Work with Native Communities

Seeking to balance the diversity of our core membership with the projects we pursue, Wise Fool has made a commitment to work in and support Native and Indigenous based educational and arts based programs in the State of New Mexico and beyond. Each project in these communities has further developed the cultural competency of Wise Fool's individual artists and strengthened the company's overall programming. In collaboration with Behavioral Health Services Department, the Native American Youth Outreach Program, The Institute of American Indian Arts, Project H.O.O.P.S., Sinte Gleska University, and The Zuni Diabetes Education Network, Wise Fool has facilitated programs in over 12 Native Communities.

Examples of these projects include:

• The Pueblo of Zuni: a four day intensive working with youth and elders to create a giant puppet performance based on a traditional story. Youth learned tales in their traditional language, cooperation skills while building giant puppets, and trust and responsibility while stiltwalking. They performed their work for their peers at a youth health faire and for their community at Zuni Faire where they won an award.
• Cochiti Elementary, Cochiti Pueblo: puppetry and theatre workshops as part of an afterschool cultural awareness program in which youth created shadow puppet plays based on traditional stories from both the local Pueblo and Hispanic cultures. The youth performed their works at an all school assembly as the culmination to the project.
• Pyramid Lake Reservation: a week long intensive teacher training for adults and teen mentors (from various local programs)who were about to lead a summer kids camp. Over the week participants learned how to lead youth in the creation of masks and giant puppets, stilwalking, shadow puppetry and leadership, cooperation and theatre games.
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Other Wise Fool collaborations with Native communities include, Tohajillee, NM; Rosebud Indian Reservation, SD; Jicarilla Apache Reservation, Dulce, NM; White River Apache Reservation, AZ; Nenanehzad Chapter House, OK; Kaune Elementary, Santa Fe, NM; and American Indian Higher Education Consortium.