer the drama of settlement in Washington state including in and around the region where you currently sit. These mountains, valleys and rivers, have been life blood and bones to Indigenous people and pioneer emigrants for hundreds and thousands of years.

History is complex, even unsettling when unpacked through the eyes of different cultures. Let yourself be unsettled this evening as Dangerous Women illuminates what’s gone before and what the future may allow us to reconcile.

Lem Lemt (thank you) for turning off your cell phones. Out of courtesy to those sitting nearby and original content onstage, please refrain from taking videos. And now, it’s time to settle in. The moon is soon to rise.
fade to black Angie takes mic and stand off stage left.

UNSETTLED THEME

All women enter with gear in dark. Spots up one at a time as each duo turns and speaks.

Woman 1 Tonya

Before we hitched the wagon, dragging my dress in the mud to the West I begged but had no choice, my voice lost, tossed like dust in the air Twenty years wedded, and now we’re headed who knows where!

Woman 2 Mirella

Will we die on the trail, impaled by the dreams of a nation to roam? Dragged by husbands from home to stone cold nights alone, Bones aching and children forlorn?
Both

Torn from everything before.
What is the word we’re looking for?
Lights up on spot 2 when they turn and begin speaking.
Woman 3 Susan H
We came for the fun, alone or plus one
to seize opportunities, Breathe air that frees the tether.
Never one to shirk from hard work,
I’ve done it before. Train wagons, load rifles, pack stores.
Woman 4: Karen
Ok, we concede it- men are nice, but not needed!
Over passes, through forests, like the few brave before us,
Now we’ll make a mark— be the spark. Whatever’s in store!
Both
What IS that word we’re looking for?
Lights up on spot 3 when they turn and begin speaking.
Woman 5 Janine
What we had, at least we can bring from the east.
Centuries of success, failures and tries have made us wise enough To take what the land provides. Leave no heathen behind.
Woman 6 Sally K
It’s not that hard. We’ll sell satin, bullets and lard,
Tame children in schools and frame a civilization!
Red, white and Brown gather. One nation under God!
We’ll build churches and stores,
Both
What’s the word that we’re looking for?
W 1: I just can’t settle with this hole in my kettle!
W- 4: I’m willing to bet we’ll never be settled!
3+4: Unsettled 5+6: Unsettled. 1 &2. Unsettled. ALL. Unsettled! UNISON: We’ve got it, the word is UNSETTLED!

Cue Music and IMAGE 1
Enter stage right, front leg. Becky playing as she walks on stage. Terri carries Cajon. Lights up on musician stage space.

We hit the trail and we forded the stream. Headed toward the American Dream.
’Til I fell onto my knees, crying for my spirit to mend. Westward, Onward. Unsettled ‘round every bend.
Dancers Angie and Gabby enter stage left and right after first verse during 2 bars before second verse begins.

Fights with guns and men riding horses... No retreat for women, no divorces!
When the sun’s full heat can bake you. The cold can take you past sanity’s end. Westward, Onward. Unsettled ‘round every bend

Bridge:

Karen: Maybe Nature is Greater than us people!
Sally: Oh no, God is supreme in his steeple!
Rhona: Doesn’t matter either way. Kust keep pulling All: Underneath a western mo-ooo- oooooon. (Tonya howls) Let’s hit the trail

Dance Segment

See the Dipper and the Hunter
The ancients in the sky make you wonder.
Is the moon on her course a source of wisdom. Even a friend?
Westward Onward, Unsettled ‘round every Westward Onward, Unsettled ‘round every Westward Onward, Unsettled around every bend

Cue Spot on Moon Mountain on the word “bend.” Moon is at top of stairs and steps into spot as women finish song. they gesture up at her and whisper to each other. Women trail off, upstage left. Musicians trail off stage right.

Cue Spring Sound track

The Moon: Rhona

Every season rearrange, in shadows of my shifting light 
Unsettled you face times of change, and gather close upon this night To hear the stories lost and found. Within my circle you are bound! Unsettled you journey. Unsettled you return.
To settle old scores, And heal the wound.

Lights dim on Moon, Indigenous Prayer Spring Slide up as voice over continues

Creator, We thank you for this new beginning. We ask you to bless all growing things
Help us as we honor the gifts that are gathered from our mother Earth. That is all.

PRAYER Slide Down.
Quick Transition. Spring Moon Slide fade up while Lights back up on Moon

The Moon: Rhona

Spring dawns, ice thaws, and winds warm the earth. I watch over the seasons, the land giving birth 

To blossoms and root growth, children and cubs  Like bread they arise in the yeast of the sun.

My opposite sire, he’s push to my pull 
Day time is his, but tonight I am full 
Of stories and wisdom calling you home. 
Birthing, and digging, your entitled to roam, 
Not greedily grabbing, but balancing the take 
For the earth feels the impact of each choice you make.

Short musical interlude in Spring soundtrack. Ind. women enter:

Bernadine, Cascadia, Star, carrying props.

The Moon: Rhona

Shin Puh ’Skwous women prepare for first gather, One family the symbol of how much it matters. They carefully dress in traditional ways 
To go out on the hillsides- sometimes for days

To dig for the bitterroot, search for pine tips.

Grateful, respectful, each mind is intent
On joyfully taking what nature provides. 
For the animals and plants, for all who reside 
They must cherish each season, being tied to the earth. Can you say the same? Do you know what it’s worth?

Indigenous women exit, front leg, stage right Latina Dancers enter and arrange themselves for flower dance from stage left.

The Moon: Rhona

When the flowers of spring fling their petals wide, 
Their roots abide the gathering.
Lighting changes as they spin one at a time.
Sunflower, Camas, Bitterroot, Nettle, Sumac and Fiddlehead Swirl to life. Dancing!

