Mary Kathryn Nagle

Mary Kathryn Nagle is a playwright and a partner at Pipestem Law, a Law firm specializing in sovereignty of Native tribes and peoples. She was born in Oklahoma City, OK, and is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.[1]

Education and career

Mary Kathryn Nagle got her bachelor’s degree in Justice and Peace Studies from Georgetown University, and later received her law degree from Tulane University. The majority of her work in court involves fighting for the rights of Native people on and off of reservations.[2] One of the most prominent cases she litigated was Adoptive Couple v Baby Girl (also known as the Baby Veronica case)' trial in 2013, held in the US Supreme Court. She wrote a brief which cited the ICWA (Indian Child Welfare Act) to keep a young Native girl from being taken away from her birth-father and being adopted by a white family. She is also the executive director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program. It was during law school that she realized that she wanted to advocate for Native rights as a playwright.[3]

Nagle is an alumna of the 2013 Public Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group. During her time in the Emerging Writers Group she wrote Manahatta, a play that received recognition from the groups that give the William Soroyan Prize for Playwriting and the Jane Chambers Playwriting Award.[4][5] Sliver of a Full Moon is her most successful work to date, having been produced as a stage reading many times. She recently been commissioned by Arena Stage to write a new play.

Family

Nagle's grandmother, Frances Polson, was a Cherokee woman, and her grandfather, Dr. Patrick Sarsfield Nagle II, was an Irish man. The couple were forced to elope from Oklahoma to Iowa because Patrick's family opposed the marriage.[6]

Her great-great-great grandfather was John Ridge, a Cherokee politician. Ridge's father, Major Ridge (Nagle's great-great-great-great grandfather), was also a Cherokee politician. They were both involved with the drafting of treaties with the United States in an attempt to protect Cherokee rights in the era of Indian removal.[7]

Plays

Katrina Stories (2008)

Welcome to Chalmette (2008)

Waaxe's Law (2009)

To the 7th Degree (2009)

Manahatta (2013) – a young Native American woman with a Stanford MBA rediscovers the history of her homeland, Manahatta.

Sliver of a Full Moon (2013) – a group of survivors of domestic violence on Indian reservations tell their stories about how jurisdiction laws have impacted them, while an effort to re-authorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is pushed in congress.

Miss Lead (2013) – a young Native American woman discovers and must acknowledge she has lead poisoning.

Fairly Traceable (2013)

In My Father's Eyes (2013–14)

My Father's Bones (2013–14) – the children of Jim Thorpe, Olympic gold medalist and member of the Sac and Fox Nation, attempt to repatriate their father's remains.

Diamonds... Are a Boy's Best Friend (2013-14)

References

  1. ↑ "Developing Authenticity — TCG Circle". www.tcgcircle.org. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  2. ↑ "Mary Kathryn Nagle - Pipestem Law". Pipestem Law. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  3. ↑ "Native Voices On the American Stage: A Constitutional Crisis". HowlRound. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Mary Kathryn Nagle Joins Yale to Lead Indigenous Performing Arts Program Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP)". yipap.yale.edu. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Powerplays | Arena Stage". www.arenastage.org. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  6. ↑ "Native Voices On the American Stage: A Constitutional Crisis". HowlRound. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
  7. ↑ "Native Voices On the American Stage: A Constitutional Crisis". HowlRound. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
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