 Native
American Plays,
Skits and Dramas
The LIfe of the Corn - A drama
in 5 dances
by Alice C. Fletcher
Introduction
The adaptations from Native American ceremonies
and sports here offered will enable those who
take part in them to follow in happy mood some
of the paths of expression that were opened
long ago by thoughtful men and women as they
lived, worked and played on this land in undisturbed
intimacy with nature. Some of the thoughts
bred of this intimacy find their expression
in these dances and games, and it may help
toward a better understanding of them and their
spirit to tell briefly how the Native American
looked upon and regarded his relation to nature.
The natives of America thought of the cosmos
as a unit that was throbbing with the same
life-force of which they were conscious within
themselves; a force that gave to the rocks
and hills their stable, unchanging character;
to every living thing on land or water the
power of growth and of movement; to man the
ability to think, to will and to bring to pass.
This universal and permeating life-force was
always thought of as sacred, powerful, like
a god. To it a name was given that varied in
the different languages; in the Omaha tongue
it was called Wakon'da. Through Wakon'da all
things in nature were related and more or less
interdependent, the sky, the earth, the animals
and men. Nature was, in a sense, the manifestation
of Wakon'da, consequently it was regarded as
something more than the means by which physical
life was sustained and became the religious
and ethical instructor of man.
All food came from the earth; the wild fruits,
the roots, the cultivated maize, these and
the animals all derived their living power
from Wakon'da and yielded their life to man
that he might live and be strong. Therefore,
the hunt was conducted with ceremonies in which
the bounty of Wakon'da was formally recognized,
and when food was eaten thanks were offered
to this unseen power. The Native American lived
in the open and watched with reverent attention
the changing aspects of his environment. To
him nothing was without significance, for all
things were imbued with powers from Wakon'da
and could convey lessons or admonitions to
be heeded by the individual and by the people
in their social life.
For example: the Native American noted the
unfailing recurrence of day and night and that
upon the regularity with which one followed
the other all creatures relied, while man depended
upon this constancy to carry out any given
purpose. From thoughts upon this natural phenomenon
and its effects on the actions of men, ideas
arose that led the Native American to the conception
of truth, that something, as between man and
man, that can be depended on both in word and
in deed. "Thus," the old men said, "Wakon'da
taught us the necessity of truthfulness, if
we would live peacefully together." Other
natural aspects, as the storm, with its terrifying
thunder and destructive lightning, and the
passing of the clouds revealing the blue sky,
when the birds renewed their song, seemed to
picture to the Native American the devastation
of war and the happiness of peace. Again, the
tree, compacted of many parts, suggested how
the tribe could be made to stand and become
strong.
So it came to pass that as the ancient people
looked about and thought on what they saw,
they gradually formulated ceremonies and adopted
symbols in order to express what they came
to believe. All their rites, their vocations,
their pleasures were born, practiced and enjoyed
under the arching skies, and were permeated,
as by a vital spirit, with an unquestioning
consciousness of oneness with nature.
We shall not be false to any great truths
that have been revealed to us concerning the
world in which we live, if we listen to the
olden voice, an unseen heritage of our bounteous
land, as it sings of man's unity with nature.
May they who join in these dances and games
catch their vital spirit and learn to feel
at home with the winds, the clouds, the fields
and the woods.
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