Tomson Highway’s “The Rez Sisters” was an interesting play. The play explores Indigenous life in Canada. There are themes of cultural identity, dreams, colonization, community dynamics, symbolism, and gender roles. The play shares the complexities of Indigenous experience. Interesting thing that stood out to me was the fact that this play was set in Canada and the main characters were Indigenous. Up until this point, we have looked at plays about Black Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. This is also the first play we’ve had set in Canada. The beliefs each sister has on gender mirrors their attitude toward the reservation itself. Pelajia is consistently described as masculine within the play. She wears pants as opposed to a skirt,which gets criticized …show more content…
Nanabush has not tricked the sisters into radical change, but into maintaining the nature of life on the reserve. Each sister has her own form of growth by the end of the play. At the beginning of the play, Pelajia longs for a different life off the reserve. By the end of the play, Philomena asks her, “Still thinking about packing your bags and shipping off to Toronto?”, Pelajia answers, “I’m not so sure” (Highway, 117). The loss of Marie-Adele and the experience of going to Toronto for the bingo game and staying with her son there change Pelajia’s mind, showing her growth throughout the play.She realizes she could have more of an impact by staying than by leaving. Philomena believes life on the reserve is her fate. She is vocal throughout the play about wanting a new toilet, which is achieved. However, she talks to Pelajia about her child that she had to give up as a result of an affair with a married man. Her child was born on September 8, the same date as the bingo game. She wanted to leave the reserve to find her child, but ultimately she didn't, highlighting Philomena’s acceptance of her life on the …show more content…
Her romantic relationship with Fritz is a part of her life as a singer, seeing as she will travel with him to sing as back-up for him. Annie seeks reassurance that she is loved, both romantically and through public performance; that doesn’t change. Emily is able to explore her identity by leaving Wasaychigan Reserve. Emily discovered her bisexuality when she moved to San Francisco and became intimate with Rose, a member of her motorcycle gang. At the beginning of the play, she says she wants to move off the reserve when she comes back after Rose’s death. At the end of the play Emily and Zhaboonigan worked “playfully” and happily at the wasy general store, meaning she was staying in the reserve. Veronique is often the outlier of the sister because the others tend to gang up on her, especially in the general store fight.Veronique is disliked because she believes that she is a better mother than other women on the reserve. Her dreams about bingo winnings include having all of Marie-Adele Starblanket’s fourteen children, even before Marie-Adele dies. After Marie-Adele dies, Veronique fulfills her dreams of cooking and caring for her fourteen