book cover
Play

By January Rogers

Written as a stage play and set within a fictional gameshow. Blood Sport, through a satirical lens confronts the absurdity and harmful consequences of false claims of Indigenous identity, and delves into this complex topic of “Pretendians” (people who falsely claim Indigenous cultural identity), offering a thought-provoking narrative that highlights the different aspects of cultural appropriation and its impact on Indigenous communities.

By challenging readers to critically examine the issue of self-Indigenization and the harm it can cause. Blood Sport sheds light on the deceptive practices involved in the trafficking of cultural identity.

“Blood Sport emphasizes the possibility for those genuinely disconnected through colonial violence (e.g. child abduction by the state) to return to Native community. But the play reminds us that colonizer mythologies and individualistic “identity” politicking interfere too with actual Native people’s kin-making and reconnection.” – Kim Tallbear

Formats
Paperback
Age range
Adult
About the author

January Rogers

January Rogers is a patri-lineally descended Mohawk/Tuscarora writer and media producer. She lives on her home territory of Six Nations of the Grand River where she operates OjistohPublishing and Productions.

January combines her literary talents with her passion for media making to produce audio and video poetry. Her video poem Ego of a Nation won Best Music Video at the American Indian International Film Festival 2020 and her audio work The Battle Within won Best Experimental Audio with imagineNative International Film and Media Festival 2021. She is a literary mentor with Audible’sIndigenous Writers Circle Program 2022 -25 and the Banff Centre’s Indigenous Story Sharing Residency 2019-present.

January authored a 10-episode comedy series NDNs on the Airwaves (found on the Ojistoh youtube channel) and her play Blood Sport, a comedy about the pretendian crisis in Indian Country has received numerous stage readings and was published by Turtle’s Back Publishing in 2023.

January received the Indigenous Niagara Outstanding Achievement Award in 2025 in the Performing Arts category. She is also a nominee for the 2025 Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Award. An artist ever expanding, January now writes songs from her poetry and is trying her hand as a music industry helper with the Six Nations supergroup Allied Nations, which she curated and now manages.