As each flower is called by Moon, the dancer spins toward audience. Moon light down, Moon fade to black after the last word. “Dancing.” Balsamroot slide fades up.

PLANTS OF SPRING DANCE: (6) Norma Ramirez, Isabella Aburto, Frida Gallegos, Abby Esquivel, Andrea Ramos, Jaslene Alvarez

Spring soundtrack continues. When dancers complete, they exit upstage left. (behind moon mountain)
Fade to black. Tule Mat Lodge pushed on stage. Stool with Blanket over is placed in lodge. Lights fade up in two spots as Marile and Stacy (with hand held props) enter. Slide of baby and moccasins up.

(Stacy seated on blanket, sewing or beading. Marile standing, holding a little cloth bundle that holds the moccasins)

The Moccasins: Stacy and Marile (Nancy Tilson and Mildred Mitchell Sexson, apart, facing and speaking front. )
NT: It is the month of ukspixmtm, bitter root, the month of the yirncut, full moon. The suqim, moon, has always been our ancient female figure. i am reminded of something that happened a loooong time ago.....

MS: My son was born on the full moon in the month of May, a long time ago.....i had the most beautiful baby in the world. i wanted the world to see him! but i didn't really have friends; we lived way out, you know, east of the little mining town of Molson. we got some really good land that had just come available.

NT: we lived east of the HeHe stone. the whites were moving closer to us after their government reopened the Colville Reservation to them.

MS: we saw Indians frequently, only at a distance, walking or riding horses by our place. they used to stop at this big rock and just leave nice things, like blankets and baskets.
NT: we called it the HeHe stone; Hehe means "to wish". It was a sacred place of stories, also where spirits protected us from illness. one day some drunk miners put dynamite on the Hehe stone and blew it to bits

MS: i tried not to be lonesome for a friend; who wants to live in a smelly town? But i was nervous to have a baby so far from other people.
NT: i had to go to the government school in that smelly town; i remember this one little cabin on the way, i saw a big girl and she was going to have a baby.

MS: we had a little wheat, apple trees, the vegetable garden, chickens, a cow. the mountain nearby ,was covered in forest and was full of wild animals .
NT: our mountain, cmaq'w, was very beautiful, plenty of roots, camas bulbs, blueberries and huckleberries. lots of deer, skunks, coyotes, wolves, bears. MS: our mountain, cmaq'w, was very beautiful. there were plenty of roots, camas bulbs, and huckleberries. we shared the mountain with deer, trout, coyotes, wolves, bears.

MS: lots of wild animals out there. our horses were our best friends, we traveled on horseback, they pulled the sled, the wagon, the plow.

NT: in summer we rode our horses over to stay at the big falls, Noisy Water, our ancestral fishing grounds. There were many, many tribes meeting there to fish for the salmon. i helped my grandmother carry baskets of salmon to the drying racks.

MS: of course there were dances in town, we would go in summer. the Indians were gone for weeks, my brother said they went over to Kettle Falls by the thousands.
NT: the river was red with salmon. fishing didn't seem like work, with all the relatives and friends there. we had our jokes, and drumming and dancing at night.
MS: besides, who had time for a friend? i had to haul waterand carry in wood for the stove. made all of our bread, lit with oil lamps, washed and ironed by hand, and in fact i sewed all of our clothes.... the good old days? you can have them! but the baby was my constant joy...
NT: one day i saw that big girl holding her new baby! i felt kinda
nqwnmint , sorry for her, alone there just with her man. i stopped and held up my hand as a greeting (look at M, raise hand)
MS: the first person to see our son was this Indian girl walking by... (look at N)and she waved! (raise hand)(look at eachother)
NT: so i kept walking down the hill to her
MS: i saw her coming down the hill and i just felt so happy to show her the baby! she smiled at him
NT: he smiled at me. he was a cute fat baby
MS: then she bent down to the grass and pulled up a long stem of it...
NT: i measured his foot with a blade of grass...
MS: well a week later that Indian girl came back
NT: i just wanted to welcome that baby into the world
MS: then she handed me the most beautiful gift
NT: i had sewed some little moccasins and beaded them a little bit
MS: i couldn't believe it. and they fit perfectly! (with emotion)
NT: i remember that i saw tears in her eyes (touch heart)
MS: i knew some Salish, i am glad i remembered to say limb limb

NT: i even think she even tried to thank me.
(both pause)(MS holds up the moccasins)(Both women laugh)

Fade to black as Marile and Stacy exit and Mary Big Bull enters. Lights up on lodge.

THE FOUR FOOD CHIEFS: Mary Big Bull

I am p’squosa, or Wenachi, descendent of the first people that lived on the lands that surround you.

Since time immemorial, our life cycle has revolved around gathering foods- beginning in spring. To this day, we honor the four food chiefs. The chiefs of roots, berries, fish and animals prepare all other foods to ready themselves for the people. We must care for Mother Earth and our foods so they return to us.

The roots come out first špáƛǝm (bitterroots) are chief of all the food that grows underground including camas, sunflower, wild onion and wild potatoes.Inaceremonycalledkpu̓ m̓čnm,wehonortheroots.

The first berry to ripen is šyáya, service berry, who agreed to be chief of the berries, followed by foam berry, huckleberry and choke cherry. There is another ceremony when we prepare to harvest service berry.

ntitiyáx, Salmon is the third food chief. Salmon agreed to be chief of the water animals. The rivers used to run red with many, many salmon. Today we fish as we have for over TEN THOUSAND YEARS. Led by the P’squosa salmon chief, we hold a ceremony to honor salmon for providing food by making the greatest sacrifice, it’s life.

The fourth food chief is míxǎ ɫ black bear, chief of the ones that walk on top of the earth and the ones that fly. We have a lot of respect for míxǎ ɫ. Along with him, are deer, elk, grouse, pheasants and turkeys.

