Aiyyana Maracle is the winner of the 1997 John Hirsch Prize awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts. The $6,000 prize was awarded to her at the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres annual conference that took place in June in Val-Morin, Quebec. The John Hirsch Prize is awarded each year to an emerging theatre director who has demonstrated great potential in combination with exciting artistic vision.

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Aiyyana Maracle

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Sehko! Tekontsiahonhs ne onkwahsothokona tsi onkwahonhsakon. Our Grandmothers whisper in my ears; the source of my being and knowledge. As a very young child, these whispers informed my world and it all made sense. For a while. Then came the governmental displacement from the reserve, the land I was born to; transplanted to an urban environment (Buffalo, New York) in time to start school at the beginning of the first generation of Indians allowed into public schools (the law was changed in 1952); raised by birth parents who saw salvation as complete and total integration/assimilation, to be instilled into their children at any cost, as they realized their aspirations to rise to the upper-middle class; the resultant disconnection from spirit; the loss of a sense of humanity within the family; within these foundations, my internal life was chaotic, to say the least. Thankfully, my Grandmothers have continued to whisper to me, to guide me, and keep me rooted. I stand alone in this small space; separated by culture, divided by race, outside of the prevailing bounds of (hetero) - sexuality, and my gender far removed from the polarized 'norm' of male - female. From here, I'm given a rather singular view of the world, and life. As a result of these hugely conflicting forces, my own equal need to know, and the particular path my life has followed in the last half of this century, I believe I'm occasionally allowed some rather profound insights on our joint and separate lives, histories, cultures.

As an artist, these are the forces that drive and inform my work. I have spent the bulk of my time in theatre {mostly as a director} exploring and presenting contemporary Native work in a theatrical setting. I begin from the premise that, if contemporary Native theatre is an evolution of our traditional drama forms, where music /sound, text/oratory, and dance /movement, all integrally contributed to creating the story, then its evolved form should likewise embody that sensibility. Which of these elements may become primary in the presentation of the story, was, and still is, dependent on: the story-teller, the venue /audience, the purpose for telling the story at that point, or the even the story itself. In this, I have worked through {European} theatre, performance art, and opera, as well as Native traditional music and dance. I have borrowed or adapted elements from European theatre, as well as my own and other cultures. I seek the meeting place, the melding of these artforms, in my attempts to create my vision of what 'contemporary Indigenous theatre' is.

I was fortunate early on, to have the opportunity to work as an assistant director on Tomson Highway's "The Rez Sisters", with Keith Turnbull directing. Since then, I feel quite honoured that he has served as my mentor. In 1993, to assist me in my exploration and understanding of the form of contemporary Indigenous theatre, Keith invited me to Banff, to work and study in Opera. Somewhat to my surprise, I very quickly fell in love with opera as an artform; I really wanted the opportunity to direct an Opera! An indigenous opera would be wonderful, but there are not many out there.

Since then, while I've continued to direct theatre, I've also created a number of performance pieces, and my first work as playwright is being produced this summer in Vancouver. But the dream of opera hasn't gone away. Vancouver Opera last year embarked on a commissioning process to create an 'original aboriginal opera', whatever that may come to be. When invited to be part of the advisory committee, I enthusiastically responded. The potential and possibilities of the fusion of Opera with an Indigenous sensibility boggles the imagination and hugely excites me, - the sound, the imagery and drama! I dearly wish to direct this piece, when it's ready for production in three years or so. The Vancouver Opera has agreed with the advisory committee that those charged with the creation of this work {composer, librettist,dramaturg, and director} must come from the Native community. To my knowledge, I am presently among a very few Native people in the country with enough directing experience in professional theatre, to be considered to direct this piece. And I so want to! Even so, to do so, I obviously need to increase my knowledge of, understanding of, and exposure to, Opera {in a working environment}. To this end, I have recently submitted an application to Canada Council for a professional development grant as an opera stage director. This is by no means an abandonment of theatre, but rather an attempt to broaden my scope as a Director.

As a person coming through a transformation of gender, I have certainly had time and opportunity to reflect on the myriad issues influenced by notions of gender; indeed, how essential these perceptions are in determining the very core of who we are , individually and societally. Personally, I now find myself seemingly to be at odds, in relation to society, in my terms of gender and then, sexuality. Trying to live my life as a sovereign Indigenous person in Canada, this is certainly not the first time I've been perceived "odd".

