‘Gems of Yesteryear’ back for another pageant run

The Menominee Pageant Players will be going back to their beginnings as they perform their latest pageant July 31 at the Woodland Bowl in Keshena, but with some surprises.

“Gems of Yesteryear,” originally produced in 1961 and chosen as the first revival production in 2016, will this year include a mixture of new recordings and restored audio from the College of Menominee Nation’s archives. Some of the scenes in the show written by James Frechette Sr. will be partially performed in Menominee, giving the audience a chance to hear how the language was spoken over 60 years ago.

“It was a community favorite, just as it was in 1961 when it was originally staged,” said director Ryan Winn. “The same favorite scenes will be the same favorite scenes this time around, but we’re hoping to write new shows going forward.”

During the intermission, another mini-pageant will take place, telling a story written by James Frechette Jr. titled “How Muak Got Their Necklace.” Frechette Jr., besides being James Frechette’s son, is also known for being one of the creators of the Menominee Clans Story featured on CMN’s website.

Karen Ann Hoffman provided the draft of the story with which the Pageant Players developed a script.

“I was really interested in the Pageant Players’ idea of trying to create new work in this long-standing vein,” Hoffman said. “Even though I’m not a writer, Jim Frechette has been on my mind in this past year. So I offered to the group the story that Jim had given to me. I figured that would help get our toes wet in developing a piece.”

Hoffman said the group came together and made a fundamental script from the story.

“In the end, we’ve got a really good representation of what it was that Jim Frechette had told me some decades ago,” Hoffman said. “It’s really exciting to me to be able to be in this group of players and bring that to life in the Woodland Bowl. I think that’s going to be a wonderful way to remember Jim and the gifts that he has given over the years.”

Muak in the story symbolizes the loon and the sound it makes, and the story examines how the animal got its colors. Swede Corn, one of the younger Pageant Players, is being tasked to play Muak.

“It actually feels special. I did not feel like I was going to be in this position,” Corn said. “I thought I was going to be a side character.”

Corn plans to utilize what he has learned in order to bring Muak to life, noting that he has played other animals in intermission shows like raccoon, which he said was the most memorable, and deer.

“I’m a hunter, and as a hunter, you kind of observe the animal’s behavior, because that’s how they live,” Corn said. “Behavior and all their traits, that’s how they come together and interact, and as a hunter, you’re going to observe that. If I was one of these animals, what would I be doing? That’s how I made the observance, and I could copy what they did.”

Cedar Fernandez is eager to be involved in her third season with the Menominee Pageant Players, this time playing Neesette, the wife of Chief Tomow, in “Gems of Yesteryear.”

“Chief Tomow is kind of troubled, and as his wife, she wants to help him and support him through that struggle,” Fernandez said. “He’s trying to be a good leader in difficult times, and she steps into a larger role.”

Meanwhile, Avari Fernandez is diving into the pageant culture for the first time. She will be playing Minnehaha, the lover of Hiawatha who later becomes his wife.

“I’m the newcomer. This is my first time here,” Avari Fernandez said. “I’m very nervous. I don’t know what to expect, but I know I’m with good people, and they’ll have my back if I have trouble. I’ve always wanted to try a play or a musical, but I haven’t had the guts to try it or get out there myself. Ryan just put me on there as Minnehaha, and it’s like, ‘OK, we’re doing it.’”

The pageants have been rediscovered through Winn’s research at the behest of many tribal members. A lot of help has come from Jeremiah Moses Jr., one of the Pageant Players who is also Winn’s longtime research assistant. The second scene of “Gems of Yesteryear” will feature the original 1959 tape recording done for the 1961 show, which Moses discovered in the archives at the S. Verna Fowler Academic Library.

“It was amazing. I was down in the archives working on a different project, and I was just looking for the cassette tapes, and there was a shelf with some cassettes and some microfilm and some of that stuff,” Moses said. “I opened up one of the drawers, and I saw a couple of the pageant names.”

The cassette tape with the original recording was recorded from the reel-to-reel recording for the original pageant. Moses noted that Winn told him that he’d been through the archives and hadn’t found anything new.

“When I opened the drawer and saw those names, I thought, ‘This can’t be real,’” Moses said, noting that he’s considered cool for being born after 2000 and knowing what a cassette player is. “I threw it in the cassette player. I’m reading the script and sure enough, this was the original recording for (the scene) ‘Song of Hiawatha.’”

Drums will be provided by the Wolf River Singers, and all Native dancers are welcome to join the production. The pageant is funded through a Wisconsin Arts Board grant, CMN and the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Menominee pageant “Gems of Yesteryear”

WHEN: 9 p.m. July 31

WHERE: Woodland Bowl, Fairgrounds Road, Keshena

ADMISSION: Free, but donations accepted to help fund future productions

FYI: Show runs for two hours. Food and drink will be sold by local vendors.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com