“The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian” is a coming of age book by author Sherman Alexie, that describes the story of a young man at a Spokane Indian Reservation. Arnold Spirit Jr, otherwise known as Junior, is a young cartoonist who decides to break from the norm of his reservation and attend an all white high school 22 miles away from the reservation. This decision serves as the basis for the rest of the novel – as he navigates balancing his life at the Indian reserve, and assimilating appropriately with his peers at the new school.
The book starts off with a description of the protagonist – Junior, who was born with various mental and physical disabilities. Junior immediately describes himself as a “retard” and uses it to describe why and how the kids on the reservation treat him poorly. During his time on the reservation, he outright shares of his family’s poverty, of his disability, and of his encounters with the other males on the reservation as their punching bag. It is established in the beginning that the reservation itself is extremely poor, highlighted by the event of Junior’s dog, Oscar, being shot to death as his family is unable to afford the required veterinary care to help him. The audience is introduced to the idea of generational poverty – which Junior best describes as “My parents came from poor people, who came from poor people, who came from poor people, all the way back to the very first poor people. (Alexie, 2007)” This passage in particular highlights the extremely vicious cycle of poverty that Indian in reservations face. For example, according to the Bureau of Labor, in 2016 the Native American population had the highest rates of unemployment when compared to any other ethnic group in the United States (BLS, 2017). This also showcases a harsh truth about reservation schools and the education they receive. According to a study done by the Civil Rights Project, Native Americans had a less than 50% graduation rate when compared to their Non Native American counterparts (Engle, 2010). This cycle of poverty that Native Americans are seemingly unable to get out of, coupled with a lack of job opportunities and the rampant alcoholism that is so prevalent in the Spokane foundation serve not only as plot points for the book, but also are harsh realities for many Native Americans living on reservations all around the world. Junior serves as a vessel for physically and economically impoverished minority character – the epitome of all things that Native Americans could suffer.
Junior having to study geometry from a book owned by his mother thirty years ago, because the reservation school is unable to afford new books serves as the catalyst for his move to Reardan – an all white school 22 miles away. There is a shift in narrative at this point as Junior is scared that his “fellow tribal members are going to torture me.” Even though the Native Americans are the minority group, Junior leaving the reservation signifies a shift from the norm that is likely to be met with resistance. The dominant group in this narrative are established to be the white people – best signified with Junior asking his parents who has the most hope, and them responding together “white people. (Alexie, 2007)”. The expected power dynamic is established early on in the book, however Alexie spins it to be such where Junior feels more accepted and included by his white peers rather than his reservation mates. There is a sketch that is shown in the book which compares the outfit of the white student at Reardan versus the outfit of an Indian reservation student. There is once again a highlight between the stark difference in income of the two groups. There are various white characters who embody the dominant group personalities but in different ways. There is Gordy – who serves as the polar opposite of Junior’s best friend from home – Rowdy. There is also Roger who serves as the intial bully, but Junior’s fighting leads to a mutual level of respect between the two and even friendship and trust. Lastly, there is Penelope, who serves as Junior’s love interest. While Junior starts out feeling invisible and accepted, he soon becomes one of the most popular kids in school, and is treated with respect, something which never happened at the reservation.
This book provides an interesting view of various group dynamics at play. There is the relationship between Junior and his reservations peers versus Junior and his Reardan peers. There is a contrast between Junior’s relationship with his parents and the Reardan children with their parents. There is the relationship of his family with each other and the relationship of Junior with other members of the reservation. Each relationship plays its part in building a larger narrative of reservation life and its contrast to the lives of white people. The greatest difference perhaps, is the treatment of Junior by his own peers versus by Reardan children. Junior is consistently bullied on the reservation, a matter that is exacerbated by his decision to attend Reardan. When he first attends Reardan, his bully turned friend mocks him by claiming that Indians are proof that black people have intercourse with buffaloes (Alexie, 2007). This statement alone packs a lot of racist intention – Roger uses the term “ni**er” which is the most offensive method of addressing a black person – and reduces Native American to less than human due to buffalos. Even before this statement, the white kids at Reardan would call Junior “chief”, “Tonto” or “Squaw Boy”. “Squaw Boy” is an extremely offensive term that refers to Native Indian women as lesser sexual counterparts and thus used as a demeaning insult to Junior. This is also an instance of “ideological racism” at play – “the belief that some races are superior to others due to biological or intellectual factors. (SOCWK 1140, 2018)” However, when Junior fights back at Reardan he is left alone and given respect, as no one bullies him anymore. The same is not true at the reservation – if Junior fights back he isn’t left alone. Reservation culture and Reardan culture are different in that sense – Reardan has a clear social hierarchy but if you earn your place you are respected as such and not bothered. The reservation on the other hand is different and it seems as if Junior would have to fight his entire life to be accepted. Both groups serve as the dominant group but for different purposes. The power dynamics between the three groups come to a head at the inter school basketball games. It shows a struggle for Junior between his Native Indian identity, and his identity as a normal Reardan child. When Junior wins the second basketball game against his former school, he feels guilty and cries as he knows that the Indian children playing came from nothing and are going back to nothing.
