Confrontation and reconcilement in contemporary Native American theater: Two Native American plays

Abstract

Contemporary Native American theater consists of a long list of plays which normally include indigenous and mixed-blood characters who often find themselves living between two worlds, that is, Native culture and white American society. Therefore, it is common to find a significant confrontation and conflict between the two cultures, which is usually solved at the end of the plays with the characters’ reconcilement or synthesis between their Native heritage and the white domineering society. In this way, Native Americans can ensure their Native cultural existence and survival whilst simultaneously adapting to the changes and customs required by white American society.