Jubah and Nashoba: an Artful History
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2019 Jubah and Nashoba: An Artful History Theodore Cecil DeCelles Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation DeCelles, Theodore Cecil, "Jubah and Nashoba: An Artful History" (2019). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 11515. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11515 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Creative Dissertation Jubah and Nashoba: An Artful History Submitted by Theodore Cecil DeCelles Department of Interdisciplinary Studies In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Montana Fall 2019 Doctoral Committee: Advisor: Kathleen Kane Wade Davies George Price Prageeta Sharma Heather Cahoon i ABSTRACT This creative dissertation unites art and history by writing a play using extensive historical research. The main body of work focuses on events surrounding the Natchez Revolt of 1729. The Natchez nation and colonial Louisianans attempted to accommodate each other by reaching a middle ground. Nonetheless, incivility culminated in a massacre at Fort Rosalie. The Natchez experienced profound sociopolitical changes that resulted in a downgrade of female power. North American history asserts many female chiefs interacted with colonial male leaders. Even so, female chiefs have remained at the margins of history. This creative work focuses on the hidden history behind the subjugation of one female chief named Tattooed Arm. ii © 2020 Theodore Cecil DeCelles ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii Dedicated to my strong mother Peggy DeCelles iv Table of Contents Prologue ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Part I. The Natchez Revolt of 1729: The Art of History ............................................................... 8 Part II. Jubah and Nashoba: An Artful History ......................................................................... 73 CHARACTERS .................................................................................................................................... 74 EAST 1 .............................................................................................................................................. 76 EAST 2 .............................................................................................................................................. 80 EAST 3 .............................................................................................................................................. 86 EAST 4 .............................................................................................................................................. 89 EAST 5 .............................................................................................................................................. 93 EAST 6 .............................................................................................................................................. 96 SOUTH 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 99 SOUTH 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 103 SOUTH 3 ......................................................................................................................................... 105 SOUTH 4 ......................................................................................................................................... 108 SOUTH 5 ......................................................................................................................................... 110 SOUTH 6 ......................................................................................................................................... 113 SOUTH 7 ......................................................................................................................................... 115 SOUTH 8 ......................................................................................................................................... 119 SOUTH 9 ......................................................................................................................................... 122 INTERMISSION ................................................................................................................................ 126 WEST 1 ........................................................................................................................................... 127 WEST 2 ........................................................................................................................................... 133 WEST 3 ........................................................................................................................................... 138 WEST 4 ........................................................................................................................................... 140 WEST 5 ........................................................................................................................................... 144 WEST 6 ........................................................................................................................................... 148 WEST 7 ........................................................................................................................................... 152 NORTH 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 154 NORTH 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 156 NORTH 3 ......................................................................................................................................... 162 NORTH 4 ......................................................................................................................................... 164 NORTH 5 ......................................................................................................................................... 167 v NORTH 6 ......................................................................................................................................... 171 NORTH 7 ......................................................................................................................................... 174 NORTH 8 ......................................................................................................................................... 176 Epilogue ................................................................................................................................. 183 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 209 1 Prologue 2 Good storytellers must do thorough research before they write anything historic in nature. All too often we see potentially good historical plays, novels or television dramas ruined by Native American stereotypes. Well-meaning writers unwittingly create or perpetuate stereotypes doing clumsy research with an absence of facts. When writers are ignorant about the cultures they elect themselves as having authority on, stereotypes are produced, then perspectives about Native Americans become distorted in real life.1 The film Apocalypto is one such film that distorted Mayan culture. Screenwriter Farhad Safinia and director Mel Gibson received major criticism about their portrayal of postclassic period Maya. Mayan people protested the film. Maya Visión, a legal defense firm, explored possibilities of suing the filmmakers. Guatemalan educators devised lesson plans to counter the brutal images that were depicted onscreen.2 The film does not dismantle indigenous American stereotypes, even though the filmmakers strove to authenticate Mayan culture by having the entire dialogue performed in the Mayan language. Gibson and Safinia consulted with American archeologist Richard Hansen for cultural authentication.3 Nonetheless, Hansen, Safinia, and Gibson were whitesplaining the Mayan collapse. In the film, a Mayan city resembled a strange Mesoamerican-ish ancient Rome with Indians trembling superstitiously at an eclipse and disposing a massive number of sacrificial victims into a gory dump. Artistic license happens in any creative work, but when misrepresentation becomes the norm, audiences may have difficulty understanding the essence of what makes a Native American. 1 I include all North American indigenous nations in the term Native American. This includes Canadian First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Inuit, Caribbean and Mesoamerican natives. I use the term Indian, American Indian, indigenous American, and Native American interchangeably. 2 J.M. Maxwell, “Apocalypto: Then