a cabinet portrait of Go-Won-Go-Mohawk (d. 1924) American Indian actress and playwright

(photo: Whitlock, West Bromwich, England, circa 1906)

'Miss Mohawk at the Alexandra Theatre [Birmingham]. 'Playgoers are asked to note that this play is entirely different from all other so-called Indian dramas, being the creation of an Indian woman, from scenes of actual life among the North American Indians, and it is ''not a vehicle for the introduction of heroics and pistol shots.'' In the working out of this latter feature the villain is a Spaniard, with a preference for knives. Miss Go-Won-Go-Mohawk is a fine specimen of the Six Nations Indians. Her father was Chief Ga-ne-gua, known to America as Dr. Allen Mohawk, a noted medicine man, who stood over six feet in height. The play, Wep-ton-no-Mah, is based on the adventures of an Indian mail-carrier of that name, he being pursued through four acts by one Manuel Lopez, whom the author traps but allows to escape until the clock approaches ten-thirty, when a dexterous knife-thrust by Wep puts an end to the slayer of her father. Lopes disguises himself frequently, but his fatal beauty undoes him. Miss Mohawk not only looks well in her numerous picturesque costumes, but is an actress of merit, with a musical voice. Her horse, Wongy, assists by threatening the villain with feet and teeth at a critical moment. I am sorry to learn that [Go-Won-Go-Mohawk's husband and manager] Mr. C.W. Charles, who should have played his old part of Colonel Stockton, is seriously ill.' (The Birmingham Owl, Birmingham, Friday, 1 June 1906, 10b/11a) * * * * * * * *

© John Culme, 2009