Thompson Highway’s Rez sisters’ presents seven women with a common goal: to

win the biggest bingo in the world. Similarly, Ian Ross’ FareWel presents five characters

with a common goal: to receive their government welfare cheques. Highway and Ross

exploit the fact that the constant pursuit of economic prosperity can result in spiritual

corruption, and unveil common issues affecting Aboriginal people both on and off

reserves. Both plays exhibit internal racism and prejudice, questioning the negative

treatment between Aboriginal people. Although all of the characters from both plays are

seemingly in pursuit of financial achievement, each character is searching for something

of greater substance than monetary gain that represents race, gender, and societal issues.

It is not uncommon to romanticize the notion of winning a lottery; the prospect of

winning is what makes gambling exciting. What is interesting from The Rez Sisters is

what each woman desires, and what that item reveals about her past, her life, and the

world she lives in. The three main characters in The Rez Sisters have three individual

dreams. Philomena desires an extravagant new toilet; Marie-Adele wants access to a

private island, and Veronique dreams of a new oven. The sister’s monetary dreams prove

to be a manifestation of the spiritual need that they represent; their motive is to rid

themselves of the agony they face as a result of these spiritual deficiencies. In FareWel,

the characters are caught in a state of anticipation, waiting for their welfare cheques to

arrive. Each character desires provisional items such as cigarettes, food, relief of a

physical pain, etc and each character desires something more meaningful to fill a void in

their life. Melvin wants to be recognized as an Indian and a valuable member of his

community, Rachel wants respect and dignity, and Teddy wants a better life for himself
 2

and the people around him. Both plays are based on the process of acquiring these

aspirations.

Arguably the most memorable of the three bingo winning intentions in The Rez

Sisters is Philomena’s toilet. In The Trickster, the game of Bingo, and the comic elements

in "The Rez Sisters" , Dmitri Kaminiar claims the following:

Using such distraction tactics as Philomena's obsessions with her toilet, Annie
Cook's too-perky-to-be-true attitude, and Gazelle Nataways/Big Joey side plot as
distractions, Thomson Highway hides the facts that life in an Indian Reserve is
destructive upon both the physical and spiritual lives of its inhabitants, and that
renovations must be done to prevent that from completing (3)

Although it is reasonable to believe that Highway did in fact employ Philomena’s

obsession with the toilet to distract from the more serious themes of the play, the choice

of object deliberately implies greater meaning. Although the toilet itself adds an

obviously comedic aspect to the play, it goes beyond distraction tactic to represent a

larger part of society.

Highway chose the toilet object to imply deeper meaning regarding Philomena,

the Wasaychigan Hill Indian Reserve, and the entirety of society. We first hear of

Philomena’s toilet dream on when she comments, “Well, I like it here. Myself, I’m gonna

hit every jackpot between here and Espanola and I’m gonna buy me that toilet I’m

dreaming about at night…big and wide and very white” (Highway, 5). She makes

another, more obscure reference to toilets soon after, when Pelajia is discussing her sons

living in Toronto. Pelajia finishes her explanation saying, “here I sit all broken hearted”

(7) and Philomena contributes “paid a dime and only farted”. This humorous passage is

in reference to the following riddle: “Here I sit, all broken-hearted, paid a dime but only
 3

farted. Yesterday I took a chance, saved a dime but shat my pants.” Philomena’s

reference to toilets is evidently a result of her desire for the toilet of her dreams.

After a discussion about the iconic ‘Bingo Betty’, the audience sees Philomena

rushing into Emily’s store announcing “I have to use the toilet. I have to use your toilet.”

(41). The rest of the sisters are painfully aware of Philomena’s desire for a new toilet,

evident when Veronique says “you big phony. Flush yourself down that big toilet of

yours and shut up.”945). Philomena is associated with her desire for a toilet throughout

the play, and she refers to it often. Later in the play, when discussing the possibility of

winning the BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD, Philomena exclaims, “My new toilet!

