Group Work

What are the crimes that Native American have witnessed. It is interesting that no one attempted to break up the potential lethal situation that Victor's uncles had created. The idea that it would have been the same situation that Indigenous peoples had faced four hundreds of years speaks towards the plight of the people in witnessing the genocide of their race. One of the shocking things about this is the dehumanization that occurred as a result. "Victor's uncles were in the midst of a misdemeanor, that would remain one even if somebody was to die" (Alexie 3). The general level of acceptance that everyone at the party exhibited is result of a four hundred year process of dehumanization. In the intro to the book Alexie discerns what really happened and what is entirely hyperbolized or altered. In this he speaks of a man who, though is a known killer, is not arrested. "And yes, my father knew who killed and buried that man, as do most of the people on my reservation. The police know, too, but they can't make a case against the killer."(Alexi xxi). The dehumanization that took place is the result of being a constant witness to the mistreatmen of their people.
In "A Drug Called Tradition" How does tradition function as a drug? One of the most basic functions of drugs is to escape, escape a life temporarily. So of course the idea of living before the reservation, before alcohol, and before columbus functions as a method for indigenous peoples to escape to more ideal existence. The unnamed drug that the boys take allow them to hallucinate and see visions that are of ideal situations, such as stealing a horse in braids, or playing the guitar for an audience of indigenous people. So the idea that Thomas proposes about the vision of a traditional lifestyle is the same concept as using the hallucinations to escape reality.