Mary Kathryn Nagle is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and playwright. Her play Sliver of a Full Moon has been performed at law schools across the United States, and she has received commissions from Arena Stage, the Rose Theater, Portland Center Stage, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Yale Repertory Theatre, Round House Theatre, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In 2019, her play Sovereignty was produced at Marin Theatre Company, and the Yale Repertory Theatre produced Manahatta in 2020. She served as the first Executive Director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program from 2015 to 2019.
Nagle is also a partner at Pipestem Law, P.C., where she works to protect tribal sovereignty and the inherent right of Indian Nations to protect their women and children from domestic violence and sexual assault. She is actively engaged in the movement to end the crisis of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls. For more information about how to support Kaysera Stops Pretty Places’ family, who have had to undertake their own investigation of Kaysera’s murder because the federal and state police have failed to do so, please visit #JusticeForKaysera.
She has authored numerous briefs in federal appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court. She is a frequent speaker on topics related to violence against Native Women, the Indian Child Welfare Act, tribal sovereignty, and federal Indian law. Follow her on Twitter at @MKNagle.
Contributions to HumansandNature.org:
- On the Far End of the Trail of Tears
A response to “How can we live respectfully with the land and with one another?”
Noteworthy Links:
- Sovereignty
Read Mary Kathryn Nagle’s play about the Cherokee Nation. - From the Pen to the Stage
Watch Mary Kathryn Nagle talk about her work as a laywer and playwright, and discuss the power of story. - Pipestem Law
Learn more about Mary Kathryn Nagle’s work as an attorney.