White! Spirit white”(55). Her enthusiasm towards winning an item that she desires so

greatly is contagious to the other sisters. When Pelajia offers for the women to stay at her

son’s house, Philomena contributes that he has “two washrooms! He’s got a wonderful

education.”(67). Philomena is using washroom facilities to indicate the wealth of others,

evincing the audience of her avidity towards a new toilet, and adding a comedic aspect to

the play.

Clearly, it’s unconventional for any individual to express such longing for a toilet.

It is worth noting that Philomena does not discuss renovations or upgrades to her

bathroom, she only indicates that she wants a new toilet. This suggests that Philomena’s

desire for the toilet is purely individual; she does not want the toilet in order to ‘show off’

to others on the reserve. Philomena describes the toilet as “very white”, indicating new

and clean. Of course toilets, by nature, are not seen to be clean or sanitary, and even those

that are clean are generally viewed as being unsanitary or dirty. Highway may be using

the issue of something being seen as dirty even when it’s clean to relate to the fact that
 4

racism causes Aboriginals to be seen as having less worth than “shiny white people”,

although this view obviously holds no merit. Just as people tend to consider even a

sanitary toilet to be dirty, people tend to judge each other based on physicality’s and race;

discriminatorily determining the worth of one another. Even the sisters themselves look

down on each other throughout the play, for example in Act 1 when the sisters lash out at

one another, hurling insults and making accusations.

In general, toilets are not examined or even recognized in an average home. In

fact, toilets are arguably one of the most overlooked fixtures in every home. Highway is

playing on the Philomena’s unconventional dream of possessing a new toilet, and using it

to bring attention to the greater meaning of the play. Highway prompts the audience to

wonder, ‘besides toilets, what else is overlooked in the play?’ It could be argued that the

entire reserve is being overlooked, by the chief—who the audience does not learn much

about, except that he isn’t overly productive—and by Western society. Perhaps Highway

is suggesting that Western society unknowingly ignores the culture and struggles of

others, disregarding them and taking their existence fore granted like the common toilet

in every bathroom. “This play shows the women on the Wasy Rez, their native culture

and beliefs being forgotten, the Wasy community in the midst of a breakdown”

(Highway, 517)The Wasaychigan community itself is in the middle of a breakdown

because native culture and beliefs are being overlooked and replaced, just as toilets are.

The “moral and cultural decay” (Kaminiar, 3) that is experienced on the reserve is

alluded to through reference to Philomena’s toilet.

Within the play, the women are constantly overlooked. They are considered a

necessary facet in the community, but they do not receive recognition for their
 5

usefulness. Highway may be using the toilet reference to imply that Aboriginal women

are the toilets of their communities; overlooked and oppressed. Just as people need toilets

in their homes in order to live contently, reserves need women. Just as the function of a

toilet is to receive waste and dispose of it, the women of the reserve are receiving waste

in the form of abuse. Every woman in the play is mistreated by a man in some form,

taken for granted and looked down upon. Philomena’s desire for a “shiny white” toilet

could very well stem from a desire to counteract all the filth existing in the play. The

desire for a toilet alludes to aspects of Philomena’s character. Philomena wants her life

on the reserve to be more comfortable than it is, and it is assumed that a toilet will

provide that comfort. It seems that Philomena’s toilet desire is purely for her own benefit.

In setting this scenario in place Highway poses an important question: what else in the

play is purely for Philomena’s benefit?

In the second act Philomena tells the story of how she “got pregnant by a white guy

who eventually abandoned her” (Highway,529-530).