As we pay respect to the foods that our mother earth gives to us, we know that nothing can live without šawɫkw water. Water is life. Before any food and after we pray, we take in water, giving thanks for all that is provided for us.

Feather enters with hand drum on word cue “for all that is provided for us.” Hangs back by chair as Mary finishes. Joins Mary in circle of light and hands Mary a rattle. They perform song together.

Spring Song Feather Iukes with hand drum
Mary and Feather: We all must live in reciprocity with the land. Audience applause. Fade to Black. Two women off.

Summer Prayer: Slide and voice over in Salish.

Thank you Creator, bless the water
And all the who go to catch the salmon
And prepare it for winter.
Bless all that drink from the healing, life giving water. That is all.
Fade to black.
Moon lighting up with Summer gel. Summer music up.

Summer Moon: Rhona

I’m a Berry Moon, I’m a Birth moon, I’m a summer Moon in bloom I croon along with lovers, tides rising as they swoon.

I’ve got a big moon belly, fully ripe, inviting you to play! When clouds dot the purple sky and wash the heat away,

I’m sailing over the sweat lodge, preparing for the hunt
the bright salmon in the river and the traveling juggler’s stunt.
At the county fair or pow wow, when fry bread’s on the breeze. There’s a time to rest and a time to say, travelers take your ease!”

I’m a buck moon, I’m a salmon moon. I’m a half-grown summer calf. While summer spring’s still flowing and the river waters laugh.

Tap the drum and tune the fiddle. Gather friends and family round The circle of the season and fill the air with sound.

Whether jingle dance or hoedown, stick game, feast or fair. While you dance this moon will go down.

‘Til the sun refills the air.
Moon dances for 2 bars, music fades. Lights fade to dark. Moon exits.

Props out for May A Hutton: Chair placed with suit coat, vest with tie, cigar in pocket, top hat on it.

May Awkright Hutton: Becky. Moves into place. Lights up.

Well, it’s a fine summer day in Spokane, and here I am, the famous suffragist. Or infamous, depending on your perspective (chuckle) The band’s tuning up for the 4th of July picnic, and I better tune up for my inspiring - or scandalous speech, depending on your perspective (big laugh)

(Steps forward, clears throat , rehearsing speech) 
“Taxation without Representation is tyrannical, same as before the Boston Tea Party. Yet it persists throughout these United States! Taxpaying women have no voice and no vote.

A voice in the laws of our land gives women a fair chance with men in the question of equal pay for equal work ... more income for their families and more taxes for the government 
The enfranchisement of women ... means a square deal for all!

Are you with me? (teach “call/response” of above phrase)
" I am often asked the question of what women are going to do with the

ballot if they have it.

Did you know that four million children in the United States must toil if they would eat? Most of those who toil in the work-shops and factories are little girls. Woe, woe to a nation that tolerates such conditions. Give mothers a vote, and WE will lift from American life this crime! 

The enfranchisement of women ... means a square deal for all!

(with humor) Now, women do not claim to be perfect, for the Lord Almighty made us to match the men. Let women have the ballot and we will relieve men of half the worry of running the government. Besides it will put all men in a “Garden of Eden” where they can blame the women for all the political blunders that are made." The enfranchisement of women ... means a square deal for all!

"Logically, women should vote because they have the intelligence to vote. 

I believe the injustice of denying woman the ballot is so glaring that it will soon rouse all from their apathy... and cause us to rise as one and

declare... 

The enfranchisement of women ... means a square deal for all! 

Thank you (removes ruffle) And then will come the questions ... always the questions! (puts on tie)

Hannah Blank from audience, (enthusiastic young woman)
“Bravah, May Arkwright Hutton, Bravah! What inspired you to have this passion for women’s suffrage?
MAY: Well, when I was 9 years old, I was pulled from school and sent to live with my blind grandfather to be his cook, housekeeper, and his “eyes”. Now, he loved politics, so I would guide him to meetin’s and rallies. That was an education little girls never got in school!

One evening we attended a speech by a dashing young Union vet named William McKinley - just 27 he was! Pappy invited him to spend the night at our place. So here I was next mornin’, a 10 year old girl cooking breakfast for the future president of the United States. He said “Girl, I hope someday you can vote for me. Woman is the intellectual equal to man, and should be the political equal.” That is when I realized I would never be able to vote - for him or anyone else – unless things changed. (Pause, put on vest, buttoning as she continues )

When I was 23, I headed out West to Idaho, ran a boarding house, and worked in the mines, capable as any man there. I married Eli, then our silver mine struck it rich and we became millionaires! I even ran for state Senate, and almost won. Now, Idaho women got the vote in 1896, but when we moved across the line to Washington in “07, I lost that right to vote.

“I gathered up a carful of women from Spokane who had voted in Idaho, and we went away out by the border where we could see that land of the free. I never felt so small in my life. Over there we were enfranchised citizens. Thirty-@ive miles across the line women are classed with idiots, criminals, and felons.” That is why I pour my passion – and money- into gaining the vote for you, and all the women of Washington State.

Sally: from Audience, snobby woman’s voice

“Is it true that you are feuding with Emma Smith Devoe from Tacoma? She has such class, and she IS President of the Washington Suffrage Association!

MAY: Well, Emma and I are on the same side in this fight. We just go about it in different ways. Emma believes women activists should always be genteel and ladylike. So she sings pretty solos to soften folk up before she speaks. It’s lovely, really. Now, Emma thinks I’m crude, vulgar and immoral. I’ve heard she even spreads the rumor that my Idaho boarding house was really a brothel, which is a damn lie!

