While Jude Star is at Fort Marion, he talks about white visitors coming to see them “perform being Indian.” In what ways did you see Native Americans or their culture being exploited throughout the book? Do you think this has changed over time, and if so, in what ways?
Cowboy vs Indian flicks and TV shows, the names and mascots of sports teams even at the high school level, circus acts… the myths around Thanksgiving, leaving out the way soon after, the European settlers waged war on the natives…There’s a long history of turning our abusive treatment of native peoples in history into “harmless” entertainment or stereotypes. It’s propaganda, really.
The novel shows why propaganda serves a purpose: it allows the exploitation to continue, including economic and environmental exploitation. Throughout, the characters here struggle to earn a living, to escape the prejudice and pain through various addictions, to be treated with dignity, to reclaim their heritage and make a home for themselves. We haven’t as a nation made any reparation. (Nor to the descendants of slaves.)
As a white man, this is one of the things “my people” do that makes me most uncomfortable and angry: asking the remnants of people our forebearers oppressed and murdered to perform for our amusement the trappings of a culture we attempted to wipe out. I went to one of these performances a few years ago and was appalled. I feel much the same about luaus in Hawaii; what a gross spectacle.
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Reid_B - Have you observed a powwow? I attended one years ago as an outsider and witnessed cultural respect for traditions. I was pleased this was not a “show” but a true celebration for the native people representing several groups. I do; however, acknowledge there are show performances that are appalling. In addition to luaus in Hawaii there are tourist shows in Alaska that are uncomfortable to see.
I hope there have been changes since those Jude years. The above mentioned Hawaiian and Alaskan performances still exist, but I’m aware of two newer experiences based on native traditions - Native American Rodeo that honors ancestors and showcases skills and Eskimo Indian Olympics with events that tests strength, survival and hunting skills. The later also includes traditional dance, music, and storytelling.
I have never been to a powwow, though I was once invited. It is very difficult for me to think of myself as being anything other than out of place and a gawking observer at events such as that. I recognize that I might be going too far the other direction, that it’s quite possible to attend such events with true respect and admiration, but it seems to me impossible for those who belong there by right, the Indigenous people themselves, to tell the difference between the respectful white person and the tourist, so I would be uncomfortable, thinking that I was assumed to be the latter. I am also acutely aware that it is far too easy in every circumstance for white people to become the center of attention just by the obliviousness of our whiteness. I never want to be that person, even accidentally. Better for me to just stay away.
I have visited Indian communities in the Santa Fe area and definitely felt like an interloper. However it is an important source of income to them. Using non white or those with non conforming body types has a sad tradition, I am old enough to remember circus sideshows. Jude knew he was being used a a perverse form of entertainment.