ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the reserve, which is a type of place common to many indigenous people throughout the world, is used by Highway as a theatrical object and subject to express a response from Canadian First Nations to the issues they are currently faced with. In The Rez Sisters the reserve offers a background that is very representative of contemporary First Nations issues in Canada. Besides providing a social and cultural background to the play, the reserve serves as a theatrical setting and as the decor for the full first and third acts and the first scene of the second act. The play represents a varied sample of women such as can be found in all Indian reserves, which makes the reserve a metonym of Canadian Aboriginal communities. For instance, starting with the first character in order of appearance but also in order of importance, Pelajia Patchnose surveys the whole reserve and beyond from the top of her roof.