Here’s the difference between Emma and me. She organizes fundraisers for suffrage. I just give my money. She publishes a cookbook – Recipes for Justice. I drive out to local homesteads and tell the men - to their faces, that if their women can work by their side to settle that land, they should have a voice and a vote. (coat)
But if Emma wants to sing like a canary for the vote, good for her. Hmm... I suppose I could sing a ditty myself. How about this:

I’m May Arkwright Hutton come down from the mountain with my silver mine, boarding house, ruffian way.
Well I made lots of money, so I’ll fight for you, honey 
For your equal right to vote, and your equal right for pay

(puts on another garment

Kurt Carlson from audience (Condescending man’s voice ) : Mrs Hutton - What does Mr Hutton think about you wearing men’s clothing? Who really “wears the pants” in your family?

MAY: Well, Eli and I are partners “–in want and in plenty.” He don’t care what I wear. He’s seen me take off my greasy apron after cooking for the

crew and put on overalls to join him in the mine. Compared to that, this fine dress suit is downright fancy!
(chuckling, puts on hat)

Why do I wear it? Well, I’ve been trying to figure out why Washington men can vote and the women here can’t. It’s obviously not intelligence – or morals (pause for laughs). 
It’s not about money- women run businesses, own land - and pay taxes. So

I figured it must be the clothes! If this is how you’re supposed to look to vote in Washington State, then I’m happy to oblige! (checks watch, pulls out

cigar, and heads off stage humming tune) May Props off. Lights fade to black.

Pow Wow: Stage set for indigenous drummers. 3 black chairs. 3 blankets over. Drums and misc out, Golden Eaglettes (Feather, Tashina and Ernestine Iukes) take their place. Meanwhile, 3 images of pow wows are playing. Lights 1/2 bright while Michele Matt photo and voice clip is played.

Michele Voice (and slide) - Shawl Dance:

There was a girl who was in mourning after the death of husband. During this time, the girl couldn’t be around others. Finally, she came out of the cocoon of mourning. She could celebrate again. She could kick high and twirl because she had earned it. Not like in the old days when you couldn’t show ankle. The shawl of the fancy dancer represents the cocoon. It bounces off ill will from other women who could be jealous.

Pow Wow Song #1 Feather, Tashina and Ernestine Iukes. Katrina, Dancer (Katrina has entered during Shawl Dance voice over)
Applause.
Michele Voice (and slide) Fancy Dance: The jingle dress story comes more from the Ogibwe. A grand-daughter was really sick. So her grandfather prayed and prayed and finally went to shore of a lake where he prayed to the water which gave him a vision of dress grand-daughter should wear to be well again. The jingles brought in goodness and took out the bad at the same time. The jingle dress is a healing dress.

pow wow song #2 Feather, Tashina and Ernestine Iukes. Dancer will be Raina, Sklar Yellowwolf or Michelle, Miss CCT. They have entered during Fancy Dance voice over
Drummers play and sing song #2. with dancer

Applause as dancer exits.
Drummers rise and take up hand drums. step forward into light.
pow wow song #3 - Circle: Feather, Tashina and Ernestine Iukes.

Applause and fade to black, drummers exit. Remove their chairs and props. Stage prepared for Klondike Kate. Props: bags of gold dust and a rose

Klondike Kate: Mandi

First spot up
Mandi (talking as she enters) 1900 Klondike Gold Rush Kathleen Rockwell, turning heads at the turn of the century Yeah.
(second spot)

I put on boys clothes And I jumped on a boat For Alaska - And that’s all she wrote Because in Dawson I am Queen of the Stage And little Kitty Rockwell is all the rage

I hit the mother lode. I know I’m lookin pretty sweet
Don’t need to dig for gold ‘cause miners throw it at my feet I know they wanna see an ankle, maybe even a leg
When I show off my shoulders, they’ll be kickin’ the keg.

third spot

My name is Kate
I mine the miners
And I don’t care what you think There’s no one finer

I am the Queen of the Yukon
I stop traffic on the street
And I’m dripping with some diamonds And I’m lookin pretty sweet

I ain’t no girl of ill repute, I’m so classy
And if you’re ever in some trouble, I’m your lassie I ain’t no gold digger. I earn everything I got
I know what men want, And it’s not a lot

They want a girl in some tights, They want a mink stole They want me wearin the sequins, Want me playin my role

So I roll their cigarettes, I sing my purdy song Cause we dance hall queens go all night long

My name is Kate
I mine the miners
And I don’t care what you think There’s no one finer

I am the Queen of the Yukon
I stop traffic on the street
And I’m dripping with some diamonds And I’m lookin pretty sweet

L’amour, l’amour, l’amour, l’amour

I take the boys for all they got ‘cause Lord knows I deserve it I’ve been workin the crowds ‘cause they know that I’m worth it So throw some gold dust up here on the stage
Because little Kitty Rockwell Is all the rage

My name is Kate
I mine the miners
And I don’t care what you think There’s no one finer

I am the Queen of the Yukon
I stop traffic on the street
And I’m dripping with some diamonds And I’m lookin pretty sweet

Yeah.
Girl from Spokane makes good
And if you’re good, I’ll give you my pixie stare. Yeah. I’ll knock you dead with my smile. Uh. Slow fade to black.

INTERMISSION (brand slide up and intermission music)

FALL Prayer Slide Up. Cue Fall voice over:

Creator, All that we gathered- touch our hands So that what we prepare for winter nourishes and heals us. We humbly ask for successful hunts to provide us with meat and clothing. We are humbled by your generosity. That is all.

Voice finishes, fade prayer slide. Fall moon slide up. Spot up on moon mountain. Moon already in place. Cue Music

MOON: Rhona

Sunlight scattered on forest floor Folds the clothes that summer wore Wool and furs keep you warm
In dying light and passing storm

The fallow field you roughly tended
The wood you chopped, the fence you mended, The endless days of wheat and corn
Prepared you this frosty morn.

