1. the lone ranger and tonto
fist fight in heaven
4.4.11

2. quiz
1. Victor has a troubled and conflicted
relationship with his father. Describe one
scene from the first half of the book that
typifies this struggle and discuss both Victor
and his Dad (Arnold’s) point of view.
2. Victor and Thomas-Builds-the-Fire have
seemingly different stances on Indian
tradition. Explain each and give an example.

3. backdrop for book
• US-Indian relations/history
• dispossession + land grab
• treaties
• reservations

4. dispossession
• international context: struggles for sovereignty
• definitions and claims of sovereignty
• international law
• constitutions
• treaties

5. treaties
• recognize relationships between states
• US Constitution
• Article VI, Section 2 of the Constitution
declares treaties to be “the supreme law of
the land” and
• “judges in every state shall be bound
thereby”
• 371 treaties between US and Tribes

6. discounting sovereignty
• contradiction of sovereignty in US
• Marshall Trilogy (1821-1832)
• “doctrine of discovery” (no right of soil)
• established “trust / ward relationship”
• denied property rights -- limits sovereignty
• by 1840s--manifest destiny
• treaties upended

7. National Acts
• Indian Removal Act (1830) -reservations
• Dawes Act (1887)
• blood quantum
• state sponsored discrimination
• consequences to today = who counts/
federally recognized

8. mascots

9. brands

10. toys

11. noble savage / new age

12. dominant versions of
Indians in US
• stereotypes
• popular culture--very little
• “authenticity trap”
• sets stage for Alexie’s narrative
• “reservation realism”

13. Alexie