The Dawes Commission play

Creek language play premiering during tribal festival

By Leta Rector“The Dawes Commission,” the latest stage play by director and playwright Bob Hicks will have its world premiere 8 p.m., June 15 during the Muscogee Creek Nation Festival in Okmulgee.

“The Dawes Commission” is almost entirely in the Muscogee language with subtitles shown in Power Point.

“There are a lot of stories in Indian history that are harmful,” Hicks said. “This story about allotment has interested me for a long time.”

Set in 1904, the story focuses on a Muscogee family who is visited by an agent from the Dawes Commission. The agent’s orders are to persuade the Creeks to accept allotment.Comment:  For more on Native theater, see 2013 Festival of New Plays and Wood Bones Opens in New York.