“When a white army battles Indians and wins, it is called a great victory, but if they lose it is called a massacre” (Chiksika, Shawnee). Even as far back as the 1770s, there has always been obvious racial tensions between whites and Native Americans. Ever since Christopher Columbus discovered America, Native Americans have always been treated as lesser than whites and even enslaved in certain historical situations. There is a wide array of media and literature that illustrates the turbulent relationship between the two races. Two stories that address this conflict directly are “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich and “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie as well as Courtney Hunt’s movie, Frozen River.
Louise Erdrich is a half Chippewa and half German writer from the latter half of the 20th century. According to Liesl Schillinger, author of the article “All American”, she describes Erdrich is most well known for discussing the relations between whites and Natives and the discrimination that Native Americans face in her stories. In her most well known short story, “The Red Convertible,” she uses traditional Native American storytelling to expose how Native Americans were treated when it came to the controversial Vietnam War. During the war, war recruitment centers were put up in Native reservations since there was no electricity and no one could see how bad the war truly was and people eagerly signed up as part of a “rite of passage” to become a warrior. The story itself is about two brothers, Henry, a warrior, and Lyman, the successful brother who awaits his brother’s return from war. When Henry does return, he comes back with severe PTSD and Lyman treats Henry to a colored TV and a red convertible. He comes to regret both because they are Western objects that only create a bigger influence on the Chippewa people, especially Henry. Tensions are also apparent when Lyman considered taking Henry to the hospital and his mother said not to because white doctors won’t do anything for him. This shows a severe distrust in white people which is due to many broken treaties, stolen land, and bad land given for reservations. All these things are reminders of how awful white people treat Native people. According to Pratima Dutta, author of “Erdrich’s The Red Convertible” short story criticism, when Henry bites his lip and blood trickles down, it represents his desire to rid himself of the white cultural influence that he has been constantly surrounded by before, during, and after the war (Dutta, 88). White culture tends to follow Lyman around, he looks more white than his brother and has an easier time making money and being successful than most people on the reservation. Henry is the complete a opposite: a true Native, a man who never allowed himself to fall under the influence of white culture, unlike his brother. However, when he does fall under mistreatment by whites in the Vietnam War, Henry cannot get back to his Native roots and he cannot rid himself of the Western lifestyle and ends up killing himself as his culture slowly begins to die out because of the strong influence of western culture.
At the other end of the spectrum, a film that visually manifests this conflict is “Frozen River” directed by Courtney Hunt. The film follows single, poor mother Ray Eddy as she works with a Native American immigrant-smuggler named Lila in an effort to acquire easy cash. Both women face incredible amounts of profiling and racism. However, the women themselves also contribute to the building of tensions between Native Americans and whites. The stories “Red Convertible” and “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem,” share the similar threads of racial profiling, racism, and the harsher treatment of Native Americans compared to the treatment of whites in the film “Frozen River.”
Sherman Alexie is another Native American writer in the late 20th century who gave the real truth about Native American life. His most famous story “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” is riddled with racial tensions as seen through the Native American eyes. When the main character, Jackson, discovers his grandmother’s regalia at a pawnshop, he feels that his identity was stolen from white people and is forced to come up with $1,000 to pay for his identity back. This situation mirrors their reality: the Native American people have to pay for their mistreatment. Jackson felt that the best solution would be to give non-Natives the silent treatment as it prevented fights and arguing. He keeps his opinions about white people to himself but feels a very strong negative way towards them. This is seen when Jackson’s grandmother is diagnosed with cancer and her family believes that she got the cancer from the uranium plant. The plant sits next to the reservation the family was forced to live on. They also believed that she might have gotten cancer directly from the white people themselves. This is in reference to when Columbus came to America and exposed Native people to a multitude of diseases which killed many, many people.
One poignant scene where racial tensions are powerfully displayed is when Officer Williams picks up Jackson at the bar and Officer Williams says,
“'You Indians. How the hell do you laugh so much? I just picked your ass off the railroad tracks, and you're making jokes. Why the hell do you do that?” and Jackson says “The two funniest tribes I've ever been around are Indians and Jews, so I guess that says something about the inherent humor of genocide” (Alexie, 2380).
This is such an important conversation because white people care about the Holocaust and the persecution of Jews since they were, for a large majority, white people; but when the same thing happens to Native Americans, Western civilization does not care and turns a blind eye to this persecution because they don’t fit into their culture. Linking Native Americans to Jewish persecution through humor makes light of something so tragic. It calls attention to the mistreatment of minorities by Westerners, according to literary critic Nancy Peterson, author of “if I were Jewish, how Would I Mourn the Dead?”
Another scene that shows the extreme racial tensions is the story of the Maori soldier in the war. Jackson’s grandmother was a wartime nurse who took care of a Maori soldier about to have his legs amputated. He says to Jackson’s grandmother “It’s funny isn’t it..how we brown people are killing other brown people so white people will remain free.” (Alexie, 2375) This is important because it shows how white people would much rather mistreat minorities and force them into fighting their wars so that they don’t have to sacrifice themselves. This inevitably creates more racial tension between Native Americans and white people.
The ending to “The Red Convertible” is made much more tragic by Henry killing himself to rid his life of white influence. However, “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” ends much happier with Jackson getting his grandmother’s regalia back at no cost and a part of his identity has been returned to him. He says to the pawnbroker, “do you know how many good men live in this world? Too many to count!” (Alexie, 2385). These two stories show that there are a multitude of paths and possibilities but in the end, the different end scenes represent that if a Native were to fight against the Western civilization, things would not end well. Henry fought against white influence and he killed himself, whereas Jackson does not decide to fight with the whites and he wins in the end, getting what he wanted.
