Mary Kathryn Nagle is a playwright and an attorney specializing in tribal sovereignty of Native nations and peoples. She was born in
Oklahoma City, OK, and is an enrolled citizen of the
Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.[1] She previously served as the executive director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP) from 2015 to 2019.[2]
Education and career
Mary Kathryn Nagle received her bachelor's degree in Justice and Peace Studies from
Georgetown University, and later received her degree in law from
Tulane University Law School where she graduated summa cum laude. After graduating from law school, Nagle clerked for two federal judges at once in the
United States District Court for the District of Nebraska, Senior Judge
Joseph Bataillon, and Chief Judge
Laurie Smith Camp.[3] The majority of her work in court involves fighting for the rights of Native people on and off of
reservations.[4] 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. It was during law school that Nagle realized she wanted to advocate for Native rights as a playwright.[5]
Nagle is an alumna of the 2013 Emerging Writers Group, a prestigious program supported by
The Public Theater for up-and-coming playwrights. 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.[6][7]Sliver of a Full Moon is one of her most successful works to date, having been performed at the Church Center of the
United Nations and various law schools across the country, including
Yale,[8]Harvard,[9]NYU,[10] and
Stanford.[11] After being commissioned by the
Arena Stage to write Sovereignty,[12] she became the first Native American playwright to ever have their work featured in the venue.
Northwestern University Press will publish Sovereignty in 2020.[12]
Family
Nagle's grandmother, Frances Polson, was a Cherokee woman, and her grandfather, Dr. Patrick Sarsfield Nagle II, was an Irish man and the son of the leader of the Oklahoma Socialist Party.[13] The couple were forced to elope from Oklahoma to Iowa because Patrick's family opposed the marriage.[13]
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.[13]
Manahatta (2013) – a young Native American woman with a degree in Financial Mathematics from MIT 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) – set in the aftermath of Hurricanes
Katrina and
Rita, two young Native American law school students grapple with career ambitions, rights of native communities, and environmental welfare. Staged in March 2017 in the
Autry Museum of the American West "Native Voices" series.[15]
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)
Sovereignty (2015) – young Cherokee lawyer Sarah Ridge Polson returns to Oklahoma in order to help restore her Nation's tribal jurisdiction.[16]