The Rez Sisters

“The role of Nanabush [...] is to be played by a male dancer— modern, ballet, or traditional.”

Highway includes this quote as part of his production notes for directors staging The Rez Sisters. Nanabush only has a few lines in the play, and most of his presence on stage is movement-based. In his two bird disguises, Nanabush utilizes avian (nonhuman) movement. Highway suggests casting a dancer in the role of Nanabush to convey this animalistic movement and the trickster spirit aesthetic. Stipulating that the dancer be male also portrays Nanabush in opposition to the rest of the all-female cast.

“It is mid-morning of a beautiful late August day on the Wasaychigan Hill Indian Reserve, Manitoulin Island, Ontario.”

These are the opening lines of Act I. The Rez Sisters is split into two acts, with no scene numbers, although the staging indicates different locations. In the above quote, Highway sets the scene on a fictional reserve, or Indigenous reservation, in Canada. This stage direction also indicates the amount of time that elapses in the play. Since the bingo game at the climax of the play occurs on September 8, the play occurs over the course of a couple weeks.

“And the old stories, the old language. Almost all gone...was a time Nanabush and Windigo and everyone here could rattle away in Indian fast as Bingo Betty could lay her bingo chips down on a hot night.”

Pelajia laments the loss of Indigenous culture and language. While Pelajia is aware of Nanabush as a traditional trickster spirit, she—unlike Marie-Adele and Zhaboonigan—does not see him. This quote expresses her desire to keep the stories of Nanabush alive after the attempted genocide of Indigenous people by white settlers.