I attended “On the Far End” , a one woman show put on byMary Katheryn Nagle, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
July ninth is known to the Muscogee people as Soverngity Day, “our fourth of july”, the day proclaimed after the McGirt ruling in 2020. This year, Mary Katheryn Nagle, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, brought her one-woman show “On the Far End” to the Muscogee Reservation.
Nagle embodies her late mother-in-law, Jean Hill Chaudhuri, as she tells her story from her upbringing to her death. It tells of Jean’s many obstacles growing up on the reservation, from life in the Eufala Boarding School to battling Racism and discrimination, being disowned by her family after running away and falling in love. All turned her into an activist for many indigenous people across the United States, resulting in her receiving the Jefferson Award for Public Service in 1977.
She even goes into how the government has failed indigenous peoples and is working to reverse most of that. The play contains many moments that people can relate to in some way or another. It serves as a reminder that all these events occurred, but we preserve and overcome adversity as indigenous people. Just as those before us, as it is embedded into our DNA.
My favorite line from the play is the closing line, where the opening line of the McGirt ruling is quoted. “On the Far ending the Trail of Tears was a Promise.” it serves as a reminder that there was a promise that was far from being fulfilled and serves as a motive to keep pushing forward.