Wakonda's Dream

Wakonda's Dream is an English-language opera written by Anthony Davis with a libretto by Yusef Komunyakaa. It premiered March 7, 2007 at Omaha, Nebraska's Orpheum.

It has involved several well-known people in the world of opera and other musical and theatrical works. Directed by Rhoda Levine, the cast included Eugene Perry, Patrick Kilcoyne, Arnold Rawls, William Ferguson, Kristopher Irmiter, Mara Bonde, Phyllis Pancella, Joe Fitzgerald, Earl Howard and several other opera veterans.

Wakonda’s Dream is about a contemporary Native American family, impacted by the historical events that occurred in Nebraska in 1879 that changed the legal status of American Indians to that of “human beings under the law” for the first time in U.S. history. The opera is the story of a mother, Delores, a father, Justin, and a son, Saxon, struggling to find their place as American Indians in contemporary society. Young Jason “sees things, feels things, knows things,” which terrifies his mother. Jason is also constantly teased by an older white boy, Sonny, and his brother Jimmy due to his ethnic background. Proud of her Ponca past, Delores keeps the history of their people alive for her son. This only intensifies Jason’s ghostly connection to the long-dead Chief Standing Bear, whose legacy is revealed in a choral rendering of the famous 1879 trial. As Jason grows from childhood to manhood, Standing Bear remains his spiritual guide, while Justin’s dismissal of his Indian birthright leads to tragedy and, ultimately, redemption.

As Anthony Davis was researching American Indian music and history, he attended the annual Ponca pow-wow in the Niobrara region of Nebraska. Among the thousands of attendees, he found himself one evening next to a woman, who, along with her son, became the inspiration for the characters of Delores and Jason.

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