Theater as C eremony Healing the Wound of Historical Trauma

1. Theater as Ceremony Healing the Wound of Historical Trauma By Sheila Rocha METHODOLOGY • RESULTS BACKGROUND * Consult with the elders and Medicine People for guidance and permission * Reclaim Theater as Ceremony By using theater as a cultural tool for empowerment actor/participants carry out the act of story, thereby, healing wounds, reclaiming their history and reaffirming their cultural identities. * Take spec-actors through process of traditional ceremony Cultural identity for Indigenous communities has been shaped by issues of unresolved grief and historical trauma. Coupled with day to day challenges of unemployment and poverty, a loss of self-concept and placement demonstrates what researchers Weaver and Brave Heart describe as“past events that shape current reality”. * Theater of the Oppressed methodologies with cultural match GIVE VOICE to the STORY - to the HISTORY – to the WOUNDS PURPOSE HYPOTHESIS Theater as a transformative process—a process of ritual and ceremony— is a praxis for healing through the re-creation of ourselves. By applying cultural systems into liberatory methodologies, healing performance occurs. CONCLUSIONS Georgia White Water, Kickapoo War Chief The process of ceremony serves as a framework for theater. It is a fundamental tool that holds promise for Indigenous people to dislodge unresolved grief. In order to re-name our stories we must use all the tools we have at our disposal to heal from and understand our historical and personal trauma. Communities as a whole have much to gain from ceremonial theater.

2. RESULTS CONCLUSIONS BIBLIOGRAPHY