This book merely focuses on the stories from Native Americans, thus, is it easy to identify multiple post-colonial lenses. I will be analyzing three points that I found in the book. Firstly, in Thomas Frank's story, he explains the upbringing of the average Native person in America. “Before you were born, you were chased, beaten, broken, trapped on reservation.”(Orange 157). His passage directly represents the negative inheritances brought unto many Native Americans as a result of colonization. All of the trauma and violence felt by their ancestors have been directly passed down to them. This passage also demonstrates how Native people's lives are not as valued as much as their colonists. This is their land that was stolen and they are living on small reserves with limited accessibility to necessities meanwhile their colonists are given a chance for a better lifestyle. Relating to my previous point, Blue’s story talks about her not being that connected with her Native roots since she was adopted by white people. “Almost all I know about my birth mom is that her name is Jacquie Red Feather. My adoptive mom told me on my eighteenth birthday what my birth mom’s name is and that she’s Cheyenne. I knew I wasn’t white. But not all the way. Because while my hair is dark and my skin is brown, when I look in the mirror I see myself from the inside out. And inside I feel as white as the long white pillshaped throw pillow my mom always made me keep on my bed even though I never used it” (Orange 149). Although Blue is Native American, she still feels white since her parents are white. Due to this factor, she has been given the luxuries of her colonists: growing up in a suburb of Oakland and living a life of privilege. Through her living this white persona, she is free form direct inheritance of violence and suffering and is treated like a decent human. It is evident through her story that cultural assimilation is the key to living a decent life. The more you act like the colonist, the more they will accept you. Unfortunately, for Native people who want to keep their culture intact, they are given a lesser quality of life and perceived as “savages”. Lastly, multiple stories are told by people who suffer from substance abuse, such as, Jacquie, Tommie, and Calvin. Studies have shown that Native Americans have the highest substance abuse rates out of all other races and ethnicities. Many of these people use substances to cope with the inherited violence and racism that derives from the colonization of Native people. “How you ended up getting fired was related to your drinking, which was related to your skin problems, which was related to your father, which was related to history” (Orange 162-163). Native Americans are almost 30% more likely to have a report of drug abuse in comparison to their white counterparts. Although they have such an alarmingly high number, Native people are least likely to receive treatment for their substance abuse issues due to the lack of accessibility on the reserves. This highlights the negligence Native Americans face due to colonization. Works Cited
Orange, Tommy. There There. Emblem Editions, 2018 file:///Users/robynwalters/Downloads/There%20There%20by%20tommy%20orange.pdf Kaliszwski, Michael. "Alcohol and Drug Abuse Among Native Americans" https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/addiction-statistics/native-americans Images "The Return of the Native"https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2019/11/rereturn-native-dwight-longenecker.html "Native American Gif" https://gifer.com/en/gifs/native-american
1 Comment
Grace Wice
7/27/2020 07:26:07 pm
I really like the quote that shows how much Native Americans are oppressed and how damaging it is towards their mental health. Great analysis!
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