Background
She grew up on the Neskonlith Reservation in the interior of British Columbia, and lived for many years in Vancouver, Canada, where she died in January 2010.
She grew up on the Neskonlith Reservation in the interior of British Columbia, and lived for many years in Vancouver, Canada, where she died in January 2010.
She worked as a playwright, poet, writer, healer and educator, in diverse communities across North America. She wrote and produced numerous plays about cultural oppression and genocide,as an independent artist and through Storytellers Theatre, including The Strength of Indian Women and Every Warrior"s Song. Her poetry and short stories were published in journals and anthologies, and—like her plays—performed at a variety of venues across Canada and the United States. Her play, Strength of Indian Women was staged throughout North America and published in the book, Two Plays about Residential Schools (along with Larry Loyie).
Her work was honoured with inclusion at the Native American Women Playwrights Program, housed at Maima University, in Oxford, Ohio.
Native American Drama, A Critical Perspective, Christy Stanlake (Cambridge University Press), 2009 Footpaths & Bridges: Voices from the Native American Women Playwrights Archive, Shirley Huston-Findley & Rebecca Howard, eds. (University of Michigan Press), 2008 The Native American Women Playwrights Archive: Adding Voices, Rebecca Howard An Introduction to the North American Indian Drama Collection, Christy Stanlake.