#native actress

Refinery29 Interveiw - Julia Jones (March 2016)

Even when a Native American actor is given a three-dimensional role, like Jones' in Twilight, the press still falls back on stereotypical questions.

"While the non-Native actors (who all played vampires) were asked questions about the appeal of the story and the rapport of the cast, the first question for me was along the lines of 'It’s so hard for you to get roles in Hollywood. How does it feel that you work so hard for so long and you finally get a break and it’s to play a monster?' I reflexively defended my character and the author, Stephenie Meyer, but as I spoke, I was trying to figure out why she would ask me that. A wave of what seemed like embarrassment washed over her face. Later, she took me aside and apologized. I still wasn’t sure what was going on, but whatever it was, it didn’t feel good. The subtext felt like: You are not actually a part of this yet."

I’ve been performing for a large part of my life, and have been working as a professional actor (for voice overs, film, and theatre) in Washington, D.C. for several years. I’ve played various roles, many of which were stereotypes of brown or LGBTQIA+ people, and have overall been dissatisfied with the work available to me and my communities.

Some of the most satisfying work I’ve done has been working with youth audiences with topics on identity. In Seasons of Light with Smithsonian’s Discovery Theatre, I was able to explore my diverse background and share my cultures with hundreds of young people. The play dealt with holidays around the world that deal with darkness and light. I was able to explore my Sefardi heritage through the study of Hanukkah, my Native American heritage through the study of the Winter Solstice, and my Latinx heritage through the study of Las Posadas. In GALita and Wit’s End Puppets co-production Fábula Mayas/Maya Fables, I was able to explore my Central American Indigenous heritage through  bilingual storytelling. I met so many young people with both of those projects; all of which impacted my desire to do this type work.

(Image: Tetsina Wittiwa/Zuni Winter Solstice in Seasons of Light.)

(Image: Xmucane & Xpiyacoc in Fábula Mayas/Maya Fables.) However, the piece I’ve worked on that hits closest to home is a play I wrote about Native American pride, El Salvador history, and Indigenous language revitalization. They play was born out of an emergency and I continue to work on it out of necessity for this type of work. We need plays about identity. We need plays about Native American people. We need plays about language revitalization. We need diverse plays and stories. This play has morphed quite a bit since it’s original incarnation, and will continue to grow the more I explore it. In this blog post, I will talk about my journey with my tri-lingual play for young audiences and how it can shaped the Salvadoran identity of nationals and the diaspora. Background on Native American Identity and Nawat language In Washington, D.C. (and across the United States) there is a misguided idea on what it means to be Salvadoran and Latinx. These ideas have often been perpetuated by Anglx people through discrimination and Latinx people through assimilation. The “Latino race” myth is heavily accepted as fact in many spaces, including arts circles, and Latinx theatre is often discussed through a homogenized lense; often a Mexican, Spanish, or Argentine position, more specifically through white, white-passing, and light-skin narratives. On occasion, African and Indigenous American identities are explored, but these are not as commonplace. Salvadoran identity is represented through war, gang violence, and undocumented migration. Though these aspects of Salvadoran history are legitimate and influence the Salvadoran identity, there is also so much more than that oversimplification. For accurate and positive representation, diverse community collaboration is required.  It’s necessary for diverse artists to reclaim our identities from the mainstream art world.

I was born in a town called Mejicanos in the department of San Salvador in El Salvador, Central America. I migrated to the United States with my family when I was a young child. I’ve lived in the Northern Virginia area ever since. I enjoy languages. I studied American Sign Language in community college, and Nawat through Alan R. King’s independent study course. I am in no way tri-lingual, but I do have a  life goal to be a polyglot and to aid in the revitalization of Native American languages.

When I began studying Nawat, I was both scared and excited. I was excited because I believe that heritage is so important, and language was part of that. I was also scared because I knew that if I got involved with Nawat revitalization circles, I would need to do my part as well. The responsibility scared me. It still does.

King’s Nawat course, and subsequently the “Salvaemos el idioma Nahuat” Facebook group, is available to everyone and anyone interested in helping revitalize this endangered language. The group strives to make visible the Elders who speak Nawat fluently and to inspire Salvadoran nationals and diaspora to remember our Native American heritage through language. There is also research on El Salvador history available online, particularly on Tim Lohrentz’s typepad.com page “The Indigenous History of El Salvador”.

Of course it is always best to get Indigenous history from Indigenous Elders and Leaders. I have been fortunate enough to develop relationships with some International Indigenous Salvadoran leaders, particularly Chief Leonel Chevez of the Maya-Lenca Nation, and Chief Margarito Esquino of ANIS (Asociación Nacional Indígena Salvadoreña), and have been able to learn more about my history through their teachings.

Phase 1: Timumachtikan Nawat In 2014, a friend of mine informed me of an arts opportunity available at the child care center he worked at. I contacted the center and was able schedule performances of a new work for youth audiences sometime in the summer. I wrote a play called The Cosmic Twins, based off of a story from the Popol Vuh, for six actors. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to keep all six of my actors for rehearsals so I had to come up with an alternative.

