The Sun Dance Opera

The opera is set in Pipestone Quarry near Yankton, South Dakota.^[3] The plot involves a love triangle between Sioux protagonist Ohiya, Sioux woman Winona, daughter of the chief, and the show's villain, Sweet Singer, a Shoshone man.^[2][3] The titular Sun Dance, a Plains Indians ceremony that had been outlawed since 1904, also plays a prominent role in the story.^[1][3]

The show's prologue features Sweet Singer leaving his home to travel to the "land [of] the Sioux," after he violated Shoshone religious rules.^[3] The story then properly opens with Ohiya and Winona, with Ohiya promising to earn her affections.^[3]

The Sun Dance Opera debuted in February 1913, at Orpheus Hall in Vernal, Utah, playing for three nights.^[2] The cast featured members of the Ute Nation from the Uintah and Ouray Reservation,^[1] but the leads were played by non-Native singers.^[3] The opera saw some success, with the production touring the state over the next two years.^[4]

Bonnin was credited for her work on the opera, with a 1913 El Paso Herald article noting that she had written the piece.^[5]

The opera was performed several times at Brigham Young University, including twice in 1914 and once in 1935.^[2]

The opera premiered on Broadway on April 27, 1938, at the Broadway Theater, where it was put on by the New York City Light Opera for two nights.^[2][6] The New York Opera Guild presented the piece as the opera of the year.^[3] Bonnin was not involved in the production, nor in the revisions made to the libretto and composition.^[4] Hanson's revisions doubled the show's length, added a number of songs and rewrote those remaining from the original.^[2]

In a reversal of the 1913 casting, much of the ensemble were played by non-Natives, while many of the lead roles were played by Native Americans living in New York City.^[3]

At the time of the 1938 production, Zitkala-Sa was not credited for her work on the piece,^[1] nor was she credited when Hanson registered the opera with the U.S. Copyright Office.^[4]