Toronto. Had a good job in Toronto. Yeah. Had to give it all up. Yeah. Cuz mama
got sick. Philomena Margaret Moosetail. Real live secretary in the garment
district. He’d come in and see my boss. Nice man, I thought. That big, red, fish-
tail Caddy. Down Queen Street. He like me. Treated me like a Queen. Loved me.
Or I thought he did. I don’t know. Got pregnant anyway. Blonde, blue-eyed, six
foot two. And the way he smelled. God! His wife walks in on us. He left with her.
I don’t even know to this day if it was a boy or a girl. (Highway, 81)

She does not know who her child is, which is “a clear indicator of loss of cultural

identity.”(Nothof, 1). Philomena says that she’s going to use her bingo money to find her

child, but she uses it to buy a toilet instead. It could be argued that Philomena is

succumbing to the world of comfort and consumerism instead of searching for the lost

piece of her, her lost piece of identity that is alive in her child. It certainly seems as
 6

though she is choosing to meet her own needs over that of her family. Buying the toilet

could be considered a selfish decision, when considering that it is a luxury item.

Philomena chooses the comfort of a new toilet over hiring a lawyer to find her child. In

this sense Philomena is selfish. The play has a supposed happy ending, but her child is

never mentioned again. She’s portrayed as content at the end of the play, therefore

Highway suggests that she is content to live in comfort without her child. Highway

obviously did this deliberately, presumably to question Philomena’s morals. The play

ends with Nana bush dancing “in celebration of the strange inconsistencies and

contradictions the individual lives” (Nothof,2). The toilet dream works well here, as a

passion for toilets is certainly a strange inconsistency in Philomena’s life.

Marie-Adele is a main character in The Rez Sisters, she says that when she wins

the bingo she will use the money to buy an island and get off the reserve. Her desperation

to escape is evident by the repetitive phrase that she (and each of the women) uses,

“‘When I win’ is how she begins her wishful sentences, it’s never ‘If I win’” (Richards).

Marie Adele knows what she wants. She’s the second youngest sister, but she’s

assertive and intelligent; the ‘mother figure’ in the play. At one point Veronique is scared

of standing at big Joey’s door to get information about THE BIGGEST BINGO IN THE

WORLD, but Marie Adele says “what do you mean? We just knock at the door, march

right in, ask the bitch, and march right out again” (Highway, 29). Marie Adele expresses

what she desires to buy if she wins the bingo:

When I win THE BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD, I’m gonna buy me an
island. In the North Channel, right smack-dab in the middle—Eem-shak min-stik
—the most beautiful island in the world. And my island will have lots of trees—
great big bushy ones—and lots and lots of sweetgrass. MMMMM! And there’s
 7

gonna be pine trees and maple trees and big stones and little stonelets—nee—and,
oh yeah, this real neat picket fence, real high, long, and very, very, very white.
Starblanket kids. Yup, no more smelly, stinky old pulp mill for my Eugene—
pooh!—my 12 Starblanket boys and my two Starblanket girls and me and my
Eugene all living real nice and comfy right there on Starblanket Island, the most
beautiful incredible goddamn island in the whole goddamn world. Eem-shak min-
stik! When I win THE BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD!

Marie Adele’s dream is to escape from the reserve and to find a better quality of life for

her children. Obviously, she does not literally desire an island; she is an intelligent

woman and would understand that islands are millions, even billions of dollars, which is

more than she would ever win at a game of bingo. Questions such as how her kids would

go to school, how they would get food, etc are never posed, which indicates that she

never seriously considered buying an island. The bottom line is that she wants an ideal

home for her family; she wants the best for them.

Marie Adele obviously loves her family a great deal; they’re the centre of her life,

and she wants to ensure that they’re taken care of. Her desire to escape is also reflective

of the fact that she doesn’t want to have terminal cancer; she would leave her illness

behind on the reserve and move to the island if she could. If Marie Adele could win the

bingo and use the money to rid herself of cancer, she would, but there are some things

that money cannot buy. One of the main themes of the play is the limits of financial

wealth; what money can and cannot do for people. The pursuit of happiness is often

construed into the pursuit of wealth, but those who find wealth can attest that it does not

equate to happiness or contentment. Marie Adele understands this; she does not want

money, because she does not want anything material. The island is a symbol of what she

wants, which is happiness and a life with her family. Marie Adele desperately wants to

seize control of her own destiny, but her fate is out of her hands. Marie Adele’s anxiety
 8

concerning what will happen to her family when she’s gone is epitomized in a

conversation that she has with Annie in scene 2: “That’s exactly what I’m scared of. I

don’t want them kids to be split up. You come after Eugene you start drinking messing

things up me not her I come back and don’t matter where you are…”(Highway,79).

