The Electric Indian is the first installation of JJ Lind’s three-part examination of the former Indian Territory and its descendant, the present day state of Oklahoma. The Electric Indian reimagines the events following Cherokee relocation to Indian Territory as an historically accurate, all-white fantasia of Indianness. Its central character is the controversial Cherokee figure Elias C. Boudinot, a half-Cherokee Confederate colonel and founder of the small railroad town of Vinita, Oklahoma. Boudinot, the son of a prominent chief, advocated passionately on Indian affairs, but was vilified by his own people for helping open the door to white settlement in Indian Territory and for his father’s role in the Trail of Tears. The piece draws upon Boudinot’s well-known lectures of the day—which were fuel for much 19th century mythology about native people—and remixes them with traditional Cherokee storytelling techniques, 21st century technologies, and found historical, anthropological, and mass market Indian “artifacts.” Through ritual, dance, projection and song, The Electric Indian envisions Boudinot as a charismatic evangelical magician. As he extols the wonders of the Great American Civilization, he is glorified, amplified and fetishized by its technologies. He is transformed into a magical, mythical and rarely-seen being—a modern day unicorn, The Indian.
The Electric Indian
February 2014
Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn, NY
Direction
JJ Lind
Cast
James Allerdyce
Max Dana
Brady Jenkins
Jillian Sweeney
Julie Stainer
Siobhan Towey
Choreography
Jillian Sweeney
Production Design
Maki Takenouchi
Media Design
Rob Ramirez
Lighting Design
Robert Bloom
Sound Design
Blake Carrington
Videography
JJ Lind and Gabrielle Demeestere
Dramaturgy
Mike Smart
Producer
Max Dana