The Lone Indian (radio)

“The Lone Indian” is a program from the American radio anthology series Radio Tales. The anthology series adapted classic works of American and world literature for the radio. The series was a recipient of numerous awards, including four Gracie Allen Awards from the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television (in 2004, [ [http://www.awrt.org/press-releases/2004/Press_Release_%20Announce_Winners.pdf "AWRT Press Release"] AWRT.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] 2003, [ [http://www.npr.org/about/press/030402.gracie.html "NPR Productions Win Gracie Allen Awards"] NPR.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] 2001, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20011126020253/www.awrt.org/awards/2000GracieWinners.html "2001 Gracie Allen Award Winners"] AWRT.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] and 1998, [Hear Here: "Tales by American Masters". AudioFile Magazine, pg. 8, Feb/March 1999, Vol. 7, No. 5.] ) a New York Festivals WorldMedal, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050207122048/http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/res/pdf/2004RPwinners.pdf "2004 Winners, Radio Programming and Promotion, New York Festivals"] NewYorkFestivals.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] and a Golden Reel Merit Award. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20010802161539/www.nfcb.org/2001reelsinfo.html "NFCB Announces 2001 Golden Reel Award Winners"] NFCB.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008] “The Lone Indian" program from the Radio Tales series was an adaptation of the classic short story of the same name by Lydia Maria Child.

Broadcast history

The Radio Tales production of “The Lone Indian” was first broadcast via NPR on July 17, 2001. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Summer 2001". NPR Marketing, Vol. VII, No. III] The program encompassed one half-hour installment that was distributed to NPR member stations as part of the NPR Playhouse cultural series. Since November 28th, 2002, the entire Radio Tales series has aired in reruns on the Sonic Theater channel (163) of the XM Satellite Radio service. [ [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/sonictheater.xmc "Sonic Theater"] XMRadio.com. Accessed May 22, 2008.] “The Lone Indian” program debuted on the Sonic Theater channel on September 20, 2003.

Production information

The program was produced and script edited by series producer Winnie Waldron, who also served as the on-air host. [ [http://www.winifredphillips.com/wp_bio.html "Winifred Phillips Official Site: Biography"] Winifredphillips.com. Accessed May 19, 2008] Composer Winifred Phillips created over twenty-eight minutes of music for the program, and also performed as the featured actress. [ [http://www.mninter.net/~jstearns/nprPH.html#top "NPR Playhouse - January - March, 2001"] MNinter.net. Accessed March 21, 2008.] “The Lone Indian” was part of the sixth year of Radio Tales on NPR Playhouse. [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Summer 2001". NPR Marketing, Vol. VII, No. III]

Media

The Radio Tales production of “The Lone Indian” has been available in numerous formats and venues, including burn-on-demand CDs manufactured and distributed by MP3.com [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20031129193548/artists.mp3s.com/artists/33/npr_radio_tales.html "MP3.com: Radio Tales"] MP3.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] and Ampcast.com. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060212003627/http://www.ampcast.com/music/25229/artist.php "Ampcast.com: Radio Tales"] Ampcast.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] Beginning in 2005, programs from the series, including "The Lone Indian” program, have been available for download via the Audioville.co.uk web site. [ [http://www.audioville.com/store/view.php?Id=573&ProductCategoryId=59 "audioVille | Stor>>Fiction | Radio Tales | Download Audio Books, Podcasts and more in MP3. Comedy, Fiction, sport, news, science, drama."] Audioville.co.uk. Accessed October 4, 2008.]

Opening narration

Plot summary

Even as a boy, Powontonamo was always known as the Eagle of the Mohawks – a name given to him for his great speed and keen eyes. He is the son of the Mohawk chief, and when he becomes a man and assumes leadership of his people, his fame spreads among the many tribes. He is especially known for his generosity, shown by the way in which he welcomes the white man and clears a path for the traveling strangers whenever they come. The young women of the tribes always smile upon Powontonamo, but his heart is taken by the lovely Soonseetah of the Oneidas, known as the Sunny-Eye. She also is well known among the tribes, for both her beauty and her pride – for she would take none to be her husband. So the Eagle of the Mohawks comes to see the Sunny-Eye, and such is the beauty of the young Mohawk chief that Soonseetah can barely look upon him. She accepts the gifts he has brought her, and by this he knows that she will be his wife.

Even in the joy of those first days of their marriage, Powontonamo listens to the direful words of the elders who say that the white man’s gun will drive away the moose and the beaver, and the tribes will be forced to follow the animals wherever they flee. Despite these words, Powontonamo remains in the lands of his fathers, though his hunts are more often fruitless as the seasons wear on. A son is born to the Eagle and the Sunny-Eye, but despite this cause of joy, Powontonamo’s spirits remain low. One day, a farmer approaches Powontonamo angrily, demanding that his ‘squaw’ stop stripping the bark from the farmer’s trees. It is too much for Powontonamo, who seizes the white man by the hair and shouts to him of the glorious deeds of his people in the days of their greatest power, and of how their wrath would have struck down the white man had their tribes attacked when their numbers were greater. Then he releases the farmer and returns to his wife’s side.

In time their child sickens and dies from a disease that the white man had spread amongst the tribes. Soon after, Soonseetah herself succumbs to the fever of the English. Filled with anguish, Powontonamo buries his wife next to his son beside a river, where he is sure the wagon wheels of the white man will not roll over them. He plants a young tree between the two graves, and carefully wraps a vine through the branches – the tree will symbolize his son, and the vine will be his beloved wife, wrapping her arms around her little boy. After this, Powontonamo leaves the land of his fathers, but for thirty years thereafter he returns each autumn to the graves by the river, to watch the tree grow and the vine stretch itself from one branch to another. Yet, when he returns for the last time to lay down and die beneath the tree he had planted so long ago, he finds that the white man’s axe has cut it down. The land has been much changed by the English, such that there is no trace that the Mohawks had ever been there. With a heavy heart, Powontonamo decides that he can not die in such a place. He departs, never to return, and no one ever discovers the final resting place of the Mohawk chief.

References

External links

* [http://www.audioville.com/store/view.php?Id=573&ProductCategoryId=59 The Lone Indian Streaming Audio Samples Audioville]
* [http://www.radiotales.com/ The Official Radio Tales® Web Site]
* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view_productcategory.php?Id=59 Radio Tales Streaming Audio Samples on AudioVille]
* [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=163 XM Satellite Radio – Information on the Sonic Theater Channel]