I was already studying Nawat at the time and decided that I wanted to do something about El Salvador and about Native American heritage. I decided that my play would be a one-persyn show featuring seven different characters, including historical figures from El Salvador. I named the show Timumachtikan Nawat! which means let’s learn Nawat. The story taught El Salvador history and Nawat vocabulary with song. I rehearsed it, reviewed my taped rehearsals in order to direct myself better, constructed simple puppets and props, and finally performed it at my friend’s child care center and at other locations in Northern Virginia. I was happy with the work I had done but my aspirations extend much higher. I lacked the two things that I needed to ensure my play’s success: community and funding. Still, I knew that with time, my little one-persxn play could become a young audience success story.

 (Images: Atakat, Jose Feliciano Ama, and President Salvador Sanchez Ceren in Timumachtikan Nawat!)

Building a Native American Theatre Community in Washington, D.C. After my second production of Maya Fables with GALita and Wit’s End Puppets,we received much expected backlash from some artists of color. The production was called out for the use of red-face and for discriminating against Native American womyn and youth.

As a response, Miguel Amaguaña (mopino432), myself and the rest of the ensemble organized an open community forum entitled “In the beginning the Earth was empty…” A dialogue on Maya Fables and Imagining a Decolonial TYA Community. Our hope with the forum was to show accountability for the violence we perpetuated with Maya Fables and to initiate conversation about proper representation of Native American people in DC theatre.

(Image: Instagram advertisement for the open community forum)

From this forum, the group DC Native American Theatre Artists/Artistas Indígena de Teatro de DC  was formed. The group is “comprised of Native American Artists from ethnic groups across the American continent, who work in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area” and the group “serves as a resource for Non-Native American Artists interested in collaborating with Native American Artists in the DC Metro Area”.

Phase 2: Yek Tunal Kuskatan With a new community behind me, I decided to begin working on my trilingual play again. I did two main rewrites: a 2-persyn show and then a 4-persyn show. I renamed the play Yek Tunal Kuskatan, which means ‘good day, El Salvador,” and I reached out to members of DC Native American Theatre Artists/Artistas Indígena de Teatro de DC to collaborate.

I remembered that a local company called Openstage features a monthly open mic for theatre new works, and decided to contact them to workshop Yek Tunal Kuskatan. We were able to book a workshop performance of a scene from the play.

With puppets borrowed from GALA Hispanic theatre and made by Wit’s End Puppets, we were able to bring two of Yek Tunal Kuskatan’s characters to life. We took ¡TUM TICA!: Una Historia de Musica y Familia’s Tito Puente and made Yek Tunal Kuskatan’s Abuela, and we took Fábula Mayas‘ Disobedient Child and made Yek Tunal Kuskatan’s Chepe. Simple costume changes created brand new identities for the gorgeous puppets.

(Images: puppets in their original costumes)

With dates set and puppets secured, Miguel Amaguaña, Tsaitami Duchicela (prettyherricane), and I began rehearsing the scene from Yek Tunal Kuskatan. The scene was originally for 4 actors, but since I was not able to secure a third puppet, I simply combined two roles into one.

(Images: Yek Tunal Kuskatan rehearsals)

We used rehearsals to study El Salvador history, puppetry, and self-production for theatre. We took promotional shots for the workshop and began advertising on social media. Through this collaboration, we developed a preview I am very proud of.

(Image: Promotional material for Yek Tunal Kuskatan)

When the performance day finally arrived, we performed the workshop to a full house of an adult audience. I also shared the video of the performance with subtitles in Spanish with the “Salvemos el idioma Nahuat” group. Both audiences gave the performance excellent feedback. I was very satisfied with the progress the play had made since its’ first incarnation.

Phase 3: The Future I don’t want things to end there! I’ve been applying for grants so that I can get funding for a full stage production in Washington, D.C. I also, along with Alberto Cruz, a member of Colectivo Tzuntecun Ejecat, a group that works with Nahuat-speaking Elders from Santo Domingo de Guzman, applied for a transnational grant that would allow us to collaborate and take the story to El Salvador. Hopefully, with the help of arts organizations, my dream of providing opportunities for Native American artists and audiences in El Salvador and the diaspora can come true.

Because of my film background, another interest of mine would be to find funding for a film production of Yek Tunal Kuskatan. A film version would allow the story to reach a much larger audience, especially considering the people who need this story the most are not located in Washington, D.C. Puppetry for film is not only beautiful, but is increasing in popularity, now more than ever! Combining both mediums of entertainment could result in some really gorgeous and educational work.   A DC theatre company that centers Native American Queer and Trans folx, Teatro de la Septima Generacion/Seventh Generation Theatre is growing; slowly but surely.

No matter what funding I do or do not get, I will continue to work on Yek Tunal Kuskatan because this work is much too important for me and my community. I really hope that theatre and the Diaspora could really benefit from this story. I know that it has really helped me be proud of my heritage and to inspire others to do the same.

PHOTO: You did not wake up to be mediocre.