Sherman Alexie's Post-Colonial Theory

Application of Post-Colonial Theory

A group’s past experiences can greatly affect its members for many generations. These groups are often separated by race, gender, or religion. Native Americans have suffered one of the most immoral and inhumane treatments in history. Many books, short stories, autobiographies, and poems were written, often by Native Americans, about the unethical treatment and hardships that this group suffered. One example of a Native American author is Sherman Alexie and his book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian provides insight about what life is like on a reservation. Post-colonial theory can be applied to the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to explain the decline of the Native American

In the book Junior says; “All my white friends can count their deaths on one hand. I can count my fingers, toes, arms, legs, eyes, ears… and still not get close to my deaths. And you know what the worst part is? About 90 percent of the deaths have been because of alcohol” (Alexie 200). Colonialism may have been the cause of a mass amount of Native Americans dying in the past but the affect that it had on them is still causing preventable deaths. Misuse of alcohol affects not only the user but everybody around them, which is very evident in the

According to Alexie, “Reservations were meant to be prisons, you know? Indians were supposed to move onto reservations and die. We were meant to disappear” (Alexie 216). Many of these relocations killed thousands of Native Americans during the journey alone, and once they got there they were expected to remain there. The Native Americans were supposed to be left alone in their new section of land, but as soon as white people realized that there were desirable materials on that land they took the property back, once again causing quarreling between the two ethnic groups. Multiple sources also mention the exploitation of Native American lands by white people for their own personal gains. Szlemko, Wood, and Thurman state; “Minimal compensation [was given] to the Native American people” (441). This means that the Native Americans were swindled out of the actual amount of money they should have received from the industrial companies and the government to exploit their land. Gesa Mackenthun provides the example of weapons testing and development by saying; “Navajo Uranium is turned into weapons grade plutonium on Yakima land, then tested in a bomb on Shoshone land and then…the completed weapon is sited on Lakota land” (40). Mining of materials, such as Uranium and coal, can be and most often are harmful for the people living in the