100 years ago in Spokane: Tribal members sought for acting roles

From our archives, 100 years ago

Members of the Spokane Tribe were in high demand for both stage and screen – at least for one day.

The manager of the Ernest Wilkes stock theater troupe went to Indian Canyon and arranged for 20 Indians, “who reside at the head of the canyon,” to begin rehearsals for roles in “The Call of the North.” This was a play scheduled to open in a week at the American Theater.

However, a cameraman from the Pathe film company, which was in the region filming a travelogue, went to the canyon later in the afternoon to arrange for a number of Indians to be on hand for a filming session in the canyon.

At first, the Indians said that they would be busy elsewhere – at the play rehearsal. However, when the Pathe cameraman said he would pay $2 to each actor, they changed their minds.

Most of the Indians were in the canyon for the filming, which included a scene in which Miss Spokane shook hands with Curley Jim, a tribal elder. Over at the American Theater, the Wilkes troupe was considerably shy of its quota of Indian actors.

This problem proved to be temporary. The Indian actors promised to show up the next day for their stage rehearsals.