Soundless elk wanders late
Among the pines to find his mate Beaver’s branches dam the stream The patient hunter’s autumn dream.

A sailing moon I chase the geese
A digging moon I bring the feast
In silver light the harvest ends
And from the hills you must descend.

Crisp air sweeps steady northward Apples ripen in Posey’s orchard As wind unhitches tired leaves

Frees straw from golden sheaves

Uprooted now the ground will meet
The shuffle of unsettled feet
The sun goes down on wealth unguessed
A wandering foot will follow... West
Wait un(l music fades. Lights down on moon.

Wandering Foot Susan (violin) with Terri (recorder), and Becky (guitar)

Friends carry out props. Old trunk, chair small table. Guitar and stand. Lights up with quilt draped over chair. Becky picks up to display.

Becky: Your friends back in Indiana must care for you very much to make you The Wandering Foot pattern.

Susan: Not a day goes by that I don’t think of them. Terri: The stitching’s so fine. Touching the surface.

Susan: Yes, This quilt was a comfort on my journey west. Perhaps it will soothe me now that we’ll be moving again.

: Why must your husband pick up the family and move you away?

Folding quilt as convo continues. Holly packs it in the box, clips shut and turns upright.

Terri: What else? The promise of a more promised land. Men can’t seem to settle their wandering feet. Most of us women want to take root, make a home.

Susan: I’m sad to say goodbye. It’s been a long journey... and it’s not over yet. Guitar strum.

Susan solo: “I left my home in Indiana.”
All: Headed West to Independence Missouri.
Susan: My husband told me, “Gather the children!:
All: Gather your precious things for we are bound to be

All: Wandering on the trail to Oregon
Wandering feet take me far away from home. Wandering Feet go where the wind blows
For the promise of the west we’re bound to roam.

For the pattern of the journey, in the piecing of the quilt
That the quilter’s circle, stitched me so fine,
Each tiny tuck another tenderness to soothe my weary heart To give me comfort while the moon is in her shine.

Wandering on the trial to Oregon.
Wandering feet take me far away from home. A wandering feet go, where the wind blows. For the promise of the west I’m bound to roam.

Musical interlude - add recorder, fiddle and washboard.

We settled by the Columbia in a land call Wenatchee But my husband heard the gold was flowing north.
So we’re packing up and picking up. Unsettled I will be. Wandering foot, quilter’s dream, chart my course.

Will I wander on forever?
Wandering feet take me far away from home.

Wandering feet go where the wind blows.
For the promise of the west I’m bound to roam

A wandering foot goes where the wind blows. For the promise of the west I’m bound to roam.

Applause. Lights fade to black. WF Props and cast off. New props in for Mary Posey.

MARY POSEY: Karen and 2 children’s voices offstage on mic.

First light up on Mary Posey scene, mid stage right. We hear her voice offstage delivering first lines. AMANDA - Door slams. (Crew: Hold Mic on stage door)

(offstage) Thank you, Ma’am. I do appreciate it. You be well! (sound of a closing door)

Mary enters from offstage carrying a pie with lattice top, and note card. Cue middle spot and stage left spot when Mary begins walking to mid stage. As she walks she pauses to taste Sighs and places pie on table with a few towel-covered pie pans, an apple bowl and photo.

Mary: Another pie... (Sighs. Takes a bite and scrunches her face). There’s not enough sugar in the valley to fix this pie. But the thought was sweet, I suppose. (Picks up the note on the flower and reads it aloud).

Dear Mrs. Posey, Though I must confess that you and your late husband were not who we expected to arrive with the Great Northern homestead sales, it has been a pleasure having you as valley neighbors. Your industriousness is a credit to your race {PAUSE & REACT} and your devotion to Mr. Posey and his children - HIS children? - has been a wonder to behold.

[read offstage: cast: Sally on hand held (or body?) mic

Sally: You are an exemplary mother and as such, you must know that there is no shame in retiring your husband’s dream. (Mary: HIS dream?!) Certainly now, with no other family nearby and the increasing number of unsavory men like the drunkard who slew your husband, (Mary gasps) I’m sure you must be preparing to go back home. Running an orchard while raising young children is too much for one woman. It’s not a lady’s work.

[Sally reads a couple words then Mary continues with indignation] Please know that I and the other women on North Road are willing to help as you settle your affairs and make your plans to depart.

(balls it up and tosses it on the floor by the table and turns to walk away. Pauses and shakes her head, then double backs to pick up the paper. She sits in the chair next to the table and begins to methodically smooth out the paper as she muses aloud to herself).

Waste not, want not. I could use this paper for some of my figures. (pause) Hmph. Not a lady’s work. Giving grieving widows a tasteless pie is NOT a lady’s work. Talking for the whole neighborhood when we BOTH know you are just talking for yourself... THAT’S not a lady’s work.

But keeping my home after losing my husband.... Well.... A lady in our valley is a wife, a mother, and a homemaker who does right by her husband, children, and homestead. (tearful pause) My husband has departed but I remain his devoted wife.

Our children have me and by the grace of God, they will come of age with stalwart loving hearts, strength of character, and steady hands. Our home

is rough hewn now but with the remembered guidance of my Mr. Posey, the diligent assistance of our children, and the fortitude granted to me by God, these 200 acres will become a testament... I might even make a sign with paintings of the apples we grow. [spreads her hands out slowly as if creating a sign in the air]. “Posey Creek Homestead...Leavenworth, WA”. You know, I like the sound of that.

As the Psalm reminds us all, “You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.”

(walks to center stage. gently picks up frame) My Dear, you planted the seeds, poured your sweat and actual blood for this land. And, I miss you. But we will honor your sacrifice for our family. We’ll reap the harvest like you showed us, and plant and harvest some more.

