Urban Rez: Voices of Native American Actors

Maxine Cambridge Napoleon, Urban Rez actor. | Photo: Viki Eagle.

In partnership with Cornerstone Theater Company : Cornerstone Theater Company makes new plays with and about communities.

This article is part of an exclusive series about Cornerstone Theater Company 's upcoming Hunger Cycle play, Urban Rez, a community -engaged production created in collaboration with members of the Native American community in Los Angeles. Urban Rez, written by Larissa FastHorse, an award -winning playwright and choreographer from the Sicangu Lakota Nation, reflects a contemporary story of urban Indians in Los Angeles through performances that examine the hunger that persists when culture, language, land and identity are denied.

Playwright Larissa FastHorse has worked to develop Urban Rez in response to her communitys specific challenges. Her desire is to provide an experience that blurs the lines between theater, culture, and education and to present the play at outdoor venues, connecting audiences with the lands of the Native people of the Los Angeles Basin. The artistic process began by interacting with indigenous peoples of Southern California and learning about their culture, issues, needs, and aspirations. The end result will be an immersive theater experience that unfolds as part of an interactive cultural fair, held outdoors this spring at the Los Angeles State Historic Park and Kuruvungna Springs.

This series explores the play's development process from the perspective of community members and artists involved in the project. In this interview, cast members share their stories and experiences as a community actors in Urban Rez.

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Share your name, where you were born and how long you've lived in L.A.

Maxine Cambridge Napoleon: I was born in Phoenix, Arizona, raised in the Four Corners area -- Shiprock Reservation and I've been in L.A. since 2009.

Danielle Aguilar: I was born in Arcadia, California in the San Gabriel Valley and I've lived here all my life.

Jenny Marlowe: I'm from Cape Cod, Massachusetts and I've been in L.A. for four years.

Clementine Bordeaux: I was born in South Dakota and grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. I am Sicangu Oglala Lakota and I've lived in Los Angeles since 2011.

Kenneth Ramos: I was born in San Diego County at Grossmont Hospital, grew up on the Barona Indian Reservation just east of that and I've lived in Los Angeles since 2008 -- so eight years.

Cecelia Phoenix: I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in Center City -- we came out to L.A. with my uncle when I was seven years old, so I've been living in L.A. off and on for a long time. We moved around Southern California for a while, but I always thought of L.A. as my home.

Kenneth Ramos, Urban Rez actor. | Photo: Viki Eagle .

What communities are you a part of?

Kenny: The first community for me is always the Native community, whether that's my community now in Los Angeles, which is other Native people, or back at home when I think about the Native community, which is my own tribal community. That's always forefront. There is the LGBT community that I am on the fringe of -- with other Two-Sprits -- or in fact the Two-Spirit community. And then at UCLA we have our own little community of both Native people and other people at UCLA.

Danielle: I think of the Catholic School community -- people who have gone to Catholic school -- and a small section of the local Native community the, Ti'at Society. I'm involved in the art community -- though I'd like to be more -- and I'm part of the Mexican American community.

Clementine: I'm really fortunate to have so many wonderful Native colleagues at UCLA. I've spent the five years that I've been here trying to figure out where our community is in L.A. -- whether that's doing programming at the Autry or doing work with American Indian Community Council, or with the Red Circle Project, or with the Tataviam in the Valley -- trying to figure out where Native people are, and trying to be there to support them.

Jenny Marlowe, Urban Rez actor. | Photo: Viki Eagle .

What have you learned about yourself or your community through this project?

Jenny: So much I don't think I'm done learning yet. I grew up without any connection to my tribe. I didn't even meet any other Native people until I came to Los Angeles, which was the point at which I started learning what it meant to be Native. When I came to L.A. and hooked up with Native Voices, I started meeting other Native people who came from so many different backgrounds. I began to learn about the Native diaspora and the diversity within the Native community. I found a voice of my own to become a community activist, to be a community leader -- and that has become a functional and central part of my life. But because that was not part of my childhood, because I didn't grow up with a connection to cultural traditions or to the ancestors, I always feel to some extent like an outsider -- like I have a lot of learning left to do. This project has been a concentrated dose of that. Exposure to people's experiences and stories and backgrounds -- I feel very sensitized to things that I wasn't even aware of before starting this process.

Danielle: Im also part of the Mexican American community, and I guess I've learned how similar we are. Getting to know Native Americans who are not from L.A. and realizing just how similar we are, not just in our foods and traditions but in our ways and values, little nuances in how we interact with older people and children, and I'm noticing that being Mexican is so closely connected to being indigenous and that I want to embrace that more and be that and embody the indigenous person that I am with confidence, because we share so many of the same ways.

Cecelia:

LINK:	https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/cornerstone-theater-urban-rez-cast...
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