Many people around the world see Native Americans in different aspects. Some opinions can be more negative than others. It’s easy to talk to someone about the truth of Native American culture and history. The most difficult part is getting people to listen and understand what is being said.
That is why Red Eagle Soaring Youth Theatre harnesses the power of the arts to spread and bring awareness about the Native American community to other people. Every year, Red Eagle Soaring holds a two week summer program at Daybreak Indian Cultural Center in Seattle. A handful of Native Youth come together and share their creativity and knowledge to create a play that will educate the public about Native Americans. This program is known as Seattle Indian Youth Arts and Performance or SIYAP.
This year the theme of SIYAP 2013 was saving the salmon and the struggle to protect Native fishing rights. The play re-enacted situations that occurred in the past, and showed yet another battle between Native Americans and the United States government over broken treaty rights. But the play had many other themes within it as well, such as the traditional element of stories and the relationship between Native Americans and salmon over the course of time. The youth also spent the two weeks learning music, and it added a huge amount of power and illustrated the energy and passion felt by the youth themselves in the production.
The play was held at the Experience Music Center in Seattle as part of Indigenous Cultures Day. Many people showed up to see the performance and the beautiful technical element of the EMP stage made the performance quite empowering. The youth of Red Eagle Soaring will continue to create performances that will educate and inform the public of how we lived and live as a strong community.
Audrey Remle (Hunkpapa Lakota, Paiute, Japanese) is a Sophomore at Chief Sealth high school in Seattle. She has participated in Red Eagle Soaring since 2010
Behind the scenes SIYAP 2013 video by: Dallas Pinkham
Posted by: Matt Remle