''The Arrow Maker'' is a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

Mary Hunter Austin Mary Hunter Austin (September 9, 1868 – August 13, 1934) was an American writer. One of the early nature writers of the American Southwest, her classic '' The Land of Little Rain'' (1903) describes the fauna, flora, and people of the region b ...

meant to reflect American Indian life, especially of the Paiutes, in the

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of the

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Motivation and history

''The Arrow Maker'' was first presented at the New Theatre in

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under the management of

Winthrop Ames Winthrop Ames (November 25, 1870 – November 3, 1937) was an American theatre director and producer, playwright and screenwriter. For three decades at the beginning of the 20th century, Ames was an important force on Broadway, whose repertoir ...

, in February 1911, certain concessions had to be made, so the author confessed, "to what was thought to be the demand for a drama of Indian life which should present the Indian more nearly as he is popularly conceived." But, even in the presentation, care was taken that the music be reminiscent of Indian themes, that the chants be played from phonograph records of Indian ceremonials, that the dances be taught by one Chief Red Eagle, and that the costumes and properties have the authenticity of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

. When the play was revised and issued in September 1915 by

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. Its notes and glossary revealed Austin's desire to make ''The Arrow Maker'' an

archaeologically Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology ...

correct representation of the Native Americans as known to her. In August 1914, ''The Arrow Maker'' was produced by Austin at the Forest Theater in

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...

. Author Charlotte Kellogg, wife of biologist

Vernon Lyman Kellogg Vernon Lyman Kellogg (December 1, 1867 – August 8, 1937) was an American entomologist, evolutionary biologist, and science administrator. A major contribution was his study of bird lice and their hosts. He established the Department of Zoology ...

played Chisera in the play. Novelist

Harry Leon Wilson Harry Leon Wilson (May 1, 1867 – June 28, 1939) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels ''Ruggles of Red Gap'' and ''Merton of the Movies (novel), Merton of the Movies''. Another of his works, ''Bunker Bean'', helped p ...

played Bright Water and Padahoon was played by writer

John Northern Hilliard John Northern Hilliard (August 18, 1872 – March 14, 1935) was an American newspaperman, poet, novelist, and playwright. Among his works is a best-selling book on magic, ''Greater Magic''. Biography John Northern Hilliard was born in Palmyra, ...

. From 1921 through 1930 ''The Arrow Maker'' was staged outdoors as one of three "Desert Plays" in

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near

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

Plot

The central character in the drama, The Chisera, is a

Medicine Woman A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name in ...

of the Paiutes — who, in communion with the gods, is supposed to be as one removed from human passion. Those who come to her regard her as an intermediary, with the power of influencing the Great One. They all work her "to their best advantage." But The Chisera tires of her lonely occupation and gives her love to Simwa, the Arrow Maker. In the tribal matters that follow this complication the drama is a tragic revelation of Indian plotting and deceit. The Chisera is deserted by Simwa for the chief's daughter, and though this Medicine Woman has not been taught the potent exercise of hate, she ceases to exercise her power of intercession with the gods. And this brings misfortune to the tribe and grief to those involved in the way of Simwa and of one Padahoon, both rivals for tribal leadership. The final curtain falls on the death of The Chisera, mortally wounded by one of her own enchanted arrows.

Genre

Apart from its archaeological faithfulness, ''The Arrow Maker'' is a dignified attempt to write an American Indian drama. It is the latest in a long line of Indian dramas the first of which, Robert Roger's ''Ponteach'', was written in 1767.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrow Maker, The American plays 1911 plays

Arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

Plays set in the United States Western United States in fiction Works about Native Americans