Sherman Alexie Indian Education Summary

Sherman Alexie is an accomplished author who describes the lives of Native Americans through his writing. Due to his heritage and upbringing, he knows the struggles that Native Americans face because he also has experienced it. Alexie was born on October 7, 1966, in a reservation adjacent to Spokane, Washington. His mother, like Alexie, is a member the Spokane tribe, but his father is from the nearby Coeur d’Alene tribe in Idaho. Unfortunately, Alexie was born with congenital hydrocephalus, a condition in which the body cannot drain excess brain fluid. Not long after, he had to have corrective surgery at only six months old to prevent further damage to his brain. However, while the operation did not have an impact on his learning capabilities,

seizures were one of the harsh side effects he suffered in childhood. Due to his passion for writing at an early age, Alexie continually endured bullying and ridicule for reading white authors. Eventually, he left the reservation in the pursuit of better education not available on the tribal reservation. Using his experiences, Alexie published The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian winning him a National Book Award in the category of Young People’s Literature. Alexie has since expanded his writing into other mediums earning global recognition for his films, short stories, and novels.
How does an individual grow and adapt to changing circumstances?

In the story “Indian Education,” Victor highlights vital events in each grade level throughout his education from elementary to high school. During the first grade, Victor was a passive child who was the target of insults and injury. He elaborates, “my Indian name was Junior Falls Down. Sometimes it was Bloody Nose or Steal-His-Lunch.” But eventually, “the little warrior in me roared to life” and “knocked Frenchy to the ground” marking the first time he stood up for himself. As time went on, he faced the same pushback from teachers. On one occasion, a teacher gave him spelling test designed for older students and made him eat the test after answering correctly. The following year was measurable as well. When in the fourth grade, Mr. Schluter encourages him to become a doctor to give back to the community. However, his father begins to drink every day, and, consequently, his family drifts further apart. Then Victor played basketball for the first time, and he loved it despite missing the shot. At the same time, he states, “my cousin Steven Ford sniffed rubber cement” pointing out the choices his peers made. Then he met his first best friend, Randy, who unlike himself, came from outside reservation giving him an insight into the white world. At the time of his first kiss, Victor decides to leave as he describes, “I was saying good-bye to my tribe, to all the Indian girls and women I might have loved, to all the Indian men who might have called me cousin, even brother.” As a result, members of his tribe refused to speak to him after he left. Unfortunately, he and his mother did not have much money for necessities. Alexie recalls going home to his mother who stood in line for food. He conveys, “We carried them home, happy to have food…” implying not having enough food to eat every day. During a high school dance, Alexie blacks out due to his health. Immediately, teachers chalk it up to alcoholism because

he is an Indian, and, of course, Indians are alcoholics. By the time of his driver’s test, an Indian, Wally Jim, commits suicide. When questioned as to why Wally killed himself, Alexie thinks of his people’s history and treatment, yet he said he did not know. Bitterly, Victor recalls he was the only one on the team, referred to as the Indians, who was an actual Indian. After losing the against “the best team in the state,” the newspaper reported that the “INDIANS LOSE AGAIN” reminding him of suffering Indians suffered. At the end of his high school education, the effort in his studies paid off. He remembers, “ I stand as the school-board chairman recites my awards and accomplishments, and scholarships.” Finally, Victor reveals that his peers at the reservation high school alcoholics, like most of the tribe.
What are some of the opinions Alexie has as a Native American? In an interview “Sherman Alexie on Living Outside Borders” on Moyers & Company , the host Bill Moyers asks about Alexie his life as an Indian both on and off the reservation. Due to his heritage and residency in the United States, Alexie lives in between two different worlds as a Native and an American. At first, he explains, “I was taught by my elders, my parents that it was a bad, dangerous place to be.” However, he soon realized that “ it was pretty magical” and he could “could be in a room full of Indians and non-Indians” without struggle. Furthermore, people of other cultures assume he as a member of their group based on his appearance alone. When comparing his past and present, he says, “I grew up in a monoculture. We did a family tree in six grade on the rez, and everybody was related” highlighting how isolated the tribe was. Around the time he left the reservation to go to high school, he realized that he became a first generation indigenous immigrant. Due to low influence, Indians do not have the same voice as other minorities do and thus any concerns or problems are treated as a non-issue. To demonstrate, Alexie points out the mascot used by the Cleveland Indians is not treated the way other mascots were. He explains, “If you look at Chief Wahoo on their hats and put Sambo next him it’s the same thing. You could never have Sambo anymore.” As a result, Americans, he says, do not think the mascot is a problem because Indian culture is “placed in the past,” or is “only viewed through casinos.” However, not aspects of Indian culture is positive. Alexie states tribalism in Indian culture is “us vs. them” just like how politics can be tribal. He notes that “the end game tribalism is flying planes into buildings,” and thus he has since makes a conscious effort to remain “black and white thinking.”