Marie-Adele wants to set things in order before she dies so that her family will stay

together.

Marie Adele wants an island, which can be defined as a land mass, smaller than a

continent, and surrounded by water. Besides the surrounded by water portion of the

definition, describes a reserve. Marie Adele is already living on a segregated piece of

land, she may be wishing for something that she already has. If she actually received an

island, it would likely eventually resemble the place that she already lives. Would it stay

an island paradise or would it just become another version of a reserve, an eventual

parallel of the events in the play, and then the same thing happening over and over again?

It is the nature of human beings to repeat the same mistakes; to exploit the same

resources, commit the same crimes, etc. It is questionable whether or not Marie Adele’s

‘Island Paradise’ would actually serve as a paradise for her.

Veronique St Pierre is the second eldest of the sisters. Her plans (similar to Marie

Adele’s and unlike Philomena’s) are seemingly more aimed at helping others than

helping herself. When Veronique wins the lottery, she plans to buy a new stove, and to

cook for all of the children on the reserve. She explains her feelings about the reserve,

and explains that the stove she has is not in working order:

This reserve, sometimes I get so sick of it. They laugh at me behind my back, I
just know it. They laugh at me and Pierre St Pierre because we don’t have any
children of our own. “Imagine, they say, she’s on her second husband and she still
 9

can’t have children!”...Oh, I wish I had a new stove, Marie Adele. My stove is so
old and broken down, only two elements work anymore and my oven is starting to
talk back at me. (Highway, 26)

Veronique is affected by not being able to have children, and she wants to tap into

the innate domesticity she possesses. There’s something missing in her life; she has

mothering instincts and desires that are not being fully utilized. She feels inferior to other

women—because the advantage of being a woman in a man’s world is presumably that

women are able to procreate—but she feels that a new stove would allow her to share her

domesticity with the community and to prove herself to everyone. She expresses what she

plans to do with her bingo winnings, saying,

Well, when I win the BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD. No! After I win the
BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD, I will go shopping for a brand-new stove.
In Toronto. At the Eaton Centre. A great big stove. The kind Madame Benoit has.
The kind that has three different compartments in the oven alone. I’ll have the
biggest stove on the reserve. I’ll cook for all the children on the reserve. I’ll adopt
all of Marie-Adele Starblanket’s 14 children and I will cook for them I’ll even
cook for Gazelle Nataways’ poor starving babies while she’s lolling around like a
pig in Big Joey’s smelly, sweaty bed (Highway, 36)

Veronique has an infatuation with the stove that is similar, although not as

extreme, as Philomena’s longing for the toilet. After the death of Marie-Adele, Veronique

explains the role that she has recently assumed: “Annie Cook. Haven’t you heard I’m

cooking for Eugene and the children these days? It’s been four days since the funeral as

you know may she rest in peace but I was the only person on this reserve who was

willing to help with these 14 little orphans” (Highway, 111). Of course, this account is

bias and could be untrue. The audience remains unaware of what the other characters do

to assist Marie-Adele’s family after her death. Veronique is searching for praise here; she

wants to be recognized for this seemingly selfless act. Perhaps the reason she took on
 10

these “little orphans” is the same reason that she adopted Zhamboonigan, to feel like and

be recognized as a mother. In this scene she’s taken the place of Marie Adele, using her

kitchen, sitting on her front step and referring to her husband’s “succulent and delicious

juices”(111).

Ian Ross’ FareWell presents an array of characters waiting to receive their

government assistance cheques. Similar to the characters in The Rez Sisters, each

character desires something more substantial than monetary wealth. Three main

characters in the play are Melvin, Rachel, and Teddy. The three characters differ in their

desires, as well as in the ways they pursue their goals.

