LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:6 June 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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A Study on Reservation Life with Reference to
Tomson Highway’s Rez Sisters

V Grace Aganice


Courtesy: https://www.amazon.com/Rez-Sisters-Play-Two-Acts/dp/092007944X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Rez+Sisters&qid=1622996205&s=books&sr=1-1

Abstract

The Rez Sisters by Tomson Highway which received much acclaim in Canadian theatres depicts the realistic life of reservation camps. The paper unfolds the drastic life of seven women who are called as sisters either by birth or marriage. Their wish for a better life is visible throughout the play. The paper focuses on the seven women’s optimistic nature towards life despite their failures in life. Also, it heightens the Indian spirituality ant the pride of Indian culture and myth. The hard working class-women on reservation teach the audience the rich culture of Native Indians. The trickster is found from the very beginning of the play which shows the spiritual presence among them which is nowadays absent in the world.

Keywords: Tomson Highway, Rez Sisters, Dream, Optimism, Biggest Bingo At Toronto, Native Identity.

Introduction

The Rez Sisters, namely, the seven who live in Reservation are in one way or the other deprived of a decent life. The play portrays the lives of seven of them who are called sisters either by the bondage of marriage or blood relations. Tomson Highway, a Cree Native of Manitoba, sketches the life of Canada’s Native people. He received a wide applause for this work, namely, Dora Mavor Award in 1986-87 for the best new play in Toronto theatre and was also nominated for the Governor General’s Award.

The seven sisters in the play are really optimistic in their life. The play is knit in a manner that it shatters the expectations of the audience, because it is in a way completely contradicting other ‘Reservation stories’, which are mostly related to traumas and misery. It brings out a surprise element as all the characters in the ‘Reserve’ are always happy in themselves. The Natives’ humor and optimism are replicated in the play which is atypical during the period. The two-act play is set in the fictional Wasaychigan Hill Indian Reserve, Manitoulin Island, Ontario. The seven ladies Pelajia Patchnose, Philomena Moosetail, Annie Cook, Marie Adele, Emily Dictionary, Veronique St. Pierre and Zhaboonigan Peterson decide to pool their resources and travel to Toronto to try the Biggest Bingo Game in the World.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

V Grace Aganice
Assistant Professor
Yuvakshetra College, Palakkad
graceaganicev@gmail.com
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