Native American Exploitation

Ironically, in the short story it is Thomas, the nuisance of the reservation, who is the peaceful storyteller and is portrayed as wise beyond his years, embodying the ancient tradition of his culture. In fact, he wanted to be like those white actors who climbed mountains, fought cowboys, talked with monosyllables, and were always accompanied by ominous music. This view of the ideal Indian represents the average persons’ view of Native Americans, when there is nothing hereditary about looking mean and quiet as if you’re in conversation with the Earth. These false images in the minds of the people were perpetuated by the images produced in Hollywood and accepted by Indians and non-Indians alike. Thomas knew the history of his people.

The embracement of this warrior mentality by Native American boys is also shown in the Alexie movie Smoke Signals, which is the movie version of his short story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”. In the movie Victor coaches Thomas on how to act like an Indian, telling him he as to look mean to get respect, be quiet and look like you have secrets, and use your hair instead of keeping it in braids. He knew that the only way for his people to become powerful again was to past down stories about their heritage and “take care of each other” (Alexie 745). It ain’t like it was our independence everybody was fighting for” (Alexie 742). However, most people, Indian and non-Indian, believe that’s the true identity of the Native American. when they were dressed up in war paint and depicted as savages kidnapping the white man’s woman, as a kid Alexie saw nothing wrong with the way Native Americans were portrayed.