The Manitoulin Incident is the first publication of the popular play by renowned Indigenous playwright Alanis King. Set in Manitoulin Island on Lake Huron, the play spans the stormy decades of the mid-19th century where title to the region was hotly debated between French, English and Ojibwe. Tensions grew over these years and finally culminated in what is known as "The Manitoulin Incident", where armed government officials landed ashore to assert claims to the land through summons and expulsions. The resultant conflict and loss of life sent tremors across the country.
Alanis King's extraordinary play sheds light on one of North America's most pivotal convergent points between Native, English and French interests, and provides better understanding of the often-forgotten events that have since shaped North America.
Alanis King
Playwright and director Alanis King has quietly become a force in Native North American drama. Born into the Odawa Nation, Alanis became the first Aboriginal woman to graduate from the National Theatre School of Canada. She is a past Artistic Director of the Debajehmujig Theatre Group and the Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto. She was also Artistic Director at the Saskatchewan Native Theatre where she taught risk-prone inner-city youth life skills through drama. King has also produced, toured, directed and developed a wide range of plays in many First Nation communities across the continent. To date her critically acclaimed plays also include Manitoulin Incident, Bye Bye Beneshe, Song of Hiawatha: An Anishnaabec Adaptation, Order of Good Cheer, Gegwah, Lovechild, Artshow, and Heartdwellers. She lives in Ottawa, Ontario.
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