May 15th
We started our day today with a brunch buffet at the Kewadin Casino. After we ate we explored the Native art that hung from the walls in the halls of the casino. Explored the casino’s theatre facilities and talked about doing a spoken word event for the locals in town.
After breakfast we had the first of our movement rehearsals with Malcolm. This rehearsal layed a basic foundation for the type of work that will perhaps be seen in our production of 50 Cents A Pound. Such as, finding ways to become water, fire, air, and earth. The class consisted of our team from University of Michigan, plus several students from Lake Superior State University and their professor Spencer. Although we all came from different places by the end of the class we were all gliding as the same bird.
After class we met with Colleen from the Soo Theatre and she gave us a tour of their facilities. Colleen has been working on rehabilitating the theatre for the past fifteen years since she’s returned to Sault Ste. Marie. It’s one of the oldest theatres in the U.P. and they put on a full season of musicals community and children’s alike
Then we met with a different Colleen from the Cultural Center Library. After talking logistics and finalizing a schedule we met Cecil Pavlat, a tribal leader and former fish cop, who shared with us his experience with the fishing wars. He talked about the unfair fishing laws, the difficulties he faced when he had to implement the law that he didn’t necessarily agree with, and how he was caught dead in the middle of the fishing wars just by doing that. Which eventually led to his resign. He also gave us advice on how to go forward with our process. He emphasized how the story being told in the play belonged to Bay Mills because it centers around Big Abe, a Bay Mills member. Although the case affected everyone its Bay Mill’s story so we should start there when looking for people to talk to and to play the roles of the Bay Mills characters.
After dinner, we concluded our day by visiting the Native Burial Grounds near Soo Locks. Cecil was telling us earlier how the Sault Ste. Marie and Army Corp. were trying to “beautify the waterfront” by putting recreational benches and landmarks over the burial grounds. Fortunately Cecil was able to spearhead an initiative to get the grounds fenced in because there was french map that had the burial grounds written in as Native Territory so it was legally their right to have this land undisturbed. Unfortunately, only a section is actually fenced. The rest has been colonized more and more over the years, from the erection of Fort Brady to the Soo Locks. Only this tiny portion of the burial grounds remain.
