February 03, 2007

The plays are the thing

Woman writes play for kids about white buffaloDave and Valerie Heider will never know how many lives their white buffalo touched. But even now, more than two years after its death, they still hear from people profoundly moved by the animal, rightly named Miracle.

Bernie Strand is the latest. A self-described intense woman, Strand is a clinical social worker who will write for 20 hours without a break. She is memorializing Miracle in a new play for adolescents, which debuted recently in Wyoming.
Play vividly captures Dr. Rosa's inspiring lifeWritten by local playwright Carol Smart about her maternal grandmother, the one-woman, one-act play balances humor, pathos and history to create a compelling, moving picture of a remarkable woman.

Minoka-Hill, whose mother was Mohawk, became the country's second American Indian female doctor in 1899. After practicing medicine in the east for a few years, she moved to Oneida, Wis., with her husband, who died after 11 years of marriage and left her to raise six children.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rob, In the interest of clarity, I want to let you know that "Miracle in Janesville" did not premier in Casper Wyoming at the Children's Theatre. A few of the characters in the script are American Indian spiritual leaders. While we easily cast multiple women's roles with Native American women, we struggled to authentically cast the production with Indian males. Because of the nature of the story, after much soul searching, and with intent to respect the American Indian culture central to the theme of the story, we declined to produce the show until we can authentically and respectfully cast it. Still, this important story deserves to be told. The solution seems to have presented itself. Spotlight on Kids, the children's theater in Janesville, Wisconsin, picked up the story, and have decided to present the show in May of 2008 in their community's schools. They hope that by producing the show, they will be helping their children understand the remarkable history that occurred in their midst. I have agreed to allow their community to debut the show in the Heider's, and Miracle's, home town. All thing in their own time . . . Thank you for continuing to spread the word about this remarkable event. I am honored to play some small role in keeping the message of the White Buffalo Woman vital. It continues to resonate with many individuals: white, brown, red, and yellow. Bernie Strand, Author