Welcome to Day 2: April 17
CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN FILM
AND FICTION
Susan Power (born 1961) and Sherman Alexie (born 1966)
Morning Session:
Resources for Teaching Native
American Studies
Part I: Resources for Teaching
Native American Studies

Additional Handout Material
• Reservation areas (map)
• Tribal areas (map)
• Traditional Cultural Areas
Timelines
 Legal Status of Native Americans

TIMELINE I
THE PERIOD BEFORE COLUMBUS
•
40,000-13,000 B.C: ICE AGE
The migration of peoples from Siberia to Alaska over a land bridge

13,000 B.C.-1492 A.D.
Native Americans establish communities in all of N & S America

1006 A.D. Vikings travel to ”Vinland”

By 1492 there were:
•
Approx 1 million Natives in N America (several million in S)
•
21 language groups (200 separate languages)
•
Several hundred different tribes
TIMELINE II
THE PERIOD AFTER COLUMBUS
 1492-1600 Spanish Conquest of S America
 1600s European Colonization of N America
 1700s
 1754 French and Indian War
 1763 Royal Proclamation Establishing ”Indian Territory”
 1775-1783: The American Revolution
 1800s
 1803 Lousiana Purchase
 1830 Indian Removal Act (S East)
 1862 Homestead Act (West and N West)
 1865-1890: The Indian Wars/ Plains Indians
TIMELINE III
THE 20TH CENTURY
 1924: Native Americans Become U.S. Citizens
 Native American participation in WWI, WWII, Vietnam etc
 From the 1960s: period of Native American political activism
Blossoming of Contemporary Native American Literature
 1961: Susan Power born
 1966: Sherman Alexie born
 1990: Census registered nearly 2 million Native Americans
 2000: Census registered 4.1 million Native Americans
the dramatic leap in demographic numbers has to do with registration
methods, etc
AMERICAN INDIANS: LEGAL STATUS IN THE U.S.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Powers include: maintaining the armed forces, international affairs, regulation of interstate
commerce, coining money, punishment of federal crimes, Civil Rights protection, etc.
Bureau of Indian Affairs
(BIA)
Established in 1824. Provides:
educational and social services,
funding and assistance in all Indian
affairs.
State Governments
Powers Include: marriage and
divorce laws, regulation of
alchohol and gambling, creation
of local govts., courts, schools,
local taxing, punishment of
minor crimes.
Tribal/Reservation Governments
All laws which are not
federal do not apply to reservations.
Administration of: local elections,
and courts, exploitation of
natural resources, hunting and
fishing rights, etc.
Local Governments
Administration of: local
elections and courts, local
taxing, etc.
INDIAN CITIZENS
ALL OTHER CITIZENS
Part II: Introduction to Susan Power
and The Grass Dancer
I. WAYS OF READING THE NOVEL:
 As a postmodern novel: (consider topics we have previously
discussed)
 As a novel that incorporates elements of magic realism
 As an indigenous/ Native American novel.
II. Narrative techniques in The Grass Dancer
 Power employs multiple narrative techniques in this novel; reasons for
her choices may be connected to the
– genesis of the novel (written as short stories)
– world view in the novel (communal history and cyclical time more
important than the individual character or linear time)
– postmodern issues
Each chapter balances the narration between the chapter’s narrator
(either first or third person), and various focalizers (characters whose
point of view we follow)
III. Characters/Generations

Susan Power’s The Grass Dancer
Generations of Characters: Charlene’s Family
Chapter 1: 1981
Charlene Thunder
Martin Lundstrom
Crystal Thunder
grandfather
grandmother
Clive Broken Rope
Mercury Thunder
great grandparents
great grandparents
great grandparents
great grandparents
great great
grandparents
great great
grandparents
great great
grandparents
RED DRESS
and her sister
Susan Power’s The Grass Dancer
Generations of Characters: Harley’s Family
Prologue: Death of Harley's Father
Harley Wind Soldier
Lydia
Calvin Wind Soldier
grandfather
grandmother
grandfather
Margaret Many Wounds
died in 1969
great grandparents
great grandparents
great grandparents
great grandparents
Ghost Horse
great great
grandparents
great great
grandparents
great great
grandparents
and his brother
Part III: Sherman Alexie and Smoke Signals
OVERVIEW OF TOPICS





Introduction to Sherman Alexie
The story collection: The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Fistfight in Heaven (1993)
Resources on individual stories
Readings from individual stories
(”Because My Father....” and ”This Is What it
means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”)
The Film Smoke Signals
STUDY RESOURCES: “BECAUSE MY FATHER ALWAYS SAID HE
WAS THE ONLY INDIAN TO SEE JIMI HENDRIX PLAY ‘THE
STAR-SPANGLED BANNER’ AT WOODSTOCK” (PDF FILE)
Introduction
Author Biography
Plot Summary
Characters
Themes
Style
Historical Context
Critical Overview
Criticism (Three Critical Essays)
Media Adaptations
Topics for Further Study
Compare & Contrast
What Do I Read Next?
Further Reading
Sources
Copyright Information
How to Cite the Story
Web links





http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/power_s
usan.html (Susan Power)
http://www.fallsapart.com/
(Sherman Alexie’s home page)
http://www.bookrags.com/account/
(online literary resources)
http://www.spraksikring.com/ (pdf files, etc)
http://uit.no/humfak/tilsette/54
(Sandra’s office webpage)
Smoke Signals 1998
All Native-American Production
 Intertextual Film Genres:

–
–
–
–
The Western (esp. John Wayne Movies)
Cowboy-and-Indian Movies
The Road Movie
The TV series “The Lone Ranger”
Bill from the TV Show
Smoke Signals
readings from adapted stories




“BECAUSE MY FATHER ALWAYS SAID HE WAS THE ONLY
INDIAN TO SEE JIMI HENDRIX PLAY ‘THE STAR-SPANGLED
BANNER’ AT WOODSTOCK”
“This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona”
Main characters: two young men: the “cool”
Victor and the “nerdy” Thomas Builds-the-Fire
Plot/themes: reservation life; the characters’
childhood and loss of parents; journey to Phoenix
after the death of Victor’s father