Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Actor feels honor taking Peltier role

Lisa Bornstein, Rocky Mountain News

Published March 15, 2007 at midnight

Text size  

More Theater

More stories »

When Denver resident Doug Foote takes the stage tonight at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, it will be his first speaking role as an actor.

But it's in keeping with most of his life's work.

Foote will play Leonard Peltier, an American Indian imprisoned for 30 years and considered by many to be a political prisoner, in Theatre 13's world premiere of My Life Is My Sun Dance, based on Peltier's autobiography.

It's not his first performance - in the miniseries Into the West, Foote was a featured extra. More significantly, the series featured his music. Growing up on a South Dakota reservation, Foote became aware of Peltier when he was about 9 years old.

"What has he done, and what he has fought for, I too have been through that," he says. "I am very honored and humbled to play that part of Leonard Peltier."

Both men are of Lakota descent. Foote has made his life honoring his heritage, from his success as a fancy dancer (a fast, intense men's dance) and drummer to his service in the war in Iraq.

"I wanted to join the military because I wanted to honor my country and my people, and I wanted to do something positive in my life," he says. "My intention was to go in there and if our country was under threat - which it was, but at the same time, it wasn't - then it'd be a noble cause, but I feel like this wasn't honorable. It was a diversion."

When he arrived in Iraq, Foote felt an affinity for the locals, with their long heritage, respect of elders and traditions. "I felt sympathy and compassion when I got there, but the longer I was there I started to hate them. Soldiers were dying and I started getting angry at (the Iraqis). They didn't deserve my anger, because we were in their country."

Foote suffered a knee injury, resulting from an improvised explosive device that went off in front of his truck. He continues to fancy dance, despite the pain.

"It's a world that's so beautiful. I dance for my people because a lot of people can't dance. I dance for the love of it. Even though I'm injured, I still love dancing, because it takes me to a place where there's no worries."

Foote also came home with post-traumatic stress disorder. He was depressed, and scared by loud noises. He found himself taking long trips into the country. His marriage suffered, then ended.

Now studying to be a counselor at Red Rocks Community College, Foote, 37, hopes to return to Standing Rock Indian Reservation, where he was raised, to work with young people.

"I got land and I want to build on my land, a facility where I can help the youth. Because I'm a dad, too, and I want my kids to be strong and proud and know who they are."

My Life Is My Sun Dance

• When and where: 7 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3:30 p.m. Sundays through April 1, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St.

• Cost: $10 to $25

• Information: 303-443-2122

About Leonard Peltier

• Born in 1944, of Ojibwe-Lakota descent, Peltier was raised by his grandparents on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota.

• Jailed: He has been in prison for 30 years, serving two consecutive life sentences in connection with the murders of two FBI agents in the 1975 shoot-out at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

• The cause: An international cause celebre, Peltier has been supported as a political prisoner by hundreds of leaders including Desmond Tutu, Mikhail Gorbachev and Bono. Others have actively fought his release.

or 303-954-5101