（休）Becoming Native American

Indians? Native Americans? Indigenous People of the Americas?

A map showing cultural areas of North America before the arrival of Europeans. These different cultures did not consider themselves to be "one people." Christopher Columbus, who landed on the island known today as Cuba, thought he was in the East Indies (South and Southeast India, including Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippine Islands, and East Timor), and so he called the people he met "Indians." Europeans used this word to make all the various cultures in North America, and all the various people, to look like "one people" with "one culture." For this reason, today, many people prefer to use the words "Native Americans" or, more generally, "indigenous peoples of the Americans."

A language map of North America before the arrival of Europeans. Most of the languages have been destroyed.

Important historical notes, by Shouko Nishibeppu

Long before white men set foot on American soil, Native Americans lived on the land. They comprised a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups. In modern America, still, there are there are 563 tribal governments in the United States. The government recognizes the right of self-government and supports their tribal supremacy and self-determination. They have the right to from their own government, to enforce laws, to tax and so on. However, as recently as the 1970s, United States was still wanted to pursue a policy of ‘assimilation’ because they want to eliminate the reservation and operate Native Americans into mainstream U.S. culture.

Sherman Alexie and the Spokane Indians
Sherman Alexie is from the Spokane Indian tribe. The Spokane Indian Reservation is located in eastern part of Washington. (A “reservation” is an area of land in the United States and that is kept separate for Native Americans to live in.) The Spokane are people who live in Washington State. According to the 2000 census, there are 2004 people in the Spokane tribe.

A long time ago, Alexie’s ancestors lived near the Spokane River by fishing, hunting, and gathering. After the white men came, the Spokane suffered from new diseases like smallpox, syphilis, and influenza. Because of the European invasion, the Native Americans lives and cultures were changed completely. The population of Native American was decreased by disease, by displacement, and in many cases by warfare with European groups.

Today, it is difficult for Native Americans to rediscover their customs. They tend to be addicted to alcohol and gambling. Some of them use the traditional culture as a source of money from tourism. Some adapt to American society, while some do not.

The white men destroyed their burial grounds and ancient villages. However, in 1877, the Lower Spokane agreed with the US government to relocate to the Spokane reservation. The years later, the Upper and Middle Spokane agreed to move to another Reservation. Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr was born there in 1966.
The Native American writer Sherman Alexie was born in 1966 and grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington State. Alexie’s 1993 story, “A Drug Called Tradition,” depicts the distance between modern Indians and the traditional figures from their past. Parts of the story were turned into a 1998 film titled Smoke Signals, and we will watch scenes from the film today. It was the first movie written, produced, and acted by Native Americans and Alexie received two awards for the film’s screenplay.

This information about Sherman Alexie comes from two Web sites (A and B).

And here is Alexie's own official Web site.

The Plot of "A Drug Called Tradition," by Kotomi Nakayama

The story“A Drug Called Tradition” is filled with dreams. There are three main characters, all young Native American men. Thomas is a storyteller whose stories are sometimes strange. Victor is the narrator. Victor and Junior leave Thomas’s party in Junior’s car to take a drug that Victor has. Along the road, they see Thomas, who has left his own party. The boys drive to a lake and, after each one takes the drug, he has a dream. First, Thomas sees Victor stealing a horse from white people. Second, Junior sees Thomas dancing with buffalo and other Native Americans. Third, Victor sees Junior singing and playing guitar like a rock star. These dreams express the boys’ desire to be real Native Americans who live in a different world and time. After they tell each other their drug-influenced dreams, Victor remembers a story that Thomas once told him about skeletons. Victor then explains how he once got a little drum from Big Mom, a spiritual leader of the tribe.

About the characters and their individual roles, by Aiko Oshima

I think that Thomas plays the role of storyteller. He always talks about this story without using drugs. He knew their dreams are no more than their hopes. I think Victor is the most important character. He is the hero of the story. He does not feel comfortable to be a Native American at first, and he thinks that Thomas is strange.

However, although he could not fully understand Thomas, he was influenced by Thomas. He had a hard time telling what the truth is but he grows grew up through the story. I think Junior is not a clear character. He belongs to the young generation, thus he is called “Junior.” He drives a car and, in Victor’s dream, he acts like a modern rock star. He seems to represent young Native Americans.

The content and significance of Thomas's dream
In his dream, Thomas sees Victor stealing a horse and riding by moonlight. After he steals the horse, he and the horse pass by a blind man (he was this horse’s owner). But, in spite of the fact that the blind man smelled Victor riding the horse right in front of him, he thinks that it is only a dream. So, Victor rides the horse across the open plain in moonlight. The moonlight makes everything a shadow. When Victor asks the horse his name, he answers “Flight".

