For sheer theatricality, it's hard to beat Blue Jacket, with its cast of 60 performing in an outdoor amphitheater that seats 1,500 near this Miami River Valley farming town. Also, before each performance, Gregory Brightpath Hunt, the sole full-blooded Indian in the cast, talks about native ways and answers questions from audience members. Hunt is a striking physical presence, and when made up in warpaint as Death Rider, he is even more imposing. Hunt is a member of the Wolf Clan of the Eastern Band of Cherokees, and is also active in the Native American Performers Association and the American Indian Movement. Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That's why they call it the present. The subject matter has been worked to comic extremes. As in all historic tales, there are many disputes over the truth of the Blue Jacket story. A key friction point is whether Blue Jacket killed his biological brother, Charlie Van Swearingen, in a battle. History is big business in these parts.