Rises crosses stage right Back home? There is no back home for us. Montana was supposed to become Home. But ... things changed... the people changed... got mean. We didn’t own anything there, so it was time to move on. And now, well, Leavenworth is home. That creek right there... Our land to settle and cultivate. Even with the mortgage, we made a good plan. This land will be ours outright. Maybe not as soon as we’d hoped...now. (mournfully sits and picks up the picture of her husband) But soon enough!

backstage hand mic on/up

(sound of children bickering offstage CAST: ? as child 1. with Star Child 1: Give it back!

Child 2: No. I’m not done yet. Wait your turn!

Mary: Frankie! Carrie! You play gently with each other! I’m gonna check up on your chores in a few moments (glances at the pie on the table) and if you do a good job, I’ll teach you how to make a proper pie. (children cheer. She tucks the towel tighter around the pie).

backstage hand mic on/up

Child 1: I get the biggest piece! Child 2: No! Etc.

Mary: Children, now remember what Pa said. “It doesn’t matter what we get. What matters is what we do for each other and for ourselves.” And right now, this land and each other is all we’ve got. And we will make it work.

Walks purposefully off the stage towards the sound of her children. fade to black). Lights fade to black. Props off. Lights up on Norma in the spot below moon mountain. Norman begins speaking.

DAY OF THE DEAD Norma Ramirez, speaker and dancer, Mirella Cuevas: Singer. Additional dancers: Isabella Aburto, Frida Gallegos, Abby Esquivel, Andrea Ramos, Jaslene Alvarez

Braceros - Un hombre que trabaja con sus brazos y manos de él.

First slide up

El programa Braceros se estableció para permitir que trabajadores agrícolas masculinos contratados de México vinieran al norte para trabajar en los campos y huertos.

Second Slide up

En el valle de Wenatchee, in the 1940’s, los braceros llegaron en junio para el aclareo y se quedaron durante la cosecha en octubre. De camino a casa a principios de noviembre, habrían pasado por la mayor celebración otoñal de México, el Día de Muertos.

Third Slide Up

Es un momento para conectarse y amar a aquellos que han fallecido, tal vez compartiendo una taza de té o bailando en su memoria. Canciones como La LLorona resuenan en la noche.

Fourth Slide Up

Los participantes quedan atrapados en la belleza de la vida... y de la muerte. Cada persona lleva la memoria viva de sus seres queridos, que nunca están muy lejos. Mientras el corazón recuerde.

Cue La Llorona Music. Cue La Llorona Slide.

Fifth Slide up

2 Dancers enter as Norma goes off. Hands off mic to Mirella. Then Norma joins dancers after finalizing dance costume.
A trio dances to Ll Llorona. As singer completes song. Freeze in place looking up. Applause. Fade to Black

Winter Prayer: Cue Slide. Cue voice over in Salish. Creator, in our time of telling stories, touch our sad hearts. Lift us up. We are humbled.
Lift us up.

fade prayer slide as Winter Moon slide comes into focus.

Edge of Winter: Hannah (dance)

Cue Winter Moon Sound Track. Hannah enters from stairs. Narrator Moon will become part of this scene, speaking while Hannah dances. Then leaving stage, allowing Hannah to complete the dance. After about 60 seconds, The Moon enters and gets in place, CUE MOON SPOT after she is in place.

Winter Moon: Rhona

No cloud invades my winter flight
My light is clear and crisp as ice.
The game is stored past winter’s test. My people near fire’s heart rest.

A pot of soup, a strip of venison
Shared with all, is meant to let us in to
drifts of memory where stories unfold Grandparents to children as winter takes hold.

If the wolf howls, you need not fear.
It’s just her way to say I’m here,
On long moon night when the frost cracks the dogwood twigs by forest track.

And Winter sheds the buck’s great antlers down Freezes groundhog’s winter mound
And paints with ice a frosty fern
Banishing Robin, till spring returns.

The month’s grow bony and time goes astray, But you rise to see another day.
While the eagle soars and bear’s asleep.
And you pray the lord your soul to keep.

I’m a spirit moon, I’m a hoarfrost sphere
I witness your history, stained with your tears.

music break

For we are etched in winter’s dream
and folded into history
Like fires, giving up their spark
Your hearts can choose the longest dark

One lonely soul consuming another
To sacrifice honor, sister, child and brother. Can you rise and heal what winter has taken
If the children are gone when spring awakens?

Lights down on The Moon. Rhona exits. Hannah completes dance. Moon slide stays in place. Lighting cue changes for Hannah as determined.
Hannah ends in crouch, upstage. Fade to black. Moon fades. Lodge pulled out. stool with cushion hidden by blanket out. Sally’s chair and belt out. Lights up on Tule Mat Lodge where Stacy, Talia and Delanie sit.

CHIPMUNK STORY
CAST: Stacy as Grandmother w/Talia Quintasket and Delanie Yallup

Grandmother: quasappi,(long time ago) stəmtima had two sn?ima

̓̓̓̓
(grandchildren) a boy and a girl. The boy’s name was qwəqwcə̣ iya?(chipmunk,)

and the girl’s name was ?wa?wickxẉ ala (meadowlark)

One day, stəmtima, while camping, warned the children not to go too far into the woodsbecauseaspạ̣̓́ʔła(monster)mightcaptureandkillthem.Theywere

̓̓̓̓
curious! qwəqwcə̣ iya? (chipmunk )wanted to go farther and farther out into the

̓̓̓̓
woods. qwəqwcə̣ iya? convinced his sister ?wa?wickxẉ ala (meadowlark) to follow.