The horse's name, “Flight,” signifies running away from the white man. Thomas imagines that his Native American ancestors run away from the white people.
Maybe you may wonder why the horse cooperates with Victor, who comes to steal the horse. I think we can imagine Pegasus and the flying horse. Pegasus is very beautiful and free. Maybe this image is similar to the thoughts of Native Americans.

The Spokane Indians did not use horses traditionally until very late. For the Spokane tribe and other tribes of the Northwest, the image of horses and Indians is modern. The author suggests that Thomas is imagines things about his ancestors in a strange way. Thomas sees the Indians as if they were in a cowboy-and-Indian movie. But it is also true that the Indians were very good with animals and understood them. The dream takes that idea to an extreme. That is why the horse comes out and speaks to Thomas, I think.

Further impressions
I could not understand this story at first. I didn’t know about Indians until we read this story and listened to the teacher talk many times. So, I did not understand what the characters dreams mean. For example, in the first dream, I wonder why Victor steals a horse and why the horse can speak. But I can understand their thinking a little now. They have ideals about the Indians who are their ancestors. I think they want to run away from the present to the past.

I sometimes dream and see a different world, just like the characters. But since the dream is nothing but a dream, I feel sad and think that I must live in the present when I wake up from the dream. In relation to this, Victor realizes at the end of "A Drug Called Tradition" that he should not seek to recreate the past and should live in the present.

Everyone has ancestors, but a lot of people including me don’t know our ancestor's true character or appearance; however, if there were no ancestors, we would not exist. In spite of this, a lot of us don’t know about our ancestors or have mistaken images of them, like the characters in the story. This is very strange, but I think that, in a sense, there is nothing one can do about it. Victor's and Thomas's ancestors would never have imagined that their many descendants would study and think about them.

I was glad that through this study I was able to think of many kinds of things that I don’t think of in my daily life.

The content and significance of Junior’s dream, by Rie Osako

The white man gave Indian blankets that were infected with smallpox (天然痘) and killed many of them. Junior is the sole survivor. He is sick and runs a high fever. He takes off his clothes and splashes the water across his bare skin. And he dances a Ghost Dance. He dances one step and Indian revives. He dances other step and a buffalo falls from sky. The buffalo join Indian and their hooves shake the earth. Junior and the other Indians continue to dance until all white men return to Europe.

This dream signifies the Indians’ desire to push the white man away. Indians wanted to push away the white man, but they didn't. So I think this dream describes the desire Indians had. The dream made me sad. The white man gave Indians blankets which are infected with smallpox to kill Indians. Many Indians died. I was sad to learn the feeling Indians are robbed their land and killed by the white man.

I think the traditional role of drugs in some Native American cultures is to assist in performing miracles or having visions. Indians used natural drugs as medicine, too. They wanted to feel better or recover. When Alexie’s characters take drugs, they are acting "like Indians." They want to assimilate with their ancestors. But the drugs are also a problem for the Indians, like alcoholism, which is another disease they got from white men.

The origin of Junior's dream, prepared by Philip Adamek

Junior’s dream is based on the actual dream of an actual Native American. His name was Wovoka. His idea of the “Ghost Dance” became very popular among Native Americans in many parts of the country. The Indians danced it often, and it sometimes scared white men. The Ghost Dance was made illegal in some places. Eventually, it scared some white men so much that, on one occasion, they tried to stop the dancing and eventually killed about 300 Indians who had been dancing the Ghost Dance.

(Painting: The Ghost Dance.)

The Ghost Dance was the last desperate hope of the Plains Indians to regain the old way of life the white man had taken from them. It came from a vision by a medicine man named Wovoka. He said that in his vision he was carried to the afterworld, where all those who had died were living a happy life.

The Ghost Dance became very popular. Tribes as widely dispersed as the Sioux, Cheyenne, Comanche, Shoshone, and Arapaho began dancing and chanting to make the white man go away and the great buffalo herds return.

(image: Wovoka)

Wovoka that he had stood before God in Heaven, and had seen many of his ancestors engaged in their favorite pastimes. God showed Jack a beautiful land filled with wild game, and instructed him to return home to tell his people that they must love each other, not fight, and live in peace with the whites. God also stated that Jack’s people must work, not steal or lie. God said that if his people followed these rules, they would be united with their friends and family in the other world.

Information on the Ghost Dance comes from here and here.

