While writing this play, I was fully expecting to
become the Salman Rushdie of the Native community,
for I'm sure there is something in this play to annoy
everybody. Part of my goal was to create unsympathetic
characters right across the board. And to do this, as the
saying goes, I had to break some eggs. A close friend, a
Native woman, came up to me quite angry and said, “So
this is what you really think of Native people!” Then
some time later, one reviewer referred to it as “witless
white-bashing.” Evidently I have become a racist! Further
proof that you never know how your day is gonna end.

But oddly enough, most people come up to me after
the play and congratulate me on exploring subjects and
issues they felt were long overlooked. Then there was
that little incident of the bomb threat in Vancouver, but
overall, the response has been more than positive.

Many people are responsible for the development of
this concoction of ideas and characters. David Ferry
gave me early encouragement and final direction: he
was there at the beginning and the end. Other fine
institutions like the Banff playRites Colony, Native
Voices, Bluewater Theatre, Lighthouse Theatre Festival,
Anita Knott for the translation, and the multitude of
other actors and actresses who helped shape the
characters and had a hand in the birthing, a hearty
thank you. And let us not forget a certain Dawn T.
Maracle who is my own little alterNative warrior.

One final word: though an integral character in the
play is a young Ojibway writer, this does not in any way
make this story autobiographical. Any resemblance to
people, either dead or alive, is purely coincidental.
Honest Injun!

—Drew Hayden Taylor