Marcus Bear Eagle
Ake Kagli (To bring something home again) By Denise Giago
Eyapaha Today Editor Marcus Bear Eagle, who is a full time student at OLC as a Lakota Studies Major with emphasis on Language, is the recent recipient of the Great Plains Emerging Tribal Writer Award for 2014. His winning entry is a one-act play title Ake Kagli (To bring something home again). Bear Eagle is Oglala Lakota. His family is from Wounded Knee. Amazingly, this is the first story that he has ever written. Marcus says because of his background in acting, writing a play seemed like a natural transition into something he has always wanted to do, tell stories. He describes Ake Kagli as a short one act play about the place that he comes from, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. At 26 years of age, this young writer’s voice is unique because the play speaks directly and specifically to a Lakota audience. “Our people who live in the world that is being portrayed in the story know there is more to us than hopelessness. I wanted to portray what we actually see in our everyday lives: hope. Even when struggles arise, there is a greater momentum of healing happening in our people. Old time traditions are coming back every day. This story is painted by that hope that naturally occurs in our people,” explains the author. Bear Eagle took time out of his busy schedule as a full time student to talk with Eyapaha Today about his play and his hopes and plans for the future. Originally the plan was to take these questions and answers and form them into a story about Marcus, but Eyapaha Today was so impressed with the humor and depth of his answers that we felt compelled to present the interview in its entirety as a Q & A in order to be true to Marcus’ words. ET: Tell us a little about the Emerging Writers Award; the entry/selection process and what winning the award means to you.
MBE: This Emerging Tribal Writer’s Award is being operated out of South Dakota State University. Tribally enrolled writers from Dakotas, Nebraska, and Minnesota were eligible. The works accepted were fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and screenplay. I am not sure how their selection process worked, though I like to imagine that for some reason they held a 100-meter race for rez dogs. I guess one of those dogs was representing my story and ran as fast as it could, and won for me. Tokel okihika šunka he inyanke. Na wana šunka he piwicawakila yelo. That dog really made me grateful. I know that 100-meter race didn’t really happen. I just wanted to practice my Lakota. I was waiting for a chance to use that Lakota sentence I made up about the running dog. As for what winning means to me, I just want to say that since this happened, many people surprised me and did a lot of things to support me. Thank you all. Pilamayapi epa wacin yelo. ET: Talk a little about “Ake Kagli” (a synopsis perhaps) as much as you are willing to reveal about the story line and characters.
MBE: Maybe it goes without saying that if I were to pick up the best-selling book in the U.S., it wouldn’t be written in a way that explains itself specifically for Lakota people to read it. I think it is okay for a Lakota to write for a Lakota audience too. That is what I wanted to do with this story. That is why the cultural references, Lakota words and humor are not carefully explained for the reader who is not already familiar. Maybe I’m just being a shot guy. But maybe for indigenous people we can find healing in using our voice simply because it’s what we want to do, not even for the sake of making a product to sell to the outside world. I still might be a shot guy though. I don’t know. The story I wrote is about a few young Lakota people who are in some of the common positions we might find ourselves in as we are going into adulthood. Two are young men who are best friends that grew up like brothers. Their paths changed; one stayed with college, the other tried and ran into so many obstacles that he stopped and went back to what he was doing before college. There are bitter feelings about the way that their paths split. But as they meet again and it all comes to a collision, they find that even though their paths split, they seem to be walking the same direction, reflecting about their identity as Lakota men. They both hold those childhood memories of being around those older people closely. Maybe the idea is that no matter where their path takes them on the way, the way they walk is what is important. And if the arrival point taught us something about the gentle and loving attitude of our grandparents, it is a good road. ET: What are your hopes for the Play; ie production plans, casting etc.
MBE: I would be happy for the opportunity to tell this story on reservations. For some reason I almost automatically said “maybe even there in Rosebud too” because in Pine Ridge I always hear people making Rosebud jokes. But I won’t tease my Sicangu relatives this time! I would really like to tell the story for you guys, if I got the chance. ET: Tell us a little about your current classes/schooling at OLC.
MBE: Cookie Monster. I heard a lot of people wastelašni Cookie Monster now that he says cookies are a “sometimes-food” and that you should be a fruit and veggie monster too. Maybe people like their cookie monsters to only be monsters of cookies. But I still really like that guy. ET: What are your plans/hopes for the future?
MBE: Most likely, I will retire from writing after this interview and look into dogsled racing up in Alaska, either as a racer or... I don’t know, probably not as one of the dogs who pull the sled. K’eyaš - all this time I have been practicing those bear crawl exercises and didn’t even realize I’m training to be one of those dogsled dogs. Hena “jokes” heca yelo. I want to apologize to the elders for wowaglake publicly like this. I am not a community leader and I can only speak for myself on the things I talk about. I feel like I am probably too young to say so much. So all in all, I want to say sorry for being a shot guy! If I continue writing and getting opportunities to have a voice like this, I hope I can do something that will make the people happy. Or at least something that makes Uncle Barry happy. (note: Marcus does not have an uncle named Barry). Eyapaha Today thanks Marcus Bear Eagle for taking the time to talk with us. We see Bear Eagle as a natural story teller with a great literary future ahead of him; and we really hope that, even if he decides to become a sled dog, he will write about it. The Great Plains Emerging Tribal Writer Award is presented in cooperation with South Dakota State University’s American Indian Studies Program and American Indian Education and Cultural Center to encourage tribal writers in the early phases of their writing lives and to honor those of extraordinary merit and promise. The award is sponsored by Oakwood, SDSU’s literary and arts journal. (Denise Giago can be reached at eyapahatoday@nsweekly.com.) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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