Another huge part of the novel is the culture of the Native Americans which they have attempted to keep alive despite all the negative instances at the reservation. There are various instances of them doing so – celebrating powwow over Labor Day weekend, celebrating Thanksgiving (where Junior makes a subtle comment about why Indians celebrate the holiday and his dad responds to pay thanks that the whites didn’t kill them), and sadly, when Junior’s grandmother, uncle and sister pass away. The most prevalent of all these are when Junior’s grandmother passes away. She was a well known person and over 2000 people showed up her wake. There is a glimpse of how vibrant Native American history is when a white billionaire shows up and attempts to return the grandmother’s old powwow dancing outfit. He is immediately corrected by Junior’s mother who quickly informs him that the dress did not belong to her mother, did not even look Spokane and could have been “Sioux….maybe Ogala.. (Alexie, 2007). This can be classified as a part of “material culture”, where one piece of clothing can signify whether it belongs in a certain group or not. When the grandmother passes away, the entire tribe comes together, with many of Junior’s old bullies letting him grieve in peace, signifying a solidarity in culture and tradition that is larger than their contempt for him leaving for Reardan.
Junior’s grandmother is killed by a drunk driver, his sister dies in a house fire where she is too drunk to help herself, and his father’s best friend is killed over a drunk brawl. Alcoholism seems to be an inescapable and undeniable part of life at the reservation. Junior mentions that in his short fourteen years he has been to forty two funerals, which is monumental compared to his white classmates having attended maybe five or six. This is again, a harsh reality for many Native Americans. According to an article, “Native Americans suffer from the highest drug and alcohol abuse rates amongst minority groups….due to economic disadvantage…cultural loss…history of abuse..” (Guarnotta, 2018) The economic disadvantage is prevalent in this book as Junior often mentions how he goes hours without eating, and the event at the pancake house post the Winter Formal, where he revealed to Roger and Penelope that he was poor. This also has a negative effect on his father who drinks a lot, and leaves his family on big holidays out of guilt due to lack of money. The history of abuse that is mentioned is touched upon by Junior’s conversation with Mr. P towards the beginning of the book. He mentions “….We were supposed to make you give up being Indians….we weren’t trying to kill Indians…just Indian culture. (Alexie, 2007)” This was of course, an act of extreme discrimination and showed the long lasting effects that racism and discrimination had on both the abusers and the abused. The dialogue between Mr. P and Junior serves as a harsh reminder of what Native Americans went through and how that generational impact has adverse effects on their careers, personalities and family lives. Another part of this trauma is highlighted by the Indians right to vote being denied into the mid 20th century. States refused to let Native Indians vote and justified the denial of the Fifteenth Amendment by claiming that they “might be U.S. citizens but were not state residents because they lived on reservations. (OpenStax, n.d.)
Mr. P’s conversation with Junior is his repentance for supporting discrimination and convincing Junior to attend school at Reardan is Junior’s way of ensuring he is able to leave the reservation and isn’t stuck in the cycle of endless poverty and alcoholism. This serves as perhaps the greatest catalyst to change that will ensure Junior and his future generations don’t die of alcoholism like his various reservations friends. Leaving for Reardan is an act of rebellion but also an act of preservation. Junior switches schools but stays true to his roots and allows for both his Native Indian and American identity to be a part of him. His next best steps would include actually spreading awareness of his culture to his white friends at Reardan- a task that doesn’t seem fully impossible as they are kind and accommodating of everything he tells them. While the Reardan parents (especially Penelope’s) are extremely racist, Junior can change the stigma with the upcoming generation. Similarly, in real life, it is important for Native American children to ensure that not only are they breaking the cycle of poverty from their reservations and families but also educating and erasing the stigma around Native Indians. This is impossible without the assistance of the dominant group and should be a collaborative effort between Indian youth and helpful dominant groups.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learning about the state of Native Americans on reservations. The behavior of the dominant groups and minority groups was not what I expected it to be. I learned that minority groups could also project their negativity and inherited trauma on each other purely through violence. Despite all the bullying, the Indians would stick together when it come to the death of family members and grieved as a community. The dominant white group in this book were layered in character, being neither wholly good nor bad and showing potential for change. There were the racist parents, the impressionable teenagers who learned otherwise, and the teachers who had done wrong but now knew better.
Overall, this book served as a nuanced and well written fictionalized retelling of many Native Indian realities at reservations. Both the dominant and minority groups were not presented in a totally positive or negative manner. Junior’s experiences and his stories were reminders of the daily racism, abuse and generations of abuse, trauma and alcoholism that is being dealt with by Native Americans – and the necessary actions that Junior took to break out of this cycle. Indian culture is an integral part of their society, as is coming together for communal events to show solidarity. If combined together, and if Indian youth were to use their numbers in collaboration with other helpful groups, they would be able to hopefully break the cycle of poverty and alcoholism for employment and success.