At an early age, the brothers saw a clear line of wealth disparity between their Indigenous reservation in Winnemucca, Nevada, and the rich mining town they were raised in. This, along with health issues at a young age, made it so the brothers spent much of their time at home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_audio audio=”https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/05\/Isaac-Master_NORMALIZED.mp3″ title=”Twin brothers use theater as a way to tell their stories and portray Indigenous life” artist_name=”Isaac Hoops” album_name=”Next Generation Radio | University of Nevada Newsroom | May 2021″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#5a0c1c” use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”#651906″ background_color_gradient_end=”#b7b7b7″ background_color_gradient_start_position=”85%”][\/et_pb_audio][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em” custom_margin=”-8px|||||”]<\/p>\n
\u201cEver since we were young we both had a big interest in films, and books and things like that,\u201d Dwight said.<\/p>\n
However, in these stories, the brothers noticed a lack of Indigenous representation.<\/p>\n
As the brothers grew up and left Winnemucca, they wanted to make a change to this stigma in movies and performances by telling stories about Indigenous life and casting Native actors.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/05\/Isaac_002.jpg” alt=”Daniel Marks standing next to gym equipment.” title_text=”Isaac_002″ align_tablet=”center” align_phone=”” align_last_edited=”on|desktop” admin_label=”Image” _builder_version=”4.7.7″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption Text” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ text_font=”Nunito||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.8em” header_font=”Oswald|||on|” header_font_size=”16px” header_letter_spacing=”2px” header_line_height=”1.7em” header_4_font=”Oswald|||on|||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_letter_spacing=”1px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”600px” max_width_tablet=”” max_width_phone=”” max_width_last_edited=”on|phone” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”|||”]<\/p>\n
(From left) Hannah Arthur, Everett George, Dwight George and Samantha Palomares perform in the play Supervention Sumu\u2019Yu at the Br\u00fcka Theatre. (Photo courtesy of Dwight and Everett George)<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text 2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]<\/p>\n
Everett George writes the stories they perform. Their first play was focused around sexual abuse on reservations, and was performed by the twins and their friend Hannah. They performed this play at the Br\u00fcka Theater. Later, Everett submitted the work to a playwright contest hosted by Yale University\u2013and his play won. The brothers were asked to attend an event at the Ivy League school, where the play would be read by professional Indigenous actors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were all really happy. We went out there,\u201d Dwight said. \u201cIt was one of the weirdest places I’ve ever been. [Before that] We’ve never been farther than I think really Arizona or anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/05\/Isaac_001.jpg” title_text=”Isaac_001″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Caption Text” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ text_font=”Nunito||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.8em” header_font=”Oswald|||on|” header_font_size=”16px” header_letter_spacing=”2px” header_line_height=”1.7em” header_4_font=”Oswald|||on|||||” header_4_font_size=”16px” header_4_letter_spacing=”1px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” max_width=”600px” max_width_tablet=”” max_width_phone=”” max_width_last_edited=”on|phone” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”|||”]<\/p>\n
Brothers Everett George, left, and Dwight George stand outside the Br\u00fcka Theatre, where they have performed plays. (Photo by Isaac Hoops)<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]<\/p>\n
Since the success of their first performance, the brothers have created four more plays. Their troupe has grown from three to seven individuals who are also from Native tribes.<\/p>\n
The next step for the brothers is to create a film. They want to have something which can be easily seen by children living on reservations across North America.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically we do a lot of it for kids like us. We want them to see us doing it. We want them to know that we can do it, and that means that they could do it as well,\u201d Dwight said.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” text_line_height=”1.8em”]Outside the theater, the brothers do a lot of volunteer work throughout Washoe County.<\/p>\n
From helping with river cleanups, to working on community gardens and helping houseless individuals. Dwight said it comes off as an annoyance when people praise him and Everett for all they do in the community. He does not like the stigma of a \u2018Native kid taking care of the land.\u2019 The way he sees it, everyone within a community should care for the land, the people and the water.<\/p>\n
Dwight says this service is necessary, given the rapid gentrification of Reno, which has caused many of the city\u2019s most vulnerable to be left behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody’s going to have to deal with colonialism in their own way. And gentrification in that type of mindset is the same exact thing. It’s pushing people out. It’s forcing people to go and find somewhere else to live,\u201d Dwight said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dwight and Everett hope to see more people inspired to help their neighbors within the community. They said this is everyone’s responsibility and positive change can happen, but it will take work.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What does it mean to be an American?We are finding, coaching and training public media\u2019s next generation. This #nprnextgenradio project is created in Reno, Nevada, where five talented reporters are participating in a week-long state-of-the-art training program. In this project we are speaking to people from various walks of life\u2014whether they are Indigenous; natural born; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":431,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"coauthors":[22],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/274"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/431"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reno2021.nextgenradio.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}