Theater camp for native youth held at PSU

A sleepaway camp designed for and by Indigenous theater aficionados is being held at Portland State University July 29 through August 2. The 26 students in attendance will live in the dorms and attend daily theater trainings as well as college prep sessions. The students also get to meet and work with Native staff on campus. By the end of the week-long camp, students showcase their work in a variety of ways: some will act in student-written plays, some will create writing or art projects and others will perform in a short media project which is pitched by students then edited by camp staff. This is the fourth year of the camp, which has been held at different college campuses across the west coast. Last year, some of the students had the opportunity to participate in the Broadway production of “The Thanksgiving Play” by Larissa FastHorse. The camp has previously been held at University of Nevada at Reno, UC Berkeley and Southern Oregon University. Jeanette Harrison, co-founder of the theater camp for Native youth and creative director of Bag and Baggage’s Native theater project, joins us to share more. Returning campers Gia Fisher and Niyla Willow also join us. Fisher will be performing in “Diné Nishłį (i am a sacred being) Or, A Boarding School Play” by Blossom Johnson and directed by Harrison. The play will tour throughout the greater Portland area this September.