MISSOULA — A new play debuting this weekend is putting the spotlight on two major issues, sex trafficking and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis.
Playwright Kendra Mylnechuk Potter hopes the feature, which has been years in the making, brings awareness and a call to action.
The title, 'Can't Drink Salt Water', is rooted in a Lummi creation story involving Salmon Woman.
"Can't Drink Salt Water is a multifaceted title," Mylnechuk Potter told MTN. "We literally are unable to ingest salt water and also, there are themes in the play about the salmon who are relatives to my people. They go from the freshwater into the saltwater, they have a complete remaking of the way that their systems function and then they change back on their way back into their natal birth stream."
Watch to hear from playwright Kendra Mylnechuk Potter about 'Can't Drink Salt Water':
It's a play of transformation, grief, and hope.
"There's one storyline that is a girl who's a survivor of sex trafficking staying at a shelter. And the other storyline is a mother searching for her daughter," Mylnechuk Potter said.
Those two paths converge to share prominent issues on stage.
"We have an opportunity and an obligation to engage with our relatives to help look to keep an eye out for victims and also participate in MMIP awareness," Mylnechuk Potter stated.
The production is very personal for Mylnechuk Potter.
"I have relatives who have been trafficked and have made their way out and made their way back," she said. "In some parts, I think a lot of this play was processing that.”
Mylnechuk Potter connected with Carissa Heavy Runner while Heavy Runner was marching from Arlee to Polson seeking justice for her daughter, who was killed in a hit-and-run.
"I was brought on as a cultural consultant because of my experience with losing my daughter, Mika Westwolf. It's important you know, for the audience to see what families can go through. It's sharing the truth," Heavy Runner said.
The cast and crew learned from Heavy Runner's informed, lived experience.
"There's a girl that plays a Blackfeet girl and so I'm also helping her with speaking some Blackfeet language," Heavy Runner detailed. "Also sharing about how self-care is so important and talking to the cast and all the backstage workers that this is a heavy, tough subject, so you gotta be careful, take care of yourself," she continued.
The play even involves the audience.
"The audience is even invited to participate in cleaning up a literal mess that is representative of the mess of how we got where we are," Mylnechuk Potter said.
This production is a former University of Montana student's dream made possible in this capacity by donation.
"Very generously funded by a foundation called the Roy Cochram Foundation," Mylnechuk Potter stated.
While there are mature themes and language, the goal is to show growth and healing.
"We do not see violence on this stage. We see surviving, we see recovering, we see reclamation. The story that we're bringing forward is one of steps towards wellness and wholeness rather than living in just a traumatized experience," Mylnechuk Potter said.
"There's some sadness, but regardless, it's truth — it's the reality that Indigenous people are still facing to this day and so most importantly, it's educating in a unique creative way. There's also humor, you know, because you can't have one without the other; that's how we are as humans. That's how we persevere," Heavy Runner added.
The 'Can't Drink Salt Water' team says this play is not worth missing.
"Put yourself in someone else's shoes just for a couple hours and learn more about this issue. I feel it will connect with people on a whole other level," Heavy Runner said.
Can't Drink Salt Water premieres Saturday, Feb. 14, and runs through Feb. 22 at the University of Montana's Repertory Theatre. Admission is free for Indigenous people and pay what you can for non-Natives.
