MELUS Interview: Hanay Geiogamah

Abstract

Hanay is six feet tall and full-bodied, with a healthy expression of bemused surprise. He talks with an actor's sense of crafted animation. Around us mockingbirds struck up occasionally, and the lunch crowd was noisily filtering in, so trays, chairs and pots were clanging here and there. We had chatted earlier about Indian humor and art, but not about his plays. Interviewer: Are these Kiowa words in Body Indian? Geiogamah: Yes. Interviewer: And it's supposed to be in Oklahoma? Geiogamah: Yes. In Body Indian: Part Two [not in the anthology] they're standing in front of an Oklahoma City mission. They have no money or anything, and they want to get arrested and thrown in jail, so they'll have a place to sleep and something to eat. So these Indi'ns are standin' there actin' like they're drunk. They have enough wine in their little bottle to dab themselves and smell drunk. An' they see a cop car comin', so they start staggering-in order to get into jail. Interviewer: I have Sioux friends in Nebraska who did that especially in winter-to get a warm meal! Geiogamah: It worked all right on the stage. Interviewer: You say that there were scenes in Foghorn that were cut out?