̓ They disobeyed stəmtima and kept going further out to the woods, where spạ̣́ʔł

̓̓̓̓ ̓̓̓̓
(monster) saw qwəqwcə̣ iya? and ?wa?wickxẉ ala. As qwəqwcə̣ iya? was jumping from

one bush to another, telling his sister “look at me, look at me. “ ?wa?wickxẉ ala was

̓̓̓̓̓̓
watching. Then spạ̣́ʔła pounced! But qwəqwcə̣ iya? was too fast. spạ̣́ʔła claws

̣̣

only raked his back leaving the streaks you still see today on his back.

̓̓̓̓ ̓ qwəqwcə̣ iya? ran as fast as he could back to camp and told stəmtima), “ spạ̣́ʔła

is chasing me!” stəmtima quickly put him into her bag and then into her basket.

̓̓̓̓
But qwəqwcə̣ iya? (Chipmunk ) couldn’t be still. He was shaking from being

scared.
When spạ̣́ʔła looked up from the bushes, he saw ?wa?wickxẉ ala ( Meadow lark).

̓̓̓̓ She began singing. “Please please don’t take me! I’ll tell you where qwəqwcə̣ iya?

(chipmunk)went!” Then she pointed the direction of stəmtima (grandma’s) tent and said look in stəmtima basket.

̓ When the monster arrived at stəmtima tent he saw her beautiful white fur. spạ̣́ʔła

said, how do you make your fur so white? stəmtima (grandma), thought quickly-

“I’m going to trick him.” So she replied, “I use hot pitch on my fur to make it

̓
white.” spạ̣́ʔła Monster asked stəmtima to rub his scraggly fur with pitch and

̓
make it pretty too. So stəmtima took 4 forked sticks and held spạ̣́ʔła down as

she poured hot pitch over him! And he died. way I put (and then I came back) that is all.

Grandchildren, remember. Grandmother is always here to tell you these stories and keep you safe. But Remember, there are monsters out in this world. But tonight you are safe....”

Children lie down. Stacy nods and looks up. Applause. Lights fade to black. Children exit in blackout as Sally S enters and takes seat in black out. As applause fades and children gone. Cue thunder. Lights up on Stacy, alone in lodge. Hand held mic hot backstage for drum. Heartbeat drum begins as thunder fades. Stacy looks around- no children. Covers face with hands. Lodge fade to black, Stacy off as drum beat continues. Wailing begins.

Center stage lighting up. Children enter from center right to wailing as drum continues. Children walk solemnly to center, then turn to face audience. SLIDE UP OF CARLISLE SCHOOL. Wailing fades. Cello Begins. Children pause for five seconds. Then bow heads, turn and walk off stage left, heads down.

STOLEN CHILDREN (BEARING WITNESS) Tonya, Sally K, Susan, Becky, Marile, Karen, Terri, Janine. Cascadia, Star, Bernadine, Mary, Stacy

PW 1: SALLY K In 1860, the boarding school experience began for Indigenous Children in The United States when an institution was built on the Yakima reservation. From that point on, Indigenous families were coerced to relinquish their children as young as age 4. Fueled by funds from the United States

̓ ̣

government, Christian churches carried out the kids “education” that sometimes amounted to child torture... or worse.

SC #1

IW 1. CORKY My children were small then the su-yuppies came and took them. We tried to get our children back, but we could not reach them. Many times we camped outside the guns and barricades of boarding schools, hoping to catch a glimpse of our precious little ones. blank slide

PW 2: SUSAN Around that same time, the Indian Appropriations Act declared that Indigenous people could no longer claim to be members of a sovereign nation. Tribes became wards of the US government. With no sovereignty and no way to protect their children, Indigenous culture unraveled.

SC #2

IW2: CASCADIA Our seasonal lifestyle ended. We were put on small spaces of land where we could no longer gather or hunt our traditional foods. We lost contact with other nations we had traded with and befriended for thousands of years. Disease, alcoholism and despair came to our people. slide down.

PW 3: BECKY In 1883, The United States government, founded on the principle of religious freedom, made religious practice a crime for Indigenous people. All sacred expression, including dancing, prayer and ceremonies were ruled illegal by The Courts of Indian Offenses.

SC #3

IW3: STAR Under the Court of Indian Offenses, women’s leadership in our religious practices was forced underground and women’s strength faded. Our matriarchy changed to patriarchy to protect mothers and daughters from going to jail. Even today many religious practices take place in the secrecy of night. blank slide

PW 4: KAREN In 1885, St. Mary's Mission school was founded in Omak, Washington. It operated for 88, years inspired by this popular motto at the time: “Kill the Indian and save the man.” As Indigenous mothers fought to hold onto their children, pioneer missionary Father Joseh Joset exclaimed: “How difficult, to establish Christian subordination” among Indigenous women!

SC #4

IW 4: BERNADINE Imagine if you were 4 or 5 and spoke only your native language. Imagine being rounded up like a sheep, stripped of clothing and washed with lye. Imagine you were stuffed into strange clothes and forced to eat strange food that made you sick. Imagine you were beaten for speaking your native tongue. Imagine a preacher coming at night to abuse you in your bed. blank slide

PW5: JANINE The Dawes Act became law in 1887. Its purpose was to distribute Indian reservation land to individual Native Americans. Thus, what was held in common by all members of a tribe turned into individual allotments, in an effort to create responsible farmers in the white man’s image.

SC #5

IW 5: MARY BIG BULL Shouting Mountain, a leader of our people in Central Washington, fought the Dawes Act saying: “You ask me to plow the ground. Shall I take a knife and tear my mother’s breast?” We are not a culture of farmers. We hunt and gather so that we preserve mother Earth for our children, and their children.

PW6: TONYA In 1891, attendance at Indian Boarding schools became compulsory. It’s estimated that over two hundred thousand children were taken, although no formal count was kept. By 1926 over 80 percent of Indigenous children lived in Indian Boarding Schools, some of the children were called by numbers, not by their names. Many children vanished ..forever.

