"Pageant Relates History"

The Six Nations forest theatre opens once again this weekend, inviting people to learn about Iroquois history as the 46th annual Native Pageant begins.

Iroquois, The New Beginning, will be performed in the natural amphitheatre amid maple trees on Seneca Road, just off Sour Springs Road, every Friday and Saturday night until Aug. 20.

"The character Oo:dra recalls certain events from our history," said assistance director Carla Ashley.

"It talks about the 1924 incident when the RCMP confiscated Iroquois confederacy records... and our struggle for inherent native rights.

"It looks at how many blocks of land we had (along both sides of the Grand River) and what's left today. It's quite a lot we've lost."

Ashley's uncle, Expositor columnist George Beaver, wrote this year's script.

Before each performance, traditionally dressed Six Nations residents will demonstrate domestic tasks in a replica native village.

The cast of the play and historic exhibit ranges in age from six months to 80, and is all-native but for a few actors from the Dufferin Players, Ashley said.