Anonymous
asked:
Near where I live, they are thinking of doing a school play about the relations between settlers and Indigenous populations. They want to have Indigenous characters in the play, but where I am is a cultural desert so finding ACTUAL Indigenous children to play the parts would be nigh impossible... even if they have Indigenous peoples supervising it and helping to write the script (or person... ie me) but I worry it might be problematic... wondering what you think? :/
I don’t have enough information to have an informed opinion. Questions come to mind though; such as, what is the purpose of this play? Is it a “Thanksgiving” thing? Are the relationships past or present-not that there is much difference. What is the point in displaying relations between indigenous peoples and settlers? To me, it just sounds like it could easily become some internalized racist thing that would silence issues of oppression. There are ways to talk appropriately to children about racism, oppression, genocide etc.. but I have yet to see it in school-play form. What concerns do you have about it?