The Arrow-Maker

'The Arrow-Maker' is a three-act play by Mary Hunter Austin meant to reflect American Indian life, especially of the Paiutes, in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. The central character in the drama, The Chisera, is a Medicine Woman of the Paiutes – who, in communion with the gods, is supposed to be as one removed from human passion. Those who come to her regard her as an intermediary, with the power of influencing the Great One. They all work her «to their best advantage.» But The Chisera tires of her lonely occupation and gives her love to Simwa, the Arrow Maker. In the tribal matters that follow this complication the drama is a tragic revelation of Indian plotting and deceit.