Native Americans

Today I came across the „Smoke Signals”, a movie directed by Chris Eyre and based on the short story "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" by Sherman Joseph Alexie. The story takes place in the Coeur D'Alene Indian Reservation in Plummer, Idaho. In 1978, Arnold Joseph saves baby Thomas from fire, but unfortunately he fails to save baby's parents. Arnold soon leaves his wife and son named Victor for 10 years until he dies. When Thomas hears about his death, he offers Victor funding for the trip to get Arnold's remains, but he has one condition - Thomas goes with him. Two boys hit the road.

That is only the outline of the story. What I want to focus on during my analysis, is how traditional beliefs and convictions influence lives of Native Americans.

First of all, Indians have no doubt that they are the only legitimate residents of American Continent and would prefer White people to never live there. This case is demonstrated in the morning radio news when the speaker says:
„Good morning, this is Randy Peone on KREZ Radio(...) Coeur D'Alene People our reservation is beautiful this morning. It's a good day to be INDIGENOUS, it's 45 degrees in the sun, it's 8 am INDIAN time in 1998(...)”

As we all know, there is no such thing as Indian time zone. Words indigenous and Indian are used by the speaker to highlight their pride of being real Natives, and to emphasize that they feel different and independent. In another scene, their attitude towards White people is strongly indicated. Victor remembers the conversation with his father about the Independence Day. Arnold asks his son if he feels independent and after that he says himself:„I'm feelin' independent. I'm feelin' extra magical today like I could make anything disappear. Houdini with braids you know? poof! Wave my hand and poof WHITE PEOPLE ARE GONE, GONE TO WHERE THEY BELONG(...).Wave my hand and THE RESERVATION IS GONE(...)”

Native Americans will always think about Whites as aliens on their soil and blame for placing them in reservations.

Secondly, traditional beliefs are deeply rooted in their culture. Thomas is very fascinated with tradition and enjoys showing it off. Once, he explains to Victor how he learnt about Arnold's death:„I heard it on the wind. I heard it from the birds. I felt it in the sunlight.”

It is essential for him to believe that it is about being in touch with nature and everything around, it is about knowing and understanding the world that surrounds.

The importance of the tradition is also indicated by the way people look – man as well as woman have long hair and usually wear them in braids, some of them wear hats with feather (association with a war bonnet) and colorful jewelery.

To sum up, it seems like history and tradition will always have an impact on people's lives and as every nation, society or tribe, Native Americans still preserve their customs in today's world.