The Arrow Maker
The Arrow Maker is a play by Mary Hunter Austin about Paiute life in the Sierra Nevada. It premiered in February 1911 at the New Theatre in New York City, and some changes were made to fit what audiences expected of Indian life. The production used music and chants, dances taught by Chief Red Eagle, and costumes and props checked for authenticity by the American Museum of Natural History. A revised edition published in 1915 by Houghton Mifflin included notes and a glossary showing Austin’s aim for an archaeologically accurate portrayal of Native Americans.
In August 1914, The Arrow Maker was produced at the Forest Theater in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Notable cast members included Charlotte Kellogg as Chisera, Harry Leon Wilson as Bright Water, and John Northern Hilliard as Padahoon. From 1921 to 1930 the play was staged outdoors in Tahquitz Canyon near Palm Springs as part of three Desert Plays.
The central character is The Chisera, a Paiute Medicine Woman who communicates with the gods and is seen as an intermediary. She falls in love with Simwa, the Arrow Maker, who is then drawn away by the chief’s daughter. The marriage and rivalries for leadership lead to deceit and hardship for the tribe. The Chisera loses her power of intercession, and misfortune follows for her people. She is mortally wounded by one of her own enchanted arrows, and the curtain falls on her death.
Beyond its faithful portrayal of Native life, The Arrow Maker is regarded as a dignified attempt at an American Indian drama and is part of a long tradition of plays about Native peoples, dating back to Ponteach in 1767.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:05 (CET).