SC #6

IW6: BERNADINE You may wonder.... Yes, the nuns and teachers could be kind and teach us important skills including helping us understand a new culture. But many behaved as foreigners imposing their morals and standards on us. Being native was considered a sin. A child’s own parents might be considered the devil. blank slide

PW7: TERRI Finally, in 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act, granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. The right to vote, however, was governed by state law. And most of country ignored law until after World War II when Indigenous men served in battle.

SC #7

IW 7: STACY I am a member of the Colville Confederated tribes. My aunt remembers a time she couldn’t vote. My grandfather would not have been allowed to vote most of his life. I am a first generation voter.

PW8: BECKY In 1978, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed, protecting religious freedom for native Americans. For the first time in almost a century, it was illegal to arrest native people for practicing their own religion.

SC #8

IW8: CORKY By that time, we had become accustomed to being afraid for our lives. If you can’t practice your spiritual beliefs, it has a heavy impact on physical and mental health. When I was a kid, I had no idea that taking a sweat, jumping into the water to pray was illegal. My grandmother was very secretive. blank slide

PW 9: MARILE The Indian Child Welfare Act was enacted in 1978 when the government realized that that large numbers of Native children were still being separated from their families and communities by state child welfare and private adoption agencies. Research found that 25%–35% of all Native children were removed. The vast majority were placed outside of their homelands - even when wanted by fit and willing relatives.

SC #9

IW9: CASCADIA In 1978, thousands of us marched from across the county to Washington, D.C., to protest threats to our families, tribal lands and water rights. The longest walk drew attention to the continuing problems of Indigenous people.

PW 10: SALLY In joint presidential resolution in 2009, the US government apologized to Native Americans for wrongs including forced removal of children.

Indigenous Women come on (from back right leg moving center, upstage) 
IW Statement A: STACY AND BERNADINE enter stage right walking single

file. When they get mid stage, fade up on SC#10

BERNADINE: Today we stay connected to each other and to the land. Our connectedness is medicine for our wounded souls, the medicine that will strengthen future generations. 
STACY: We have withstood colonial rule, disease, all forms of genocide. We

stand here resilient and determined to keep our language or culture. And our children.

SC#11

IW Statement B: MARY BIG BULL 

To keep our faith alive, we are learning from our elders. They help us carry on the old ways, the dancing, singing, naming, vision quests. The journeys. The elders take the younger ones under their wings. In this way, we will live forever.
 

SC#12

IW Statement C: STAR 

As we share the old ways, I make friends with other native Americans. I am thankful that the truth is coming out. We’re still alive, despite what happened to us. I am proud that I am a young native woman.

SC#13 

IW Statement D: CASCADIA There had to be so much healing... so much forgiving ..and so many tears for our children who were stolen. But today, and through it all, we remain resilient and hopeful for the future of our children. We stand with the People. Indig. cast, one step up. We stand with our Ancestors. AND... Pioneer cast one step up. ALL: We are UNSETTLED.

Applause. Fade to black. In blackout, Terri is handed cajon and stool. Holly is handed guitar and puts on. Rest of the cast stays roughly in place. Sally continues to play and when moon is in place, spot up on Mindy. (No moon projection)

The Fireweed Moon: Rhona

I journey through cycles of light into dark
With waterless oceans and craters that mark
My body – still lovely through battered and marred. None pass through time without being scarred.

On ground that was scorched, laid barren then cold There is life in the Earth, when Winter grows old Under the crust, awaken and stir
Like seeds of Fireweed, rise and endure.

Sally has been playing in key of Fireweed, when Rhona is done, she cues Rhona with a fragment of music (TBD) Rhona or Holly hum the intro to fireweed - 4 bars. Holly’s guitar joins on 5th bar, and the two sing in harmony on “Oh.” Sally

continues playing. Holly walks center stage as she sings, the band of Terri and Mandi join her down center stage. Lighting adjusted for band only. all other performers from stolen children arrange in 1/2 circle. In center back, slightly forward, Becky, Susan, Janine. Fireweed slide up.

FIREWEED: Holly, Mandi, Sally, Terri. body mics on Holly, Mandi are hot. Sally is floor miced (?) Body mic off on Terri.

Heard a story ‘bout a red fox vixen, with her seven red fox kittens Who stole fire from heaven for humankind.
That same fire turned to spite them, tied their tales and set alight them Torching fields to ash in their wake.
Fireweed. Oh.
Torching fields to ash in their wake.

When the embers swept and swallowed, the aftermath that followed Silenced, stripped of dignity and name.
When the kits were taken in the night, your hands were tied,
You could not fight. With empty arms you help their shadows tight. Fireweed. Oh.

With empty arms you held their shadows tight. Ooooooh.

Lights up on cast behind band.

Calling all sisters (echo) Calling all daughters (echo)

Calling all children of ash and clay. 2x
We’re moon dust, we’re dreamers, and we’re travelers On our way.

Lights down on cast behind band.

In the ravaged fields forsaken, scattered seeds abandoned
What was meant for ill, still can rise.
Hard packed earth remained unspoiled. Our hearts become a fertile soil Leaving fragrant songs of hope in our wake.
Fireweed. Oh.
Leaving fragrant songs of hope in our wake.
Fireweed Oh.
We are the fragrant songs of hope in our day.
We are the fragrant songs of hope in our day.

Lights fade to black on main stage. Lights up on Moon as other actors remain unmoving. Cue final moon music after clapping subsides.

MOONSET:

Winter will pass and Spring return
History will call and memory burn
Though I go down don’t be forgetful
You came in peace. Now leave... UNSETTLED.

Lights up for curtain call. Cast gathers in half circle. Sound track continues playing for bows. Rhona cues bows and applause.

Keep same lighting for talk back. Need one hand held mic.