Ten, maybe 15, years ago there were increasing signs making it apparent that finally, the Canadian public really , sincerely wished to know of us,the People indigenous to this land. Canadians seemed to be coming to the realization that they really hadn't a clue who we are, and that to hope for any future union to work, they must have a better understanding of us. Unfortunately, you were more hearing about us, rather than from us. Non - Native authors, with little or no insight into either our societies or culture, were once again painting skewed pictures of us. Not a good foundation to try and build on. My artistic response was, I began to work as an editor, then formed a company to publish primarily a contemporary Native woman voice. I was interested in promoting Native women who spoke not just of our culture, traditions, and past, but who had the vision to speak of our reality in formulating our relationships to this modern world, and its peoples. My subsequent work as a curator, performance artist, and theatre director have continued to embody these principals. Out of much the same impetus, now that there is a space to actually speak of gender as a primary identifier of self - apart from, before, and beyond, simple questions of sexuality, I need to add my voice . It was some forty years before I found the courage to live - BE, the woman that has always existed at the core of my being. As a Mohawk woman, a transsexual, a lesbian, an artist. . . , there is not a box I neatly fit into, nor is there a ready made label. In our efforts to disentangle ourselves from a colonized mind, we're confronted with Western ideas forming the foundation of, and predominating the discourse over the validity and direction of issues of race , sexuality, and gender. To bridge our worlds, so that we may truly speak to each other, I must, as always, start with what I know to be our history and culture.

With the same insights and intimacy that I address the need, racially, to try and create a bridge (perhaps body) of understanding between us, I am also compelled to speak to questions of gender identity in the human pantheon.

This emerging /evolving Canadian theatre and culture can always use another alternative aboriginal voice and vision in its repertoire. But more importantly, for me, it's an artistic vision and cultural point of view that I dearly hope will positively influence the Canadian public in its current dilemma of how do we look at each other, and what possibilities can we adopt in establishing a new, equitable, humane relationship among ourselves.

These are the values, visions, and landmarks by which I attempt to negotiate this difficult path in life that the Grandmothers have blessed some of us with.

To sum up, and perhaps clarify here, my prime tenant is to create /produce work towards a humanism that unfortunately doesn't quite exist now. Work rooted in my ancestors' ways, but now drawing from various other cultural traditions as well, hoping to create a new story of understanding. I am not a Native nationalist. I view myself as an artist who is significantly influenced by her roots as a Mohawk woman, rather than a Mohawk woman artist. I believe I make art for the whole world, and not just 'for my people'.

To continue further in theatre and achieve my goals, I need the opportunity to work. It would be very nice to actually be offered work. To this point, virtually every gig I've had in theatre was the result of my creating the opportunity. Initially, I had to convince directors to take me as an assistant, that I was worth the risk. Half my gigs as a director, was to convince an existing company that the piece, and myself, were not really a big risk. Having received an award for my early work, and a Jessie Nomination for Best Direction on my last work, I'm still in the same position of having to create opportunities to work. Generally speaking, it's an uphill struggle for any non-white artist to gain space, let alone recognition for her work. There appears still to be reluctance to really accept non-European scripts as part of the Canadian repertoire. Women directors are still quite a minority in theatre. As a Native director in professional theatre, I'm almost alone. Changes to this are rather beyond my control. So I can but repeat, that what I most need to advance from here, is to be afforded the space and opportunity to work.

I'd conclude with a quote that continues to inspire me: "My people will sleep for a hundred years; when they awake, it will be to the call of our artists."
Louis Riel , 1887

I'd thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Aiyyana Maracle

In accepting this award, I expressed my appreciation for Council's and PACT's choice of venue for the event; I thought it was a perfect place - at the Annual Meeting of PACT, among my peers in Canadian theatre, with the opportunity to address them. After my thank you's, and reading my artist's statement {and two fabulous standing ovations}, I had a couple of other observations to share.

As honored, and humbled as I was {am} to have received this award - this level of recognition of my work, the day after I was initially informed, I couldn't help but feel/see, that this event was actually far beyond myself. It represents a rather large, and significant, social statement for Canada Council and Canadian theatre, conscious though inadvertent. It would have had import if any Native person had received this award; it would have been a first. That a Mohawk transformed woman who loves women - a Native transsexual dyke - could be essentially declared the most interesting and exciting new director in the country {paraphrasing the text of the award and its intention} is not something that would have - could have - happened, certainly not ten years ago, and probably not even five years ago. I think this is important. Time will tell its effects, but, it's things like this that occasionally allow me to refill my well of hope.