The Third Dream; Victor sees Junior as a popular entertainer, by Shouko Nishibeppu

In this dream, there are a lot of fictions. For example, the President of the United States is said to be ‘Crazy Horse.’ The song lyrics describe a dream of the Indians that is like that of the Ghost Dance.

My thoughts
At first, I could not understand why Victor had such a dream because I did not know the back ground of Indians. The dream makes me sad because the reality is so different. It expresses Victor’s desire to change his ancestors’ history. I think his dream is not only his personal dream but a dream of Native Americans. Therefore, the dream is of great significances.

Scenes from the movie Smoke Signals

Chapter 11: How to Be an Indian
Thomas: Hey, Victor, what do you remember about your Dad?
I remember one time we had this fry bread eatin’ contest… and he ate 15 pieces of fry bread. It was cool.
Victor: You know, Thomas, I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about half the time.
Why is that?
Thomas: I don’t know.
Victor: I mean, you just go on and on, talkin’ about nothing. Why can’t you have a
normal conversation? You’re always tryin’ to sound like some damn medicine man or something.
I mean, how many times have you seen “Dances With Wolves”? A hundred, two hundred? Aw, geez. You have seen it that many times, haven’t you?
Don’t you even know how to be a real Indian?
Thomas: I guess not.
Victor: Well, shit. No wonder. Geez. I guess I’ll have to teach you then, ain’t it?
First of all, quit grinnin’ like an idiot. Indians ain’t supposed to smile like that. Get stoic... No, like this... You gotta look mean or people won’t respect you. White people will run all over you if you don’t look mean. You gotta look like a warrior. You gotta look like you just came back from killing a buffalo.
Thomas: But our tribe never hunted buffalo. We were fishermen.
Victor: What? You wanna look like you just came back from catching a fish? This
ain’t, “Dances with Salmon,” you know. Thomas, you gotta look like a warrior... There, that’s better. And second, you gotta know how to use your hair.
Thomas: My hair?
Victor: Yeah. I mean, look at your hair. It’s all braided up and stuff. You gotta free it.
An Indian man ain’t nothing without his hair. And last... You gotta get rid of that suit, Thomas. You just have to.

Thomas: Um, ‘scuse me. Those are our seats.
White passenger: You mean these were your seats.
Victor: No, that’s not what he means.
White passenger: Now listen up. These are our seats now, and there ain’t a damn
thing you can do about it. So why don’t you and Super Injun’ there find yourself someplace else to have a powwow. Okay?
Another passenger: Come on, now, boys. Just sit down.

Chapter 12: John Wayne’s Teeth
Thomas: Geez, Victor, I... I guess your warrior look doesn’t work every time.
Victor: Shut up, Thomas.
Thomas: Man, the cowboys always win.
Victor: The cowboys don’t always win.
Thomas: Yeah, they do. The cowboys always win... Look at Tom Mix... What about John Wayne? Man, he was about the toughest cowboy of them all, i’n’t it?

(Photo: the actor Tom Mix)

Victor: You know, in all those movies... you never saw John Wayne’s teeth. Not once.
I think there’s something wrong when you don’t see a guy’s teeth.

(Photo: the actor John Wayne)

John Wayne’s teeth
Hey-ya
John Wayne’s teeth
Hey-ya
Hey-ya, Hey-ya-hey
John Wayne’s teeth
Hey-ya
John Wayne’s teeth
Hey-ya
Hey-ya, Hey-ya, Hey
Are they false?
Are they real?
Are they plastic?
Are they steel?
Hey-ya, Hey-ya, Hey...

Are they plastic?
Are they steel?
Hey-ya, Hey-ya, Hey... etc.

About skeletons and Alexie’s ideas concerning ancestors, by Chiharu Inamura

It seems that the skeleton story told by Thomas (pp. 21-22) may represent the author’s opinion. The other characters do not seem to understand the story, but it seems to be an original Native American way of thinking.

I think that the idea of the skeleton in this part means both “bones (骨)” and “unreal image (虚像)”. The skeleton represents our past figure (過去の姿) and future figure (未来の姿) based on our present. That is to way, the skeleton shows our past figure and future figure as unseeable things that accompany us wherever we go.

Explanation
We always belong to our past figure and future figure, although we cannot see them or reach them entirely. We cannot fully contact them. Even if you don’t have a watch, the skeletons understand what time is it because they always are with us. But we can’t dance with them, Thomas says, which means that we can spend time with them even if we think about them often. That is, I think, why Victor says (that Thomas said) that we are trapped in the now (p.22 line 21) (いつも現在に縛られている) and that “Indian time” is “now.”

