Leah Mesquita
ICT

When Raye Zaragoza was first approached about joining the Broadway production of ‘Peter Pan,’ her immediate response was to turn down the opportunity.

“Initially, when I first saw (just) ‘Peter Pan,’ I was like, ‘Oh, no,’” Zaragoza said. “‘Peter Pan’ is, like, historically been super racist and harmful towards Indigenous people, so, why would I agree to do this?”

Once Zaragoza, Akimel O’odham descent, had learned that Larissa FastHorse, the first known female Native American playwright with a Broadway production, was in charge of rewriting the original ‘Peter Pan’ story, she was immediately on board.

“When I saw that Larissa was behind it, I was like, ‘Okay, well, if she’s going to be doing the rewrite, it’s going to be good,’” Zaragoza siad. “She’s amazing and I have full respect for her.”

“My goal for doing it was to make it not cause harm,” FastHorse, Sicangu Lakota, told the Associated Press earlier this year. “Because the music is so beautiful. The story is complicated and beautiful. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it does all those things and has so much magic.”

In recent years, a myriad of Disney films have been called out for their racist, harmful depictions of multiple ethnic groups, including the appropriation of Indigenous culture. The 1953 ‘Peter Pan’ cartoon was no different, mocking Native American language, using the word “savages” and portraying Tiger Lily and her tribe as insensitive caricatures. Even in 2015, Rooney Mara, a White actress, was cast to play Tiger Lily in the live-action movie ‘Pan,’ later apologizing for her role in the film.

“I am definitely passionate about rewriting history, redoing things that were once harmful, and (seeing) how we can heal these things instead of just forgetting that it ever happened,” Zaragoza said.

Credit: This image released by Bond Theatrical shows Nolan Almeida as Peter Pan, top right, and, from left, Micah Turner Lee as John, Reed Epley as Michael and Hawa Kamara as Wendy, during a performance of an inclusive stage production of “Peter Pan.” The touring production kicks off in Maryland on Feb. 21 and travels to North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Washington, D.C., South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, California, Missouri, Texas and Georgia. (Matthew Murphy/Bond Theatrical via AP)
Credit: This image released by Bond Theatrical shows a performance of an inclusive stage production of “Peter Pan.” (Courtesy photo)

Prior to ‘Peter Pan,’ Zaragoza had only acted a few times – including in FastHorse’s first musical, ‘Sarah Springs’ – when she was a teenager. Although she still considers herself to be a musician “first and foremost,” playing Tiger Lily has given her the chance to inspire Native youth.

“Getting to be a part of this and collaborate with the other actors and see the reactions of all the Native kids who come see the show has definitely given me more pride,” Zaragoza said. “Every time I’m on stage as Tiger Lily, I kind of think about all the little Native girls out there who will finally feel represented.”

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Even the costumes, designed by Sarafina Bush, uniquely represents each actor’s background and pays homage to their different cultures, according to Zaragoza.

“My costume is kind of based off of ancient textiles from the Southwest.” Zaragoza said. “My mom’s also from Japan, so we have some ancient Japanese designs there. …Getting to see the whole Indigenous tribe (in the show) representing different parts of the world in their costumes, not just North America, is really cool.”

Despite the fulfillment she receives as an actress, Zaragoza isn’t sure what the future holds for her on-stage career, but plans to take a break after the tour ends in May 2025. The show has already hit the stage in major cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

“I think for me, playing Tiger Lily was an exciting thing to do outside of my music,” Zaragoza said. “But I think I’ll probably return back to doing music. One of my dreams is to write a musical, so I think before I could see myself continuing on as an actor in musicals, I see myself as someone who’s going to write one.”

When asked about changes the industry needs to make toward inclusivity, Zaragoza said real change starts by including more people behind the scenes and mutual positivity among Indigenous people.

“I feel like it’s about having more Native people in the writing rooms, more Native people on stage, and more Native people everywhere,” Zaragoza said. “I think for us as the creatives in these situations, it’s all about, lifting up our friends, making sure we’re empowering the youth and educating them and how they can get to where we are, so that we can continue to help everyone.”

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