Melvin McKay is a young man who lives on the Partridge Crop Reserve in

Manitoba. Throughout the play, Melvin is searching for belonging and self actualization.

He turns to Christianity, substance abuse, and his friends while in search of his identity,

but he finally finds it in the affirmation of his status as an Indian. It is evident that Melvin

struggles to find a sense of belonging on the reserve. The play begins with him sitting on

the front steps of the church, when Melvin shows his reverence for the church, saying “I

just don’t like people disrespecting this place”(Ross, 15). Melvin remains devout to the

church throughout the play, but it does not appear as though he finds peace within

himself as a result of his faith. Melvin sniffs gas throughout the play, presumably to

escape his insipid existence on the reserve. Because he is not happy with his life, he gets

high and enters into a hallucinatory existence where problems seem less severe and the

reserve is more bearable. It is evident that Melvin is discriminated against by many of the

characters in the play as a result of his status as a Bill C-31 member. He is told that he

owes money to Teddy for soliciting the chief to provide gravel on his dad’s road. Melvin
 11

argues: “I got that gravel. You didn’t…I even asked before you and yet they gave

everyone gravel except for me. That’s how you can tell who’s Bill C-31 on this reserve.

They’re the ones with dirt on their roads (58).” Melvin’s struggle to find belonging and

self worth at the reserve continues throughout the play; his biggest ambition is to be

recognized as an Indian. It does not make sense to Melvin that he should be considered

any less of an Indian than any of the other characters; he lives on the Indian reserve, leads

a similar lifestyle to all of his friends (collecting welfare as a result of unemployment),

and is visibly dark skinned. The frustration that Melvin experiences is understandable; he

is segregated from his own community because of a technicality that is beyond his

control. He is repeatedly told that he is “not pure”, but there is no longer any “pure” races

in existence. Melvin is considered less of a citizen of the reserve because he is less of an

Indian. As he struggles with finding belonging among his friends, he questions his own

longing for the status: “I don’t know why I want to be an Indian so bad. There’s nothing

good about being one”(73). It is obvious that Melvin resents the status that he has been

assigned, and that he resists the limitations placed on him by Bill C-31. Teddy takes

advantage of Melvin’s yearning for Indian status, bribing him to steal Robert’s truck.

Teddy says, “Tell you what Melvin. Not only will I make you casino manager. I’ll make

you an Indian.”(78) Melvin reasons that he is already technically an Indian according to

the government, but Teddy persists; “That doesn’t mean anything. I can make you a real

Indian…. Indians don’t chicken out from nothing”(78). It is evident that Melvin’s longing

for belonging on the reserve has left him noticeably vulnerable to ploys such as this. He

reaches his breaking point in the second act, resorting to violence in front of the band

office, saying “Not this again. You fuckers. Where the hell’s our money? You’re making
 12

us starve and live in shit. I’m sick of it. You hear that? Are you hearing me? I’ll kill you.

I’ll kill all of you. You fuckers. I hate this. Do you hear me?”(85). Melvin tears up his

treaty card in a fit of rage and sudden act of rebellion against the authority that has

dictated his identity as a “bill C-39er”. Releasing his pent up aggression and frustration of

lacking a clear identity proves to be therapeutic for Melvin, who later comments: “that

felt really good right now…Getting mad. It made me feel… like and Indian.”(90). Melvin

finds correlation between himself and the people of his community, and in turn assurance

of his Indian identity. He communicates this realization to Rachel:

I figured out I’m an Indian from these two parts of my Treaty card. See. My face
is on one half and my number is on the other half. That picture is what people see.
The number is what the government sees. And the card’s like me. In two parts.
Part white. Part Indian. And you put them together. And you get an Indian. Me.
But not cause the government says so. ‘Cause I said so. I had to get mad find that
out. That’s good eh? (94)

It is evident by the end of the play that Melvin has pursued and achieved his goal of self

actualization and that he has found a sense of belonging on the reserve.

Rachel Traverse is a strong and beautiful woman living on Partridge Crop

Reserve. She desires respect and acknowledgment of her gender from the others on the

reserve. Superficially, Rachel is waiting for her welfare cheque to arrive at the band

office, but it is clear that she desires much more than welfare from the reserve. For much

of the play, it seems as though Rachel has given up on her people and is living in despair.

Early in the play she laments, “There’s never anything good around this place. You

notice that? There’s always people dying, or waiting to die. I should’ve just stayed in

Winnipeg.”(18). Rachel shows no interest in life on the reserve, and at several instances

in the play she comments, “I hate this place.”(65). Rachel’s frustration at the lack of
 13

respect and recognition that she receives on the reserve translates into an extremely

pessimistic worldview. She is skeptical about any changes that might take place on the

reserve, and is frustrated about the state of the reserve. She comments: “..this place’ll

never get any better…fuck, forget it”(46). Rachel’s pessimism is largely a result of the

way that she has been treated on the reserve. Throughout the play she is disrespected and

degraded by the men around her. When she tries to defend herself from the men’s spiteful

comments during the band meeting, she is interrupted and disrespected. The way that

Rachel is treated by the men is symbolic of the oppression of other women on reserves as

well; inequality and discrimination oppress Rachel (as well as women in general) and

cause her to become resentful. With the exception of Nigger, every man in the play

abuses Rachel in some form. It can be argued that Rachel’s role in the play is to call

attention to things that are commonly ignored, such as the abuse of women and the

resorting of Aboriginal women to prostitution. Rachel acknowledges her past inequities,

and justifies her actions, claiming that she operated out of necessity. She claims that

prostitution “made [her] strong” (88) and she explains to Teddy what she has learned

from her past:

I know you men, and what you want. When you’d go in me, I’d feel your heart.
Beating. And when you were finished, laying on top of me I could still feel your
life beating faster. What you were. What you are. What you could be. But it’s
time to make things right. To say goodbye to the things that keep us down. Our
peoples future comes from the past. Not male or female. Pure or mixed. Christian
or traditional. Its all these things. Together. Respected.

Rachel’s strong character and tough exterior partially hides her desperation for

acknowledgment, but her goals are seen clearly in Act 2 when she bares her breasts in a
 14

male dancing costume, saying “I need to make someone listen. To see who I am. To

respect me”(82). Rachel uses the costume to bring the men to a realization; she is an

Aboriginal woman.

The adversity that Rachel faces is not uncommon to Aboriginal women, nor is it

uncommon to the play. Bill C-31 was written on the bases of sexual discrimination, and it

is the source of identity issues throughout the play. Rachel has no money, no education,

and no future. She struggles to find a source of dignity in her life. The donning of the

costume seems to be a turning point for Rachel, who gives the impression that she has

become more content with life on the reserve, saying “I hate this place. But it’s my

home.”(92).Unlike the previously discussed characters from both plays, Rachel’s desires

do not seem to be met. While she is presented as happier and seemingly more content on

the reserve, there is no textual evidence suggesting that she has gained any respect. The

conclusion of Rachel’s goals towards recognition and respect on the reserve is hastily

met, and does not offer adequate substance or seem authentic. Perhaps Ross’ intention

was to suggest that Rachel is incapable of gaining the respect of the men because of her

indiscriminately sexually active past, or perhaps he is suggesting that the oppression of

females is rooted too deeply in society to be overthrown. In addition, Ross may be

suggesting that the exclusion of females—particularly from positions of authority and

government—is traditional, and must therefore remain. Regardless of the reason for the

absence of true resolution, Rachel remains under the same unfortunate circumstances,

this time with a slightly more optimistic perspective.

