Long before Children’s Fairyland opened its puppet show theater in 1950, Indigenous tribes were occupying the same land and passing down their ancestral stories. Now, thanks to a partnership between the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and Children’s Fairyland, kids growing up in the Bay Area today can experience these same stories in a puppetry format.
The current show running at the 70-year-old puppet theater is “Hummingbird Saves Fire,” which was inspired by an ancestral story from the Lisjan Nation. The central characters of the puppet show are Hummingbird and her friends Coyote, Bear, Beaver and Snake, who spend their days telling stories around a fire. One of their favorite pastimes is skipping rocks across the lake until a rock monster, angry with the animals for disturbing his peace, steals away their fire and hides it atop a mountain. This leaves the animals with the mission to get their fire back, learning lessons along the way.
Maria Rodriguez is the current puppet theater manager at Children’s Fairyland and was also heavily involved in the collaboration necessary for the creation of the show. For Rodriguez, utilizing as much input as possible from local Indigenous peoples was essential to the lifeline of the show. “I’m just so proud that this is their story, their people doing the audio, the jewelry design, you know, all of it is a partnership with them. And I’m just the vehicle that has brought it to our stage,” Rodriguez said in an interview with The Daily Californian.
The motivation behind the show came after a photoshopped image began circulating through the social media feeds of Fairyland team members, which had altered the Fairyland sign to read “Ohloneland.” The image got the wheels turning in the team members’ heads, inspiring them to commence development of puppet shows based on Indigenous stories, with this particular show being in the works for several years. Now, years later, when arriving at Fairyland to watch the final puppet show, guests will be greeted not by the sign they may have known before, but one altered to read “Ohloneland” like the picture.
The puppets themselves have a meticulous attention to detail in addition to their fine craftsmanship, all of which have been handcrafted by Rodriguez and Fairyland Puppet Master Randal Metz. Eagle-eyed audience members may notice that several of the puppets have been adorned with beaded pieces of jewelry, all of which were crafted by Indigenous individuals in the area.
Audiences viewing the show will be watching a live puppet performance, but the audio they hear is a prerecorded track. However, utilizing a prerecorded track allows every performance, no matter the time or day, to feature the all-Indigenous voiceover cast who helped bring the characters to the stage. Each character in the show has its own distinctive voice, including the character for Hummingbird who was voiced by Annabel Cordero.
While the puppet show tells a version of the fire creation story, it also incorporates lessons and mantras for children to learn from. As the character of Hummingbird is discouraged by the other animals from helping take back fire, she exclaims, “I may be small, but I can do big things!” With Hummingbird voiced by the only child actor in the cast, her assertions deliver the message in an earnest manner to best connect with the children.
Adults are not allowed in the park without the accompaniment of a child. Because of this policy, the environment when visiting Children’s Fairyland is a warm and inviting safe space for children. “Hummingbird Saves Fire” contains themes and messages that are important for these children while also introducing them to stories from Indigenous culture they may not have heard otherwise. The show will continue to run until Nov. 29.