Journal 5
Humanity is consumed with the past. Everyone worries about whether or not their life choices were the right ones. Should I have gone to that college? Should I have gotten that degree? Should I have accepted that promotion? Could I have handled that situation better? These questions and others like these are common thoughts among us all. The author Sherman Alexie believes that Native Americans spend too much time focusing on their culture’s past instead of accepting what happened: the only way for people to move forwards and evolve is by learning from these erstwhile experiences and integrating them into the present.
In one of Sherman Alexie’s stories, “A Drug Called Tradition,” he states, “Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you, and your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you... What you have to do is keep moving, keep walking in step with your skeletons. They ain’t ever going to leave you, so you don’t have to worry about that” (Alexie 21). I believe that Alexie is saying that true harmony in life is achieved by integrating past traditions into modern-day life. This is shown by the Native American boys in his story, who relived their past cultural traditions by taking this “magic” drug. How can one keep these sacred and ancient customs alive in today’s world? You can never relive the skeletons of your past, only focus on creating ones for your future. Alexie feels that acknowledging past trauma leads to the continued evolution of a culture and allows one to help others in times of need.
Another example of Alexie’s message is in his story, “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix,” Arizona. Victor, the protagonist, has just experienced the death of his father, but he doesn’t have enough money to travel off the reservation to retrieve the body. Out of the blue, a past school friend-turned-enemy named Thomas offers to fund the expedition. At first, Victor refuses Thomas’s offer but eventually accepts due to his need for the money. A long time ago, the two were friends, but Victor got into a fight with Thomas, ending their friendship. Victor is baffled that Thomas would be willing to help him in his time of need because Victor used to tease and harass Thomas. When Victor attempts to apologize, Thomas simply says, “Oh, it was nothing. We were just kids and you were drunk” (67). In my opinion, Thomas has truly mastered his ability to accept his skeletons. He is able to look over his past grudges in order to help those in need.
Robert Bennett expands on Alexie’s idea of Skeletons in his personal essay, “Why Didn’t You Teach Me?”, by speaking about when you ignore your past, you ignore who you are. He talks of how his grandmother refused to educate him about his native Lakota culture,
"I tried to ask her to tell more, but she did not want to continue. ‘No, they are all dead and gone and I don’t want to talk about it anymore,’ she said. I never asked anything more about it. I was angry, but not at her. I understood that Gramma wanted us to learn the white ways to keep us from experiencing her ordeal. I was angry that “civilization” had denied me the freedom to be what I was, a Lakota. I look in the mirror and there it is, my Indianness. Yet I did everything in such a “white” manner that my white friends and others would distinguish me as the good Indian: and say, ‘You’re not like them.’ This acceptance is exactly what my gramma wanted for me (Garrod & Larimore 138)."
Bennett’s grandmother went to a Catholic missionary school where she was punished for speaking Lakota. These were the skeletons of her past, which invoked such fear in her that she felt that by not teaching her grandson about his cultural heritage, he would be protected from the same pain she felt. In reality, this left Bennett with a gap in his persona. He felt like he didn’t know who he was or where he came from. Thus Bennett tried to get across that by accepting the past, you are able to create a well-rounded understanding of one’s cultural heritage.
Reading these stories has not only brought to light this concept of skeletons, but also put into perspective how Native Americans attempt to preserve their own cultural practices in light of American cultural assimilation. Modern Native Americans (and all people in general) need to understand that to live in the present and to create the future, you have to acknowledge and learn from the past.
In one of Sherman Alexie’s stories, “A Drug Called Tradition,” he states, “Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you, and your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you... What you have to do is keep moving, keep walking in step with your skeletons. They ain’t ever going to leave you, so you don’t have to worry about that” (Alexie 21). I believe that Alexie is saying that true harmony in life is achieved by integrating past traditions into modern-day life. This is shown by the Native American boys in his story, who relived their past cultural traditions by taking this “magic” drug. How can one keep these sacred and ancient customs alive in today’s world? You can never relive the skeletons of your past, only focus on creating ones for your future. Alexie feels that acknowledging past trauma leads to the continued evolution of a culture and allows one to help others in times of need.
Another example of Alexie’s message is in his story, “This is What it Means to Say Phoenix,” Arizona. Victor, the protagonist, has just experienced the death of his father, but he doesn’t have enough money to travel off the reservation to retrieve the body. Out of the blue, a past school friend-turned-enemy named Thomas offers to fund the expedition. At first, Victor refuses Thomas’s offer but eventually accepts due to his need for the money. A long time ago, the two were friends, but Victor got into a fight with Thomas, ending their friendship. Victor is baffled that Thomas would be willing to help him in his time of need because Victor used to tease and harass Thomas. When Victor attempts to apologize, Thomas simply says, “Oh, it was nothing. We were just kids and you were drunk” (67). In my opinion, Thomas has truly mastered his ability to accept his skeletons. He is able to look over his past grudges in order to help those in need.
Robert Bennett expands on Alexie’s idea of Skeletons in his personal essay, “Why Didn’t You Teach Me?”, by speaking about when you ignore your past, you ignore who you are. He talks of how his grandmother refused to educate him about his native Lakota culture,
"I tried to ask her to tell more, but she did not want to continue. ‘No, they are all dead and gone and I don’t want to talk about it anymore,’ she said. I never asked anything more about it. I was angry, but not at her. I understood that Gramma wanted us to learn the white ways to keep us from experiencing her ordeal. I was angry that “civilization” had denied me the freedom to be what I was, a Lakota. I look in the mirror and there it is, my Indianness. Yet I did everything in such a “white” manner that my white friends and others would distinguish me as the good Indian: and say, ‘You’re not like them.’ This acceptance is exactly what my gramma wanted for me (Garrod & Larimore 138)."
Bennett’s grandmother went to a Catholic missionary school where she was punished for speaking Lakota. These were the skeletons of her past, which invoked such fear in her that she felt that by not teaching her grandson about his cultural heritage, he would be protected from the same pain she felt. In reality, this left Bennett with a gap in his persona. He felt like he didn’t know who he was or where he came from. Thus Bennett tried to get across that by accepting the past, you are able to create a well-rounded understanding of one’s cultural heritage.
Reading these stories has not only brought to light this concept of skeletons, but also put into perspective how Native Americans attempt to preserve their own cultural practices in light of American cultural assimilation. Modern Native Americans (and all people in general) need to understand that to live in the present and to create the future, you have to acknowledge and learn from the past.