Oneida Native Steve Elm doesn’t speak Lakota – but that doesn’t stop him from having a blast at the Lakota Summer Institute!

Steve is a polished theater pro from New York City who has worked with renowned Native American theater companies and artists, writing, directing and performing in original works.  His work helping school kids create their own emotionally powerful theater pieces – and training teachers on how to use theater skills in their classrooms – brought him to LSI to direct the new Iktomi play, Iktómi Lečhála Tȟawíčutȟuŋ (Iktomi’s New Wife).

We caught up with Steve on June 11, halfway through the three-week rehearsal process.

“Today was the first day we had the full cast, and we started rehearsing in Lakota today,” Steve said.  “I have no speaking knowledge of Lakota, but fortunately the three lead actors – Iktomi, his Wife, and the Ignorant Girl – are all strong. We worked in English last week, playing around and working out the dramatic objectives” of the story, he said, while “rewriting and restructuring” to accommodate the number of people who would be in the cast.

The script blends two traditional Iktomi tales: “Iktomi’s Blanket” and “Iktomi and the Ignorant Girl.” The stage story is that Iktomi and his old Wife have had yet another fight, and Iktomi is determined to find a new, young wife.  Naturally, Iktomi’s deceit blows back on him.

“We started translating the script yesterday,” Steve said, which meant changing the dialogue. “Lakota has different ways of saying things, and different meanings,” Steve explained, “which changed the jokes.”

Working with non-professional actors to develop their own expression in their own language is a challenge for Steve, but an intriguing challenge. A big part of the story hinges on the differences between how Lakota men speak, and how the women speak. In traditional times, the two genders were kept strictly separated, so that each came to say certain words and sentences in their own way.

“To me it’s like directing a play, only I don’t know the words,” he said. “What I do know is the feeling of the objectives behind the actors.  Even with supertitles [translations projected above the stage], the audience should have a good idea of what’s happening.”

Iktómi Lečhála Tȟawíčutȟuŋ (Iktomi’s New Wife) will be performed on Thursday, June 19, at 7 pm at the Standing Rock High School Auditorium, 9189 Highway 24, Fort Yates, ND.  Admission is free.