Teddy Sinclair is an intelligent, albeit occasionally insidious and hypocritical man

who runs a small pawn shop on the Partridge Crop Reserve. Superficially, it seems that
 15

Teddy is an immoral character who makes his living off of the misfortunes of others. His

pawn shop is supported by his friends and other residents of the reserve who resort to

selling their personal items when they are in dire need of cash. However, Teddy is a

valuable citizen of his community, as he has strong leadership skills and a passion to

bring change to the reserve. Teddy has the ambition to lead his people, but he leads them

in the only way that he knows how; by using scare tactics, making empty promises of

goals that cannot be realistically met, and by oppressing others. Although Teddy’s

perception of leadership has been construed, he has good intentions to bring a better

quality of life to the people living in the Partridge Crop Reserve.

Throughout FareWell, Teddy strives to make change in his community. His

character is complex, as it seems that for every good deed that he accomplishes, he does

something inconsistent with his supposed sense of morale. It is difficult to classify

Teddy’s character, because although he has commendable intentions, his goals are often

met through exploitation and oppression of others. After Shmidty’s death, Teddy reasons

that there will be a job opened at the Band Office. This hasty observation is considered

inappropriate by other characters, but it exemplary of Teddy’s forward thinking and

motivation. Rather than idly waiting for the funeral—like the rest of the characters—

Teddy is already considering how to make the most of the situation. His lack of respect

for the dead is obviously questionable, but his ambition is commendable. He reasons,

“You gotta move fast man. I’m just being real. He’s dead. And that’s bad. I mean I like

that little asshole you know. He was good to drink with. But I’m just saying that life goes

on eh? Someone’s gonna get his job. It should be me. Too bad it couldn’t be you.”(39).

Despite Teddy’s lack of eloquence, he makes a strong statement about the necessity of
 16

forward thinking and ambition for the future on the reserve. His ultimate ambition is to

achieve success for himself; a success that he would utilize to lead and help his people.

When the men decide to hold the first self-government meeting, Teddy is the first

to arrive and is appointed to be a leader early on. Although it is not explicit, Ross gives

the impression that the idea of self-government was brought up by Teddy, just as it is

enforced by him. He says, “I’m doing it. No more talking. There’s been too much of that

already.”(47). During and after this point in the play it is clear that Teddy actually holds

more power than the chief—although it is somewhat self-appointed—based on his

presence at the reserve alone. While the chief is an oppressive figure, he is in the

background of the plot for the entirety of the play while Teddy steps in as leader. The

meeting that Teddy holds perpetuates the conventions of Western society, which is a

prime example of how, while Teddy has good intentions to make change on the reserve,

he goes about making this change in the wrong way, and ends up abusing his power.

Teddy acts within the bureaucratic structures that he has been conditioned to

acknowledge. The power structure that is put into application by Teddy enables

inequalities among the males and females of the reserve, and breeds internal racism.

Teddy’s first speech as head of the self government epitomizes his leadership on the

reserve; his good intentions are overshadowed by his narrow understanding of what it

takes to be in an authoritative position. He says:

My friends and relatives, we have come far in our lives. We have lived here all of
our lives. We used to feed ourselves and now we have to depend on the
Government for money. When I’m your chief, I won’t have FareWel anymore.
Everyone will just get money. I’ll give you money. With the Chief in Las Vegas,
we’ll just take power. And when he gets back we’ll kick him off the reserve. and
we’ll start gambling here. Wheels of Fortune, and blackjack and slot machines.
 17

That’s how we’ll make our money. And we’ll decide who’s an Indian. No more of
this blonde-haired, blue-eyed Bill C-31ers, coming on our reserve and taking our
money. And the Indian religion. The true religion will be what we practice. No
more of this whiteman’s church. And all the Bazooka Joes will be in Saulteaux.
All of you owe me something. Phyllis, you owe me money. Nigger, you owe me
for taking out your tooth (57)

Teddy mistreats everyone on the reserve, with the exception of Robert. Teddy bribes

Melvin to steal the truck, disrespects and physically abuses Phyllis, takes advantage of

Niggers dire financial situation, exploits Rachel’s hidden past, and solicits Robert for

help. When Robert refuses to contribute to Teddy’s self-governing ambitions, Teddy tells

him: “You’ve never done anything to help anyone on this reserve. Ever. Don’t try to act

all good now.”(85).Teddy makes a strong point here. While Robert and Teddy are similar

in that they both have power on the reserve, they are adverse in character. While Robert

acquires wealth for personal gain and self-serving purposes, Teddy wants to use his

power to help others. Robert is an independent bigot who is not productive for his

community, while Teddy is dependant on the reserve and strives to make change. In

addition to Teddy being opposite to Robert, there is also a binary existing within himself,

giving him the potential to excel as a leader in the community, and also greed that causes

him to take advantage of those around him.