In brief, the author thinks that we always learn our history in many ways except from our real ancestors. Then we have lots of stereotypes about our history. However, we have to change our idea that the culture of the old times can be saved or lived in the present. Now, in the present, Native Americans have an original modern Indian culture. I think that the author thinks that both the old culture and the new culture are equally Indian culture. Therefore, the author criticizes stereotypes about Indians. He tries to show that although modern Native American culture is very different from ancient Native American culture, it is still Native American culture.

My opinion
When I first read the story, I couldn’t understand the characters. However, I understand now that the characters are modern Americans, although their ancestors were Indian. Therefore, their ideas of Indians come from modern media (movies and TV) and they do not know what their ancestors were like exactly.

In fact, this case seems similar for young Japanese these days. For example, some people might believe that their Japanese ancestors always wore kimono, and others might think that their Japanese ancestors always ate fish. However, the images of the ancestors have been made by the next generations gradually, which means, we haven’t learned from our ancestors directly, but only in school, or from our parents and grandparents, and in many other ways. After all, I think this story might be asking us, “Do you really know your ancestors? Don’t you have some simple, stereotypical, or false images of your ancestors? ”

In brief, I think that we have to stop thinking by stereotypes. And I want to learn the true history of my ancestors.

Explanation of the little drum, by Kotomi Nakayama

The little drum is a small pager in the shape of a drum. The drum is symbolic of Indian traditions, while the pager is symbolic of modern technology. The drum-pager thus brings together past and future. Victor got it from Big Mom, who was a spiritual leader of the tribe. Victor says, “I keep it really close to me, like Big Mom said (to do)…” Victor has never used the pager, but it represents the possibility of communicating with his ancestors. In this way, it seems to me that by the end of the story Victor has changed a little. He realizes, I think, that he does not need drugs and that he does not have to escape into the past. He understands that he must not approach his ancestors forcibly.

In the story, two instruments appear. First, in Victor’s dream, we see Junior playing a guitar. The guitar came from Spain, and so it is not part of traditional Native American culture. It was made famous in Western media. Second, there is the drum that Big Mom gave to Victor. The drum is a true Native American instrument and that is why Big Mom gives him a pager in the shape of a drum.

The relationship between skeletons and the little drum
According to the character Thomas, all persons have their own skeletons. We have a past skeleton and a future skeleton. The past skeleton is walking one step behind you, and the future skeleton is walking one step in front of you. The little drum has a past and a future, too. It is symbolic of Indian traditions, but the pager is symbolic of modern technology. Therefore, both the skeletons and the pager-drum are connections to the past and future that allow us to live at peace with ourselves in the present time.

Thomas says “ What you have to do is keep moving, keep walking, in step with your skeletons. They ain’t ever going to leave you, so you don’t have to worry about that. Your past ain’t going to fall behind, and your future won’t get too far ahead”(p.22). I think this sentence shows that the past behind you and future in front of you will not disappear, so you must not approach them forcibly. You should live at peace in the present.

My opinion
I couldn’t understand the story when I first read it. It is deep. However, I read it a few times and understood it gradually. This story’s author is a Native American, and his story describes young modern Indians trying to understand their own traditions, life, and ancestors. The characters in this story want to become Native American out of respect for their ancestors. They see illusions after taking drugs and in their dreams see each other as victorious Indians. However, their images of Indians come from Western media, not from their real ancestors. They are mistaken about various things. They take a drug to find their traditions, and finding their traditions is also like a drug: it makes them feel good to be victorious Indians. However, they cannot become Native Americans in this way. I felt pity for them. However, by the end of the story, Big Mom gives the little drum to Victor, and Victor seems to change a little; so, I think little drum’s influence is big. I think Alexie uses many ways in this story to describe the mental life of Native Americans today.

Extra documents:

Some words from Chief Joseph (born 1840, died 1904):

Our fathers gave us many laws, which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good. They told us to treat all men as they treated us; that we should never be the first to break a bargain; that it was a disgrace to tell a lie; that we should speak only the truth.

For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains. They stole a great many horses from us, and we could not get them back. The white men told lies for each other.


When I think of our condition my heart is heavy. I see men of my race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.

I know that my race must change. We can not hold our own with the white men as we are. We only ask an even chance to live as other men live. We ask to be recognized as men. We ask that the same law shall work alike on all men. (The full speech is here.)

(Photo: Spokane Indian girl)
Thanks, everyone, for a fun class. -- Adamek