Mary Kathryn Nagle

Last updated
Mary Kathryn Nagle
BornOklahoma City
OccupationLawyer, Playwright
Alma materGeorgetown University,
Tulane University

Mary Kathryn Nagle is a playwright and an attorney specializing in tribal sovereignty of Native nations and peoples. She was born in Oklahoma City, OK, and is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. [1] She previously served as the executive director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP) from 2015 to 2019. [2]

Contents

Education and career

Mary Kathryn Nagle received her bachelor's degree in Justice and Peace Studies from Georgetown University, and later received her degree in law from Tulane University Law School where she graduated summa cum laude. After graduating from law school, Nagle clerked for two federal judges at once in the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, Senior Judge Joseph Bataillon, and Chief Judge Laurie Smith Camp. [3] The majority of her work in court involves fighting for the rights of Native people on and off of reservations. [4] One of the most prominent cases she litigated was Adoptive Couple v Baby Girl (also known as the Baby Veronica case) trial in 2013, held in the US Supreme Court. She wrote a brief which cited the ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) to keep a young Native girl from being taken away from her birth-father and being adopted by a white family. It was during law school that Nagle realized she wanted to advocate for Native rights as a playwright. [5]

Nagle is an alumna of the 2013 Emerging Writers Group, a prestigious program supported by The Public Theater for up-and-coming playwrights. During her time in the Emerging Writers Group she wrote Manahatta , a play that received recognition from the groups that give the William Soroyan Prize for Playwriting and the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award. [6] [7] Sliver of a Full Moon is one of her most successful works to date, having been performed at the Church Center of the United Nations and various law schools across the country, including Yale, [8] Harvard, [9] NYU, [10] and Stanford. [11] After being commissioned by the Arena Stage to write Sovereignty , [12] she became the first Native American playwright to ever have their work featured in the venue. Northwestern University Press will publish Sovereignty in 2020. [12]

Family

Nagle's grandmother, Frances Polson, was a Cherokee woman, and her grandfather, Dr. Patrick Sarsfield Nagle II, was an Irish man and the son of the leader of the Oklahoma Socialist Party. [13] The couple were forced to elope from Oklahoma to Iowa because Patrick's family opposed the marriage. [13]

Her great-great-great grandfather was John Ridge, a Cherokee politician. Ridge's father, Major Ridge (Nagle's great-great-great-great grandfather), was also a Cherokee politician. They were both involved with the drafting of treaties with the United States in an attempt to protect Cherokee rights in the era of Indian removal. [13]

Plays

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<i>Manahatta</i> (play) Play by Mary Kathryn Nagle

Manahatta is a dramatic play written by Mary Kathryn Nagle. The play takes place in present day Oklahoma, as well as present day and 17th century Manahatta. The show follows Jane Snake as she rises the ranks of a Wall Street investment firm, meanwhile, her family, specifically her mother, Bobbie, faces financial ruin following the death of her husband. The show also mirrors its characters in early 17th century Manahatta, depicting the arrival of Dutch settlers representing the Dutch East India Company, who subsequently take the land of and massacre the Delaware Lenape people, beginning the process of driving them out of Manahatta and Lenapehoking.

<i>This Land</i> (podcast) Political podcast about Indigenous rights

This Land is an American political podcast produced and distributed by Crooked Media and Cadence13, and hosted by Rebecca Nagle. The podcast debuted on June 3, 2019 and follows the United States Supreme Court case Sharp v. Murphy. In addition, the podcast discusses various Native issues such as land rights, sovereignty issues, and the Indian Child Welfare Act.

References

  1. ↑ "Developing Authenticity — TCG Circle". www.tcgcircle.org. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  2. ↑ "Women's Voices Theater Festival - Play Detail". www.womensvoicestheaterfestival.org. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  3. ↑ OsiyoTV (2017-09-11), Mary Kathryn Nagle, From the Pen to the Stage , retrieved 2018-04-01
  4. ↑ "Mary Kathryn Nagle - Pipestem Law". Pipestem Law. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  5. ↑ "Native Voices On the American Stage: A Constitutional Crisis". HowlRound. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Mary Kathryn Nagle Joins Yale to Lead Indigenous Performing Arts Program Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP)". yipap.yale.edu. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Powerplays | Arena Stage". www.arenastage.org. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  8. ↑ "Sliver of a Full Moon Production Packs Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)". ygsna.sites.yale.edu. Yale Group for the Study of Native America. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  9. ↑ "Sliver of a Full Moon". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  10. ↑ "Sliver of a Full Moon | NYU School of Law". its.law.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  11. ↑ School, Stanford Law. "Sliver of a Full Moon – a play about VAWA and Native American Women | Stanford Law School". Stanford Law School. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  12. 1 2 Staff Writer. "Sovereignty: A Play". nupress.northwestern.edu. Northwestern University Press. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  13. 1 2 3 "Native Voices On the American Stage: A Constitutional Crisis". HowlRound. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  14. ↑ "Native Voices at the Autry: Past Performances". Autry Museum of the American West. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "Women's Voices Theater Festival - Play Detail". www.womensvoicestheaterfestival.org. Retrieved 2018-04-01.
  16. ↑ John Moore (February 20, 2020). "Summit Spotlight: Mary Kathryn Nagle and Suzan Shown Harjo, 'Reclaiming One Star'". Denver Center for the Performing Arts.
  17. ↑ Jared Strange (March 30, 2023). "On the Far End Centers the Story of Muscogee Leader Jean Chaudhuri". Washington City Paper.
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