This play follows the mis-adventures of a crew of people from an imaginary reserve, Partridge Crop Reserve. The people are awaiting the welfare cheques and the Chief is off in Las Vegas. Money is running out, and Teddy, a local who runs the Pawn Shop, decides to run for Chief in a self-government bid. It all falls apart when the Chief comes home in a new Cadillac, and hands out the missing welfare cheques.
This play takes place over the course of a few days, and we meet several interesting characters. The guiding light throughout seems to be Melvin, a young man who sniffs gas and has a high respect for the Church, as he won’t misbehave around or wishing the Church. Sheldon (Nigger) is the older man who has a rough life, and gets bit by a dog, and hit by a truck and left for dead, but awakens and loses a shoe. He’s a sad, sad figure, but people like him, and want to help him, or chat with him. Rachel is the cousin to Sheldon, and has come back from Winnipeg to live on the Reserve. During the course of the play , it comes out that she worked as a sex-worker/escort while in Winnipeg, and that Teddy had hired her. Teddy repeatedly tries to shame her, saying “hookers aren’t allowed” and is constantly pushed back by both Rachel and the community – “but what about the men who hire them?” Phyllis is Rachel’s best friend, has some kids, and wants Rachel to stay on Reserve. She is kind and good, and defends Rachel. Teddy is kind of the local creep, it reads like, as he tries to take over in a doctoral fashion, robs Robert’s truck without asking to borrow it, makes his friends/manipulates his friends through their insecurities, and sex-shames women and doesn’t involve them in band council affairs. Robert owns a plumbing and septic tank service on-reserve, and is considered wealthy by Rez-standards. he buys a new truck, builds a nice home, has a nice pet, does good for himself. He doesn’t let people “borrow” money, as he never gets it back, and is often considered like he’s acting “too good” for people.
This play highlights some common negatives within Reserve life – the crab mentality of no one must make it big/drag him down, the idea that all Chiefs are rotten and chiefs, the idea that indian gambling will solve all revenue problems, and the complexity of moving forward with self-government without infrastructure in place dos sustain it. It’s actually really hard to find a positive anything about this, ha.
get the book: farewell – Ian Ross
