Patricia Riley Adventures Of An Indian Princess

It is not uncommon for people of one culture to misunderstand people of another. Patricia Riley’s “Adventures of an Indian Princess” introduces this concept and its underlying causes. As she illustrates a day in the life of Arletta, a twelve year old adopted Cherokee Indian, Riley reveals the misinformed and disinterested nature of the Rapier family. These individuals accept the stereotypical portrayal of Indians in America and do not wish to delve deeper into Indian culture, to much of Arletta’s chagrin. “Adventures of an Indian Princess” conveys the message that although one may not be properly taught about another culture, typecasting in place of attempting to understand is not an acceptable alternative.

Riley attempts to show the reader

how little the Rapiers know about Indian culture through anecdotal examples of ignorance. It is clear from the beginning of the story that the Rapiers know essentially nothing about their newest family addition’s heritage. For example, the Rapiers make the collective decision to make a pit stop when they see a sign on the side of the road reading “Indian Trading Post” printed ironically in red, white and blue ink (Riley 135). The patriotic American design should be a clear indicator to the Rapiers that this site may not be a genuine Indian trading post, considering Native Americans and European explorers were not exactly great friends. However, the Rapiers do not pick up on this subtle hint; and despite having objections to the family outing, Arletta remains quite. Once at the trading post, Arletta is shocked to see that her family fails to even realize that the “Cherokee Indian” on display is simply a white man with his face painted a brown color. What makes it worse is the man himself cannot even differentiate between tribes; he appears to be wearing articles of clothing of Plains, Maidu and Chippewa Indian heritage, yet calls himself a Cherokee (Riley 137-138). Her new family’s lack of knowledge continues to surprise her when Mr. Rapier buys her several faux Indian props with which he expects her to pose for a picture. After he dresses her in them, Mrs. Rapier even exclaims that Arletta “’looks just like an Indian princess,’” as if she actually knows what an Indian princess looks like (Riley 139). Frustrated with her family’s blunder, Arletta removes the store-bought articles from her being as they begin to make her physically ill. After each incorrect cultural reference the Rapiers make, Riley directs the attention of the story to Arletta and her subdued responses to her new family’s ignorance. It is Arletta’s described reactions in the story that indicate just how shockingly little the Rapiers understand about Indian culture.
Although some of these mistakes seem rather obvious to the reader, Riley does make known that the sources from which the Rapiers have received their information regarding Indians does not always portray Native people accurately. She lists “old John Wayne movies and TV reruns of The Lone Ranger” as the sources for the Rapiers “sophisticated knowledge of Indian people” (Riley 136). These are Hollywood portrayals of Indians, made not to satisfy historical factuality, but consumer entertainment. Thus, the Rapiers only know about Indians what mainstream America has taught them in the hopes of receiving laughter and monetary compensation in return. Through her mentioning of illegitimate fountains of information, Riley removes some of the blame from the Rapier family, because they are a result of their environment.
What Riley does blame the Rapiers for is that, in addition to their overall lack of knowledge on the subject, the Rapiers show little to no interest in actually learning about Arletta’s culture. Although Arletta does admit to the family originally being rather curious about her culture, in the story Riley describes the Rapiers as often trying to tune out what Arletta says or ignoring her completely. After a while her family becomes tired of learning about Arletta’s background, so “they never [listen] when she [talks],” answering themselves all the questions they ask her (Riley 137). Of course they do so with the knowledge they have attained from Hollywood productions and commonplace stereotypes. The Rapiers simply give in to the prevalent typecasting of Indians in America rather than talking to their adopted daughter about what her culture means to her.
Arletta grows more and more aggravated as the story progresses until she reaches a breaking point.

She grows very tired of misinformed people telling her who she is and what her heritage means instead of asking her about it and accepting and appreciating her answer. In the beginning Arletta admits to feeling “compelled to play along” (Riley 137). At this point in the story Arletta is willing to let the Rapiers’ erroneous and insensitive comments slide. However, over time, Arletta is less tolerant of her new family’s chosen ignorance; she no longer plays along. She refuses to smile and say Mr. Rapier’s magic word “Cherokee” after he tells her to take a picture with the not-so-genuine Indian. By the end of the story, Arletta’s passive attitude vanishes and she finally speaks up for her background, although she does so indirectly. When asked by Mrs. Rapier if she is ashamed of herself for throwing up on the faux Indian souvenirs Mr. Rapier bought for her, Arletta plainly states “No ma’am, I’m not” (Riley 139). Arletta refuses to apologize for rejecting the Rapiers’ __ gifts, and symbolically their lack of knowledge and interest in her culture. Arletta’s growing, and finally culminating, frustration is how Riley illustrates how difficult it is for Arletta to live day in and day out with people who neither understand her culture, nor care

to.
As a whole, Patricia Riley’s story “Adventures of an Indian Princess” reveals the causes of the cultural rift between Americans and Native Indians living in this country.

Riley exposes a series of events that ultimately leaves Arletta extremely frustrated, and leaves the Rapiers as falsely educated at the end of the novel as they are at the beginning. The Rapiers are provided very little accurate information regarding Indians. Arletta passively accepts the stereotypes thrust upon her and chooses not to speak up about her culture; and when she does, the Rapiers choose not to listen. Based on the conclusion of the story, this system is clearly not effective. Riley’s work stresses the importance of Indians and others working together to rid society of cultural stereotypes and stereotype-induced frustrations. The story makes it clear that Arletta must be willing to talk about her culture, otherwise she cannot expect the Rapiers or anyone else to stop relying on Hollywood depictions or stereotypes to form their understanding of Indian culture. Riley’s story also makes it clear that, in order for Arletta’s attempts to be meaningful and effective, the Rapiers must be willing to listen to what she has to say about her cultural

background.