Sherman Alexie: What it means to be an Indian in America Essay

Sherman Alexie What it means to be an Indian in AmericaDr. Mather, if the Ghost Dance worked, there would be no exceptions. All you uninfected people would disappear. All of you. If those dead Indians came back to life, they wouldnt crawl into a sweathouse with you. They wouldnt smoke the pipe with you. Theyd buck you. Theyd gut you and eat your heart. -Marie, Indian Killer, 314The identity of the modern primordial American is not found in simple language or description. Neither does a badge or collection of eagle feathers look into indigene American identity. As Alexie demonstrates through the character of Dr. Mather and Wilson, pony-tails and store bought drums be mere materialistic symbols and stereotypes they have no real value or respect for the history behind a persons ethnical heritage. Hanging out in Indian bars is insufficient. The identity of the Native American is formed in a context of opposition and resistance, of irreversible historical travesty, and of inescapabl e conflict. Given the complex and lengthy history of U.S. atrocities against the Indians, and the equally violent aggressions of Indians against whites, bloodshed and animosity were the basis original Indian- U.S. relations. The original viciousness these relations cannot be underestimated nor the intricate series of laws and Acts passed throughout the ninteeth and twentieth centuries for the expiry of Indian culture and heritage. Yet, as Alexie argues, the forces of hatred cannot be exclusively emphasize in determining the identity of the Native American. Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie is a work of humor, an investigation of community identity and family love, as swell as a discussion of race and hate. Maries speech to the worthless Dr. Mat... ...efers back to Maries hostile statement. Although not every Indian feels as Marie and Reggie do, certainly not John Smith in his dream, the ominous fiction of the owls marks Alexies prediction for the future unless hate can be reco nciled, the spirit of murder and blood shed will continue to set upon man kind. While the title of the work serves to encompass victims of both white and Indian cultural backgrounds and closes on the image of the ambiguous killer, (could it be Wilson dance wildly with his store bought cassette tape? Or could it be Reggie living heavy(p) in his bloody victories?), the content of the novel is a living history of human actions to historical contexts. Alexies work is exaggerated beyond reality, to be sure, nevertheless his assessment of Native American identity is intriguing and universal in the story of recovery from human inflicted violence and hate.