It seems contradictory to cast Teddy in a positive light, as he runs a pawn shop on

the reserve and is portrayed as somewhat of a crook. However, it is significant to note

that Teddy receives a welfare cheque along with most of the other characters; therefore

he does not make a substantial amount of money from his business. Teddy is dependant

on welfare just like the other characters, but he is the only person who takes action to

make change on the reserve. Although Teddy’s supposed system of self-government

proves to be dependant on the state, he is the only character attempting to break the
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dependency cycle and take control of the situation on the reserve. The self-government

itself becomes an elaborate farce created by Ross to represent Teddy’s desperate attempts

to catalyst change. Unlike other characters existing in both plays, Teddy’s ambitions are

not entirely self serving. Highway uses Teddy’s character to present various dichotomies

within one complex character and to interrupt clear cut binaries that have been set in

place by Western society. This causes Teddy to be an ambiguous figure whose intentions

are not always clear.

By the end of The Rez Sisters, all three women reach their goals in some form.

Philomena has the toilet of her dreams, Marie Adele escapes the reserve, and Veronique

gets her stove. By the end of FareWel, the characters seem to have found contentment

after reaching their monetary goal of receiving their welfare cheques, but they do not

necessarily achieving their goals. Melvin discovers his true identity, which he actually

had all along, and can finally feel as though he belongs on the reserve. Rachel becomes

content with her life on the reserve, but she does not obtain respect from those around

her. Teddy makes changes on the reserve, but it is unclear whether or not he brings

substantial change to the reserve. Themes of empowerment and community development

arose through the aspirations and realization of goals that the characters in both plays

experienced. In The Rez Sisters, all three women wanted to use bingo winnings as a form

of escape. Only Philomena reaches a monetary goal, but none of the women leave empty

handed. All three women (all seven women, in fact) are richer in power and spirit by the

end of the play. Each woman wanted something from the bingo that they’re missing in

life. They find their spiritual need fulfilled through each other, despite the losing the

bingo and their monetary aspirations. The characters monetary aspirations are a
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manifestation of spiritual need they represent; Philomena needs recognition of her self

and her gender; affirmation of her worth. Marie Adele needs a guarantee that her family

will be taken care of after her passing, Veronique needs to feel as though she is a valuable

part of her community; she wants to utilize her domestic abilities for the benefit of others,

Marvin wants to find a sense of belonging and identity on the reserve, Rachel desires

respect and recognition, and Teddy wants to be a leader in his community; providing a

better quality of life for himself and the people around him. There are many similarities

between the characters, such as Philomena and Rachel. Both women feel disrespected

and neglected on their reserve, and desperately seek acknowledgement for their

contributions. It remains unclear in both plays whether these goals are achieved, and

whether or not it is possible to overcome gender discrimination in today’s society. Both

Highway and Ross present gender as a very complex, convoluted issue, and question the

likelihood of its immediate resolution. Another parallel of characters exists between

Veronique and Teddy. Both characters are concerned about others in their community,

and desire to create change for others. Both are capable of acting selflessly, yet neither

are selfless in character. Both Teddy and Veronique desire recognition for their

contributions, and desire the appropriate resources that are needed to help others in their

community. In both plays there is conflict between and within every character. Both

Thompson Highway and Ian Ross assign their characters with dreams and aspirations for

the future which are driven by racial, gender, and social status issues and give way to

themes and questions pertaining to society.