Moran speaks on Native life in Chautauqua workshop
Dianne Moran gave a presentation on Native life during her adult workshop on Saturday, July 11. She is pictured here performing on a Native drum and singing a women’s song about the harsh winters.
COSHOCTON – During Chautauqua last week, COTC hosted adult workshops featuring performers of the Journey Troupe that graced the Chautauqua stage from Tuesday through Saturday as a variety of colorful characters ranging from a Titanic survivor to a 49er in search of gold.
Saturday, July 11 was the last adult workshop and featured Dianne Moran who portrayed Olive Ann Oatman on Thursday, July 9 under the Chautauqua tent. Moran has a unique way of drawing in her audience with her dynamic storytelling, and her adult workshop was no exception.
Her audience sat riveted to their seats as Moran presented a brief program on the life of the Native Americans. She also had a wide-variety of artifacts including a club that was most likely a replica of what was used to murder Oatman’s family, to a baby rattle made from buffalo hooves. She also had photos of Oatman, along with photos of her burial site given to her during her Coshocton Chautauqua appearance by Annette Lindsey who lives in Oklahoma near the Texas border.
“My aim is to show you who these people were,” said Moran. “For they are your people. They are America’s people. They represent the best and the worst of us all rolled into one.”
Moran also spoke on the hatred between the white settlers and the Native people and how broken promises by the settlers more often than not led to violence.
“The very reason we came here in the first place was for freedom,” said Moran. “So we wouldn’t have a monarch ordering us around, telling us what to do and what not to do, and telling us how we could worship and not worship. And then, here we were doing the same thing to the Native people.”
Moran summed up the Coshocton Chautauqua experience felt by herself and her fellow actors with these words.
“We’ve been to three other towns and it’s like spears falling from the sky when it rains,” she said. “Nobody comes to our performances when it rains, but you do! We performers feed off of you. We can see the look on your face and know when you are with us in the past. You are true pioneers.”
beth@coshoctoncountybeacon.com
Category: Arts & Entertainment
