Leanne Whitewolf-Charlton as Maud Moon and Ernest Tsosie III as Bone in Borderlands Theater's production of "Dust Eaters."

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Don't judge "Dust Eaters" by its dry-sounding title — the emotional epic quenches the soul with a highly charged story that's carried along by raw emotion and a talented cast.

Not an easy task, considering the intense political and racial themes highlighted throughout the two-hour drama that debuted last week as Borderlands Theater's 2007-08 season opening show.

In "Dust Eaters," playwright Julie Jensen explores the complicated relationship of a Mormon pioneer family living near the Goshute Reservation in Utah's western desert.

The seven-scene play encompasses seven generations, from 1877 to the late-1990s.

What happens between those years tells the story of Albertine, a woman who struggles with the loss of her Goshute family, her adopted Mormon family and the lives of her great-grandchildren.

Played with intense grace by Leanne Whitewolf-Charlton, the character of Albertine comes to life first as an imaginative 10-year-old and later as an old woman struggling to keep her culture intact. Whitewolf, an Anishinaabe actress, also plays the tenacious Maude Moon, a former nurse turned tribal activist.

As the one actress featured in all seven scenes, Whitewolf-Charlton keeps the simple drama flowing and doesn't veer the play into what could have been a laborious exercise.

Audiences also are treated to strong performances by Roberto Guajardo, who injects life into three loathsome and oily characters. With Guajardo's talent, audiences also feel the despair and heavy burdens of Wesley, Pratt and Enoch.

Bursts of comedy and drama also come from Karole Spangler, whose portrayal of four Mormon women captures the hardships of life in a Mormon household.

Also giving a strong performance is Ernest Tsosie III, a Navajo actor, who plays Bone, a Korean War veteran struggling with alcoholism, and later becomes a Goshute bureaucrat who has seemingly lost his traditional roots.

Directed with a keen eye by Barclay Goldsmith, "Dust Eaters" touches on cultural, political and religious themes, including the historical role of Mormonism in the Southwest and federal assimilation policies for American Indian tribes.

The play also is interesting in that both groups were considered outcasts by the federal government yet were brought together by early Mormon teachings that said American Indians were a lost tribe of Israel and were descendants in the Book of Mormon.

Though these themes might be a bit too heavy and preachy for some, what audiences get in "Dust Eaters" is an intriguing drama exploring race and cultural identities.

Though the story focuses on the plight of the Goshute tribe, its theme remains universal, and this play is an important work for all audiences.