“ We are not above anything ; we are a part of it .”
John Kauffman
wanted to go back to my own origin , to my own roots as a theater artist , and explore the piece that initially inspired me .”
She decided that now was as good a time as any in her life to revisit the play as a director and explore her uncle ’ s text in a post-pandemic world of storytelling .
The overarching theme of Coyote ’ s mishaps and tribulations is one of the human experience , she said . Audiences see Coyote from the beginning as a prankster and trickster , making mistakes and not always learning from them , to maturing and recognizing what his mission and purpose is to his community . That purpose is to bring about the people who would inhabit the world .
She hopes people walk away from the production with some sense of fulfillment or joy with hearing these age-old stories that she and Kauffman grew up listening to .
When it comes to the stories integrated in the play , Keefe said these are not just stories , but ones that have been passed down for generations and are imbued within the geographical make-up of the surrounding areas . When she lived in Kamiah , Idaho , Keefe said she could walk to The Heart of the Monster , a historical landmark on the Nez Perce Reservation , and see that the site was the heart of the monster that Coyote killed .
“ We can look around our landscape and see that these rocks were formed because of this story or this river was created because of this story ,” she said . “ It ’ s through these stories
that we learn not only our own origin , but the origin of the landscape and world that we live in .”
It is also through these stories that Keefe explained they understand their responsibility , as indigenous people to these lands , that they are stewards to it . They are also given the responsibility of managing and taking care of these lands .
“ We are not above anything , we are a part of it ,” she said .
The play returned to Spokane in July and will continue to tour with performances at Washington State University in the fall . Also , it will be going to Washington D . C . to perform at the Smithsonian ’ s National Museum of the American Indian in February of 2024 .
With some potential opportunities to expand their reach in the works , the future looks bright for Kauffman ’ s play and the production team is committed to keep telling the story !
Scan the QR Code to find out more .
“ It ’ s through these stories that we learn not only our own origin , but the origin of the landscape and world that we live in .”
September | October 2023 51