... and the Evils They Face


The Sliver cast members at the Church Center for the United Nations reading during the UN World Confer- ence on Indigenous Peoples in September 2014.


is “very respectful,” and she has seen the play become a tool of education and healing. After performances, non-Native audience members often approach her and ask for ways they can help. At one reading, an elder shared that the play affected her personally; her daughter had been murdered. The cast also has become an extended family, said Brunner, crying together and supporting one another. Besides being written and acted by Native


people, the Yale performance was directed by Madeline Sayet, a member of the Mohegan Tribe, who worked with Nagle on Miss Lead and the Sliver readings in New York and D.C. Sayet is the resident artistic director of Am- erinda Inc. and the Mad and Merry Theatre Company, both in New York. She reflected that, “the stories [in Sliver] are devastating but people leave invigorated.” Sayet


remembered the power and en-


ergy of having four Alaska Native women survivors travel to New York to read their testimonies. At Yale, undergraduate students auditioned to play some of the roles. Sayet remarked that the students brought enthu-


34 AMERICAN INDIAN WINTER 2015


siasm and deference to their parts. Besides the blessing by Chief Malerba, Mohegan elders and community members attended the event. Sayet was honored by the show- ing from her community especially since it can be difficult to bring people to the theater. Sliver has become a unique bridge between theater and storytelling. Sliver came to Yale through the steadfast


efforts of faculty and students. Ned Black- hawk (Western Shoshone), Yale Professor of History and American Studies, had seen the play in New York City with a small group of undergraduate students and urged a show- ing on campus. Along with Yale law student Katie Jones (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), they secured financial support through many organizations, including the Native American Law Students Association at Yale, the Yale Group for the Study of Native America, the Yale Native American Cultural Center and the Yale Indigenous Graduate Network. Accord- ing to Blackhawk, “[Sliver] deeply enriched our broader campus community and exposed many of our students to the harrowing chal-


PHOTO BY PATRICK J. PAGLEN


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