Creek language play premiering during tribal festival

OKMULGEE, Okla. – “The Dawes Commission,” the latest stage play by director and playwright Bob Hicks will have its world premiere 8 p.m., June 15 during the Muscogee Creek Nation Festival in Okmulgee.

“The Dawes Commission” is almost entirely in the Muscogee language with subtitles shown in Power Point.

“There are a lot of stories in Indian history that are harmful,” Hicks said.  “This story about allotment has interested me for a long time.”

Set in 1904, the story focuses on a Muscogee family who is visited by an agent from the Dawes Commission.  The agent’s orders are to persuade the Creeks to accept allotment.

“But the Indians were happy with their situation,” Hicks said.

The Nation’s Language Preservation Group and the cast members translated the play into the Creek language.

Hicks, an enrolled citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is a graduate of Hollywood’s American Film Institute in the Directors’ program.

Repeat performances of  “The Dawes Commission” will held at 8 p.m. at the Muscogee Creek Nation Complex Mound Building June 20 and 21.

For more information on the festival, visit http://creekfestival.com/