The Stoic American Indian

The scene that stuck out most to me was the scene where
Victor tells Thomas that he’s not “Indian enough”. I kind of laughed at this
because they’re clearly, already Native American. Thomas has to “free his hair”
and look more stoic and mean. I immediately thought of the class discussion
where we talked about how Hollywood and the media have shaped actual Native
Americans into something they’re not. Grouping all the different cultures and
traditions into one stereotypical red-injun. Victor tells Thomas that he has to
look like he’s just come back from a buffalo hunt, to which Thomas responds
that their tribe never hunted buffalo instead they fished.
This
relates to The Absolutely True Diary
in that Arnold always thought that he had to “look tough” or people thought he
must’ve looked mean. He’s the one Native American that has to stand up to this
entire school of white-men. Early on in the book Arnold describes himself as this
too skinny, big headed, thick glasses wearing Indian. He made fun of himself;
this creates extra humor because when we think of a Native American person we do
in fact see the stoic Indian, with the feather headdress and buckskin chaps. It’s
ironic to think that Native Americans also picture themselves in such a way.

Terrence Straight