The
Absolutely
True Diary of
a Part-Time
Indian
Lindsay Peifer and Roxanne Maxam
Sherman Joseph
Alexie, Jr.
October 7, 1966-
Biographical Info
Spokane/Coeur d'Alene
 Born on Spokane Indian Reservation
in Wellpinit, WA
 Born with hydrocephalus
 Suffered from seizures as a child
 Read Grapes of Wrath by age 5

Education
Decided to transfer to Reardon when
he saw his mother’s maiden name in
his book at the reservation school
 Attended Gonzaga University on a
scholarship
 Transferred to Washington State
University

Loves
Wife, Diane Tomhave, who is of
Hidatsa, Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi
heritage
 Two sons: Joseph and David
 Basketball: playing and watching

Prolific Author
Novels, Poetry, Essays, Screenplays

Alexie is currently working on his second
young adult novel,
Radioactive Love Song
Official Sherman Alexie Website
http://www.fallsapart.com/index.html
Video of Alexie reading an excerpt from book:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwiQb8OQ6dY
Illustrator


Ellen Forney
Official Website:
http://ellenforney.com/index.html
American Indian Literature
Notes from a Carol Miller lecture
American Indian Literary
Tradition: Importance of
Literature

For native people:




Tool to ensure survival
The power of self-representation: telling
our own stories, speaking for ourselves
Combat the “new native” stereotype
Oral, and not print narratives, grounded in
functionality, usefulness, and ACTIVISM
Problematic Identity


Reiterates issues of “victim-hood” and
“doomed Indianness”
Look to cultural continuance and activism
instead

Example: In Ceremony: Tayo’s rejection of
internalized guilt and reintegrated into
community
Converging Themes

Rejecting the ideology of the vanishing
Indian and internalized guilt


Examples: Fleur in Tracks, Solar Storms,
Ceremony, Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in
Heaven.
Emphasis upon individual in relation to
community, rather than the personal

Example: Deloria’s “scheme of life that
worked”
More Converging Themes


Rejecting dysfunctional contemporary American
Indian lives, emphasizing the importance of cultural
continuance, and asserting Native sovereignty
Focus on the exceptional individual as hero, selfreliance, Huck Finn—versus the community as
central to the telling in American Indian literature,
the disintegration and the restoration of
community, de-center the notion of individual
Why do American Indians need
to tell the story?

We are all under the sacred hoop, but so much
silencing and damage has been done so it is
very important for the inside voice to be heard,
principal truths about recovery, authenticity,
hard work, one needs to be culturally informed,
indigenous aesthetics discovered by listening to
what American Indians say about indigenous
aesthetics, we are only explorers in this cultural
terrain—go against the terrible history of actions
placed upon American Indians
Why do Native writers confirm the
bad things people say about
American Indians?

Native writers would be remiss by turning a blind
eye to the 500 years of colonial power, naïve to
ignore the problems that have occurred in the
community, careful reading explains or mediates
those scenes; they are writing about those things
to explain and understand the motivation of a
Native person, by end of story there is a turn away
from dark realities to a more hopeful outcome,
community is putting itself back together, Native
people get to talk about these things because they
would be irresponsible not to.
Resources


Teaching Alexie Teacher Discussion Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teaching_alexie/
Discussion of the book being banned:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/teaching_alexie/
message/29

Book was banned in Crook County, Oregon because it
was deemed as inappropriate for 14-year olds to
read.
Reviews




Powell’s Book Review:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780316013680
School Library Journal review:
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/8
50019885.html
NPR review:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14871
881
NYTimes Book Review:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/Barcott3t.html
Suggested Reading







Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative by
Ignatia Broker
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
Morning Girl by Michael Dorris
Miko Kings: An Indian Baseball Story by LeAnne
Howe
Red Earth: A Vietnam warrior’s journey by Philip
H. Red Eagle
Helpful Resources



American Indian Quarterly
Studies in American Literature (SAIL)
Wicazo sa (Red Pencil Journal)
Discussion