Activism through Performance: A Conversation with Landa Lakes

PF: Because scene, a religious woman gets in holding a box she places on the floor. You get in using Indigenous garments and kneeling with the nun, and then both of you stand and her hands are bloodied as she leaves. You open up the box of phoned number paper dolls and roll them right into the shape of a baby, which you wrap in a covering.

PF: People of my generation matured making use of Land O’ Lakes butter with the stunning Indian maiden included on the product packaging. It was one of the most popular butter. Please tell us exactly how you repossessed the icon, altering your name to Landa Lakes and correctly Indigenizing it.

PF: Allow’s go back and focus on several of your lighter, humorous scenes, such as you getting in the phase in a red evening gown vocal singing lyrics from “I will certainly always love you” and holding an indicator identified ‘CARBOHYDRATES,’ then disrobing to a Marvel-inspired Superwoman attire and doing jumping jacks while holding a publication labelled ‘KETO DIET PLAN.’ Please show our readers the procedure for producing this spoof.

Landa Lakes: I didn’t understand “Sugarcane” was revealing, so I guess it was in some way connected to deep space, or perhaps boarding colleges bind us as Native individuals. My daddy and 2 of his sisters participated in Sequoyah, and his youngest sister attended Chilocco. My granny participated in Bloomfield Academy, and my great-grandfather mosted likely to the Burney Academy, called the ‘Chickasaw Orphan Home’ and ‘Manual Labor College.’

Phoebe Farris: Landa, you are popular as an entertainer and entertainer and Two-Spirit protestor in the Bay Location. You are co-founder of the initial public Two-Spirit powwow at Fort Mason in San Francisco and the creator of the annual Weaving Moods Two-Spirit Efficiency Celebration and the Brush Arbor Gurlz. At this year’s Native Media Meeting in Oklahoma City, you were the featured efficiency artist for the opening night reception.

LL: My initial drag name was Autumn Westbrook when I began executing at The Wreck Room in Oklahoma City in the 1980s. Around 2004, I intended to overhaul my performance style because it had changed and was a lot more concerning stories, and I wanted something that was jokingly and recognizably Indigenous. Everybody recognized Mia (the Land O’ Lakes Indian Mascot), and although the musician that had actually created the final variation of Mia was Aboriginal, I just do not concur with Indigenous bodies being utilized for mascots by non-Indigenous people or [in a manner] that doesn’t profit a Nation that is being used. There was a time when we had little to no depiction, so I assume a few of the generations before me took pride in things like the Redskins, Cher in a headdress. I also wanted to be the Indian in the Town Individuals back in the ’70s. Now we have actual representation, and I don’t believe we need to move backwards into being a device to share Americana.

At this year’s Indigenous Media Meeting in Oklahoma City, you were the highlighted performance musician for the opening night reception.

LL: Back in the 1980s, there was a task called EIC [Expeditions In Imagination] where I satisfied Mary Ann Brittan (Choctaw/Caddo). It brought in Indigenous youngsters from all throughout the continental united state and Alaska to Waterfront Indian School in Anadarko, OK during the summer. Mary Ann ran the dramatization group and presented us to Indigenous theater from Tulsa’s American Indian Theater Firm and the works of Hanay Geiogamah. It showed me that humor and depth are indeed brother or sisters, and if I am giving you something serious, the wit helps to alleviate the mind.

LL: This is from my piece, “Paper Indians.” It starts out with the message: ‘Today’s presentation has been brought to you by the Human being Act of 1819.’ The pictures alter between Indian children and a tutorial on exactly how to make paper dolls– or, in my mind, just how to take in kids. When battles were done, when the buffalo were gone, when individuals were eliminated and restricted, it came natural to Congress to take away kids. Eventually, it is this act of Congress that provided cash for these colleges and religious institutions to take the Native individuals out of the supposed savagery and assimilate them right into the bigger society, and it has played out again and again in different methods things like the Indian Relocation Act. In my viewpoint, many of these acts have been really devastating to Indigenous households, and the boarding institution system was one of the worst.

PF: Just how do you prepare your body and mind for efficiencies like this that deal with the raw emotions of overwhelming sorrow while likewise creating various other scenes that have target markets chuckling, done in one setting?

PF: On the floor near the phase, a significant screen features close-up photos of your face and hair wrapped in colorful plastic yarn that gradually untangles as you sing the lyrics to “Tapestry” and “A Layer of Numerous Colors.” As that scene discolors, the following black-and-white picture includes Indian youngsters hoping and vocal singing, ‘John Brown had a little Indian child, one little Indian boy.’ Can you discuss the relevance of these advancing pictures?

Phoebe Farris just recently talked to Lakes at the Native Media Seminar arranged by the Indigenous Journalists Association in July 2024.

Mary Ann ran the drama group and introduced us to Aboriginal theater from Tulsa’s American Indian Theater Firm and the works of Hanay Geiogamah. Ultimately, it is this act of Congress that provided cash for these colleges and spiritual establishments to take the Native people out of the supposed savagery and absorb them into the bigger society, and it has played out again and again in different means in things like the Indian Moving Act. My buddy and fellow Choctaw lobbyist, Ben Carnes, actually encouraged me to function for things that were crucial for future generations, and I feel I have actually attempted to accomplish that exterior of efficiency, yet also to include issues within efficiency that reach a target market that may have no concept regarding the Native world.

LL: I expanded up in the Tupelo-Stonewall, Oklahoma, location. I was likewise a part of the American Indian Student Organization. My friend and fellow Choctaw protestor, Ben Carnes, truly urged me to work for things that were important for future generations, and I feel I have actually attempted to complete that exterior of performance, but additionally to incorporate issues within efficiency that reach an audience that might have no concept about the Aboriginal world.

PF: Please share with us exactly how your Chickasaw Country heritage, childhood years in Oklahoma, your identity as Two-Spirit, engagement in social justice activism, and your occupation in performance art all converge so efficiently to outsiders. What are the difficulties to favorably accepting all of these aspects of your life and ending up being the effective Indigenous person that you are?

Previously that day, the docudrama “Sugarcane” was screened, co-directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat (Canim Lake Band Tsq’ escen) and Emily Kassie. Prior to your efficiency, had you seen the film or discussed with the supervisors just how to produce an efficiency that referenced issues covered in “Sugarcane”?

Lakes offers as a board member of the Bay Location American Indian Two-Spirits (BAAITS), a community-based volunteer organization offering culturally relevant tasks for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Native Americans, and she has actually served as a court on many drag pageants. Phoebe Farris lately talked to Lakes at the Indigenous Media Meeting arranged by the Indigenous Journalists Association in July 2024.

LL: I am showing my age right here. I did it for a drag evening called Duck and Cover, which was a night of cover tunes. Putting my genuine battle on phase and getting to eat a cupcake for art is fantastic.

LL: I assume some Southeastern Tribes will certainly recognize the box as shaped like a residence. These are called ‘Grave Residences,’ or ‘Death Houses,’ and are put within four days of funeral over a tomb. It’s an old custom that is beginning to disappear, but I value just how the target market can see it as either a Tomb Residence or a boarding college.