"The Adventures of an Indian Princess"
"The Adventures of an Indian Princess" and an Image of Native Americans There are many arguments for and against the placing of foster children in the homes of people not of the same ethnic origin as the child being placed. The argument against this kind of placement seems to be hammered home in the short story "The Adventures of an Indian Princess (pages 133-140)" by Patricia Riley which is found in an anthology of Native American writers entitled Earth Song, Sky Spirit. "The Adventures of an Indian Princess" makes social commentary on the inappropriateness of placing Indian children in non-Indian homes while also portraying the often preconceived and erroneous images of Indian people held by the dominant culture in this country and how adversely Indian people are affected by these erroneous "truths". As the story opens the social worker instructs the foster parents in the following way, ". . . it was important for the girl to maintain some kind of contact with her native culture (page 136)." This statement on its face seems to acknowledge the importance of Native American culture to Native Americans, especially youths. Unfortunately the young girl, Arletta (of Cherokee descent), is still placed with a non-Indian family
Arletta shows further mental anguish from the following quote, "Arletta felt as if she were being walled up alive in some kind of tomb (page 139). Arletta soon finds herself in a similar headdress and costume and Mrs. " Further evidence of the inappropriate placing of Indian children in non-Indian homes is seen further in the story as the family approaches a store blatantly advertising "authentic" and "genuine" Indian goods that upon examination are easily found to be forgeries. This is evidenced by the inappropriate placing of Indian children with non-Indian families, the perpetuation of erroneous popular myths and images of Native Americans in popular culture (movies, TV, novels, stories, etc. " An even more blatant misrepresentation of an Indian is the moment when Arletta realizes that the "Native American" man was a fake as she realizes that his dark skin color has "been painted on with makeup and that the stripes had been made by the sweat running down his skin and spoiling the paint job (page 138). " The dominant culture also tends to incorrectly stereotype Native Americans into a generic group of Indians as Arletta states, "This man had his tribes all mixed up. with a blanket draped awkwardly across its back .
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Acceptance Essays
