Textbook Guides Teachers on Alexie and Racial Issues

Publication: The Missoulian
Date: September 24, 2008

Summary: Teachers are using Sherman Alexie in the Classroom, coauthored by Montana Writing Project Director Heather Bruce, to introduce the works of Alexie to students and help start discussions about Native American and racial issues.

Excerpt from Article

To help explain the racial complexities that permeate Sherman Alexie's work, a textbook for teachers, Sherman Alexie in the Classroom, was recently published to help educators explore Native Americana in modern times, stories often told by Alexie with an acerbic twist.

To wit, says Alexie: "I rooted for John Wayne – even though I knew he was going to kill his niece because she had been 'soiled' by the Indians. Hell, I rooted for John Wayne because I understood why he wanted to kill his niece. I hated those Indians just as much as John Wayne did."

So why would an Indian hate Indians?

English literature professors and teachers Heather Bruce, Anna Baldwin and Christabel Umphrey explain this paradox in "Sherman Alexie in the Classroom," a high school literature series published by the National Council of Teachers of English. The text examines Alexie's provocative body of work, ranging from poetry and novels to film scripts.

Copyright © 2008 The Missoulian. Reprinted with permission.
Rave, Jodi. 2008. "Native insight: Textbook guides teachers on author's racial messages." The Missoulian, September 24.

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