More than feathers and beads.

More than Feather and Beads is Murielle Borsts semi-autobiographical one-woman show which examines contemporary issues of identity for Native American women. Borst is a champion shawl dancer and wrote this theatrical comedy about her experiences competing in pow-wows across the country. As the title implies she finds there's more than feathers and beads to the pow-wow scene. Murielle Borst is the daughter of Muriel Miguel, the co-founder of Spiderwoman Theater, the longest running Native women's theater troupe in the country. She has appeared as a guest artist in several Spiderwoman's productions and has also appeared in and collaborated on several works with the American Indian Youth Theater Project, which is a part of the American Indian Community Houses (AICH) American Indian Youth Council. The American Indian Community House (AICH) is an urban Indian center that services the needs of the Native people living in New York City and welcomes Native visitors to the city. AICH was founded in 1969 and has become a de facto neighborhood serving as a meeting place for the diverse Native community of the New York City area. The Community House offers a variety of services ranging from substance abuse and HIV counseling, to career assistance. It is also home to the only Indian owned and operated art gallery in New York City. The AICHs Performing Arts Department has become an important resource for Native visual and performance artists. Through its programming, performance has become an important educational vehicle, both for the Native and non-Native NY community. The Badger's Corner, initiated in the 1980s, is an education-via-entertainment vehicle for the AICHs visual and performing arts department programs. Taking its name from the Pueblo legend of the four-legged creature who led the Pueblo people out of the underworld after the great flood, the intent of its programming is to inform and challenge people to rethink their concept(s) of Native American people and customs. All performances at AICH are presented under the auspices of the Badgers Corner. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics