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Sicangu playwright wins MacArthur “Genius” Grant




         Larissa FastHorse

Larissa FastHorse, a Santa Monica based playwright from South Dakota, ignored several calls from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation because she thought they were spam.

The MacArthur Foundation eventually sent her a text asking to talk with FastHorse. She thought that the meaning of the call would be to contract her consulting firm, Indigenous Directions, which helps organizations and artists create culturally appropriate material about Native communities.

The call, however, was to inform FastHorse that she had received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant which doles out $625,000 over five years with no strings attached. It’s formally name is The MacArthur Fellows Program.

“I’ve known about the award for a long time and always dreamed of it, but never thought I would get it,” said FastHorse. “I’m just a girl from South Dakota.”

The MacArthur Fellows Program is awarded to between 20 to 30 individuals each year and the recipients can work in any field. The Program defines it’s recipients as having shown “extraordinary originality and dedications in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.”

FastHorse was awarded the prize for “creating space for Indigenous artists, stories and experiences in mainstream theater and countering misrepresentation of Native American perspectives in broader society.”

Growing up in Winner and Pierre, South Dakota, FastHorse is a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. She began her career as a ballet dancer but was forced to retire after 10 years due to an injury. She then became involved in Native American drama and film, and eventually began writing and directing her own plays.

Her award winning plays include What Would Crazy Horse Do?, written in 2014, which is a comedy inspired by historical interest by the KKK in collaborations with Indigenous groups. The Thanksgiving Play, written in 2017, is a one-act satirical comedy about white people trying to create a politically correct “First Thanksgiving” play to be performed in schools for Native American Heritage Month.

According to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation website, the fellowship “is not a reward for past accomplishment, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential.”

“My husband is an artist too,” said FastHorse. “In the past few years we have lived below the poverty line in L.A. and we’ve never experience know for five years that our bills are paid.”

After the announcement of the MacArthur fellows last week, FastHorse has been busy. Hundreds of people have reached out to her and some even asking her for public speaking engagements. When the dust settles, she says, is when the next five years will really begin.

The Native Sun News Today asked FastHorse what advice she would give to another “girl from South Dakota”.

“What I wish people had told me, is that you will have to find your own path,” she responded. “Your path will not look like everyone else’s. I feel like the TV, movies, and books show us that there is only a few paths, but the path that has taken me to where I am today is one with a lot of twists and turns.”

FastHorse is one of 21 fellowship recipients this year. Among this year’s class are a wide range of professions and they can read about at www.macfound.org/programs/fellows/.

 

(Contact Travis at travisldewes@gmail.com)

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