“This is not a story of bonding. It’s a story of need” (Roger Ebert). This quote perfectly sums up the uneasy duo that headline the film “Frozen River.” The film follows two single, poor mothers who, in their resourcefulness and gritty personas, smuggle immigrants into the U.S from Canada through Mohawk territory. The Native American woman, Lila, and the white woman, Ray, represent and emulate the tension between their two races with their own racially charged interactions with each other and their outlooks on the world. The film showcases the two women barely tolerating each other merely because they need each other to make money and put food on the table. The film does not “pick sides” and say that one race has it worse or that one is more racist, the movie displays both sides’ ignorances and faults when it comes to dealing with each other. The hatred that each side has for each other seems to be ingrained in this upstate New York society with the first Native American woman Ray interacts with at a bingo parlor not allowing her to simply look into the game in progress to find her husband. Ray’s own son TJ also says at one point in the film that they need to “go down there and kick some Mohawk ass” (Frozen River). Even the first time Lila brings Ray to smuggle (by force), Lila’s Native American friend says quite simply “I don’t like whites Lila” (Frozen River), so it’s obvious that both races have stigmas attached to them.
The relationship between Ray and Lila begins in a tense state, and stays there for almost the entirety of the movie. They never grow closer or become more understanding of one another, they just know that they’re both in the same financial situation. Ray only shows true compassion at the very end of the film. The two characters meet because Ray finds Lila in possession of her old car (a Dodge Spirit) and follows her home in an attempt to repossess the vehicle. Right when Ray confronts Lila she automatically assumes that Lila stole the vehicle instead of finding it abandoned with the keys in it (Frozen River) like she actually did. This shows Ray’s reluctance to trust Lila and her preconceived notions of the Native American race. The two inevitably get into a debate over what territory is Mohawk and Lila undoubtedly states the divide between races by informing the audience that the Mohawk have their own police force and that the Native Americans have their own nation. Ray responds to both of these comments in an angered manner saying “This is New York state so give me my goddamned keys,” and “This isn’t a nation,” (Frozen River) in each situation. The police contribute a lot to the racism as well due to how they never stop Ray because she is white and seem much more suspicious of Lila smuggling than Ray. The state trooper stops Ray for a busted tail light and sees Lila with Ray and questions her, Ray labels Lila as her “kids babysitter,” a label the state trooper believes seeing as how his opinion of Native Americans is obviously very low. The trooper later informs Ray that she should “get a new babysitter” because Lila has been known to smuggle illegals across the border (Frozen River), he tells Ray all this without even suspecting that she’s in on the smuggling simply because of the color of her skin.
A big moment in the film that does not involve racism towards Native Americans, but directly affects Ray’s entire outlook involves a Pakistani couple the pair smuggle into America. The couple come with a bag and Ray’s immediate reaction is along the lines of “let’s hope they aren’t the blow us all up with them kind” (Frozen River). Ray is noticeably more tense driving the Pakistani couple across the border, and even tosses their bag out onto the frozen river saying it could be “poison gas or nuclear” (Frozen River). This directly illustrates the extreme racism that Ray exhibits towards muslims based on preconceived notions she has from outside sources, she just assumes all muslims are terrorists, or at least the Pakistani couple with a bag are. When Ray and Lila drop off the couple at the remote motel, they start panicking when Ray tells them they threw the bag because it was “too heavy.” Both the characters then learn that the couple’s baby was inside the bag and realizing their dire mistakes, the two rush to find the baby and return it safely. This is such an important moment in the film, because it is a massive turning point for Ray’s character. Up until this point in the movie, nothing had happened to her that made her question every belief she had. This moment with the Pakistani couple and their baby, is what makes Ray start to think that maybe everything she believes isn’t right, even what she believes about Native Americans.
The ending of the film is when both characters show sympathy for one another, as they both finally realize the true divide between their races. In the end, Ray and Lila get chased into Mohawk territory by the state trooper which results in the trooper demanding that the reservation gives up one of the smugglers. One of Lila’s family members tells her that if she goes in to jail she’ll be away for a very long time whereas Ray will only be in for a few months to a year at the most. In her moment of compassion, Ray realizes the racism that would put Lila away forever and steps up to take the fall for Lila. Ray even says out loud that she’s “white with a clean record” and that she’ll be out soon (Frozen River). It’s a moment where both the characters not only understand each other, they also understand the society they live in and how unfair it can be. It’s a truly touching, yet sad moment that ends the film not in an unfortunate place, but in a place where everyone has learned about their fellow man.
While many Americans feel that since the Trail of Tears, the exploitation of Native Americans has been since put to rest, this is simply not the case. Racial tensions between white people and the Natives is extremely relevant in today’s society. The stories of Jackson, Henry, Lila, and Ray show readers the tension and racism between Native Americans and white people throughout the ages. It is obvious that the stories “Red Convertible” and “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem,” share the similar threads of racial profiling, racism, and the marginally worse treatment of Native Americans compared to whites with the film “Frozen River.” The audience sees this subtly and more directly in each piece of work thanks to the characters and varying views that inhabit each world. These characters offer so much insight into the true Native American life as seen through Jackson and how white culture negatively affects minority groups as seen through Henry and Lyman. Ray and Lila show how preconceptions can twist our views of one another and make interactions tense. Without these characters, white people today would not be aware of the scrutiny that Native Americans face in today’s society.