Cottagers and Indians

Drew Hayden Taylor

“There are no real heroes or villains in a story like this, only people trying to look after their families,” says Drew Hayden Taylor about his play Cottagers and Indians.  This play is based on the true story of James Whetung from Curve Lake First Nation who has been planting wild rice or manoomin (in Anishinaabemowin) in Pigeon Lake and other lakes near Peterborough and the reactions of cottage owners on these lakes.

The set is a simple lake backdrop with two sides on the stage.  On one side is a canoe, manoomin growing, the water and a shore.  On the other side is a dock, a blue plastic Muskoka chair, a barbeque, a bottle of wine and potted plants.  Arthur Copper, played by Billy Merasty speaks from the canoe side of the stage while Maureen Poole, played by Carmen Grant speaks from her dock.  They take turns telling their “side” of the story to the audience and occasionally interact with each other.

Carmen Grant and Billy Merasty

As is the case, when people are talking about a disagreement, the dialogue is winding, going back and forward in time, bringing in the personal stories of the two speakers, their points of view backed up with authorities being cited.  Taylor uses humour sprinkled throughout, as well as the wide range of emotions that the two speakers express to carry the audience through the storytelling.

It is revealed in the back and forth that Arthur Copper (who represents James Whetung) is planting manoomin which traditionally grew in these lakes, to provide a healthy food for First Nations people who have a very high rate of diabetes due to eating a more “modern” diet of fast food and sugar.  He talks about food sovereignty.  He harvests the rice sometimes with a canoe is the traditional way but also with an air boat to increase harvesting so he can share the seed with other First Nations.  He shares the traditional story of the importance of manoomin and its important place in the culture of the Anishinaabeg.  He demonstrates the traditional way of harvesting it, used for thousands of years.  His goal is to return to a healthier lifestyle that will sustain the people.

Maureen Poole, who represents the cottage owners who disagree with the planting of wild rice, speaks about how she doesn’t like the look of the plants and claims that they get in the way of boating and swimming.  She adds that Copper’s boat makes a lot of noise.  But as she keeps telling her story, it is revealed that her husband has become sick and has died.  Her two kids have grown up and moved far away.  She wants the cottage to stay the same as she has always known it as a way of holding onto that part of her life.  As she speaks, she swirls her glass of white wine, drinking it, attending to the organic chicken on the barbeque and using all the skills she acquired in her HR job to bring in the government, the threat of a law suit and pressuring the Chief of Copper’s First Nation.

The two actors connect a number of times during the performance. Sometimes they argue as one would expect.  But when they both reveal that they have lost a family member to disease, there is the very human and believable pause while they express their condolences and respond in their own cultural ways.  Copper offers tobacco and prayers for Maureen’s husband and Maureen makes a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes fund for Copper’s daughter.

Taylor manages to paint a backdrop of the current reality by mentioning issues such as Residential School, Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and the use of the term “settler” but these are not discussed directly.

I saw this play in Orillia last week in a sold-out performance.  The audience laughed loudly along with the actors.  In a Q & A session with the actors after the play, the question of the use of humour was discussed.  Actress Carmen Grant replied that when people are laughing, they are open, they can hear the ideas expressed and perhaps think about things differently.  Actor Billy Merasty pointed out that humour is a vital part of Indigenous culture and is perhaps the reason that Indigenous people have survived so much hardship.

Actors and presenters after the Orillia performance sitting at the end. Maureen's "dock"

I’m sure that various parts of the performance spoke differently to each viewer but I found the way that they both saw the lake fascinating.  For Maureen, the lake was really the surface of the lake, clear, open and perhaps most importantly for her -- unchanging.  It was for boating and swimming.  In a life that had too many difficult changes for her, the lake was her constant. But the lake was not her home, it was where she retreated to, away from her normal life.  Copper saw the lake as a complex, living bioregion that included plants, fish and animals, one that he was a part of as well, harvesting food and giving tobacco as thanks.  He saw the lake as dynamic, alive and always changing. The lake was his home.

I found it really interesting to watch this performance as well as very funny.  Listening to the two “sides” speaking made me think about the current narratives that we hear at this time in Canada.  We hear sound bites on the radio, see news on the TV and read articles which quote both “sides”.  But rarely do we get to see Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together.  If we do, there is often such a power imbalance that dialogue is impossible.  I wondered what might happen if Maureen got off of her dock and into a canoe, if she got to help harvest the manoomin, if she took part in a community feast.  I wondered what might happen if she invited Arthur onto her dock for some chicken, if she learned more about the effects of diet on juvenile diabetes. 

I had to agree with Taylor that there are no heroes or villains in the story although Maureen was not very likable while Copper was funny and friendly.  It was harder to listen to Maureen’s story about the privilege of having two homes and expecting to control everything around her so that she wasn’t inconvenienced.  It was only as she told the story of her husband’s illness and death that I could connect with her.  But then she snapped back into using her anger as a coping mechanism as she dug into the fight with Copper.

No one “won” or “lost” the argument in the play.  On the surface, people might agree with one or the other character.  But the real story here, is I think, about how we need to learn to listen to each other and learn how to be in dialogue in order to find a way forward.  We need to step out of our comfort zones and offer spaces to listen, to listen with a view of understanding the other’s point of view.

Cottagers and Indians is presented by Tarragon Theatre in Toronto.  You can check it out on their website.

If you want to listen to James Whetung  speak about why manoomin is so important, check it out here: