Common Themes In Jimi Hendrix's Reservation Blues

In Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie, those perceived to be outsiders are always denounced by others around them. Groups of the Spokane tribe view Coyote Springs as bad representation of the tribe. Others want to be them without their struggles, like Becky and Veronica; and still could care less about who they were as long as they produced what they wanted were record executives Wright and Sheridan. Yet the members of Coyote Springs still choose not to fall into the pressures of others. They are fiercely loyal to being themselves. This is also a common theme in Jimi Hendrix’s song, “If 6 was 9,” where Hendrix sings about how he will do what he wants and won’t try to be anyone else but himself.

Coyote Springs is a peculiar band. They play all types of music; from country, to rock, to blues. However, an old woman in the Spokane comes up to Thomas stating that “The Christians don’t like your devil’s music. The traditional don’t like your white man’s music.” (p 179). Rock music is supposedly devil’s music, as the genre is frequently associated with sex and drugs. It makes sense that those on the reservation harbor a resentment towards white people as they are stuck there because of the white men. Playing the devil’s music usually lets some infer that the band worships the devil. Playing the white

man’s music might be a sign of submissiveness towards their suffering, which ironically is the case for the tribe and not the band. This is seen in the passage on page 175 where Thomas listens to Robert Johnson’s singing while “the other Spokanes slowly stretched their arms and legs, walked outside, and would not speak about any of it. They buried all of their pain and anger deep inside, and it festered, then blossomed, and the bloom grew quickly.” The band uses the Blues as a mean to channel their anger into, while the others turn to drink and sex in order to cope with their current situation. Ironically, they became what they despised the most in Coyote Springs’ music.

Becky and Veronica however, would love to be Spokanes.

They think being Native Americans mean having “things we don’t have. You live at peace with the earth. You are so wise.” (p.168) This is an exotification of Native Americans, believing they live in peace and pureness while the outside world is dark and full of evil. This is so far from the truth as the Native Americans must deal with poverty and pain inflicted to them by the American government. They could never be part of the Spokane tribe, much less part of Coyote Springs. Purely wanting to be part of a group and not actively understanding their struggles creates this idealistic and incorrect view of the

Indians.