“If Crazy Horse, or Geronimo, or Sitting Bull came back...They would start a war....They’d listen to some dumb-shit Disney song and feel like hurting somebody....if the Ghost Dance worked ...All you white people would disappear. All of you. If those dead Indians came back to life...They’d kill you. They’d gut you and eat you heart.”
When Marie tells Dr. Mather why she thinks the murders are as a result of the Ghost Dance, Sherman Alexie is forcing us to examine our perceptions of Indians and think about the potential consequences for way they have been treated for the last five hundred years. He is asking us what is it going to take for a redress to happen. Is the threat of violence the only way of making people take notice of the crimes against humanity that have been, and are still being, carried out in our names by our governments?
Indian Killer’s harsh reality, depictions of violence, and casual displays of racism both overt and subtle make for tough reading. It’s a sign of the elegance of Mr. Alexie’s abilities that I felt compelled to read the book through to the end. I’m sure that many people will say upon reading this book, well that is history, it has nothing to do with me. But the author makes it clear that in this case the “Good German” does not exist as far as he’s concerned. Silence alone makes people culpable in the face of such ongoing injustice.
This is a well written book whose story and plot move along easily and quickly. The characters, while some may veer into the cliché on occasion, are on the whole believable. There will be those who find the author’s point of view objectionable and they would be well off not bothering to read this book at all. But if you have any interest in the people’s whose land this was before our families immigrated here, beyond how they are depicted in the popular press, the media, and New Age “spirit guide” books this novel is an eye opener.
Article comments
1 - Cerulean
Very well-written, Gypsyman. Well I shy away from this book as much as I feel for the injustices done to the Indians. I don't want to read about the violence to white people, or red people, for that matter. Will it take at least the threat of violence to get more justice for the Indians? Probably. Fear works.
I've seen a movies or movies based on Sherman Alexi's earlier work. I believe that I might have heard him speak at the University here. They've hosted most of the prominient Native American writers and filmmakers to speak and show their movies at the local University and I've seen most of them. As a person who loves the earth, and a woman, I feel for all of us who wanted to inhabit this earth peacefully, and with respect for her original purpose. Where I was born and still live, I've undergone something that has similarities to what they went through and it just sucks.
2 - Wendy Ferguson
I really enjoyed this article it is not only fiction but the truth what has and is still happeneing to the native americans the true first americans. By our government and all people abound. He is a wonderful musician and his music speaks to the soul and his words of wisdom are true and we do have to wake up america and start healing ourselves and the earth and mostly the God given love of humanity we once had
3 - Mark Chasing Hawks
Cerulean...
I cant believe you would even have the nerve to say something as ignorant as "I've undergone something that has similarities to what they went through". While Im glad you "love the earth" and Im sure you mean well with this nice positive rose colored glasses outlook on life, you have absolutly no idea what its like to see and live in this country with brown skin, let alone as one who has watched their culture taken away, apart, told (by the "other" culture), and sold. You will never know the feeling of being a teen who loves life and people, walking down the street and the white woman with baby who upon seeing you pulls her child closer to her moving away from you with distrust and fear in her eyes. I do. I lived that scene, with variations, more times than I could possibly count, and there isnt an Indian (or black for that matter) man or woman who doesnt personally know that experience. And you think you can come up with something that deeply hurtful to a childs heart, and how that shapes their view of 'fitting' in society...?? hmmmmmmm. Well maybe, to save wear and tear on those "rosey glasses", you should stick with those "New Age “spirit guide” books. and BTW Gypsyman good review, very insightful observations by you.