Theatre Royal - Gowongo Mohawk, 1894 and 1907

Born on the Cattaraugus reservation in what is currently New York in 1860, Gowongo Mohawk was a talented athlete and performer. She gained fame around the same time as the Buffalo Bill Wild West Shows, in the 1890s and early 1900s, and she wrote and starred in her own play, “Wep-Ton-No-Mah – the Indian Mail Carrier.” In 1893, she travelled to England and toured for several years, giving multiple performances in Norwich in January 1894 and again in December 1907.

What was particularly notable about Mohawk’s performances was how she challenged stereotypes about Indigenous women. Mohawk played the title role of an Indigenous man and she also physically challenged expectations of femininity. She was tall and an athletic, performing her own stunts. She said that she decided to act a male role because it “allowed her greater opportunity for riding and wrestling” and audiences loved her performances. The Eastern Daily Press noted that at Norwich the "realistic knife fight in the last act proved the most thrilling feature of a very exciting play."

For more on Mohawk’s life, check out the video!