Native Americans and alcoholism

Alcoholism is a recurrent theme explored throughout the novel "There There." Historically, European colonists were the first to make large amounts of alcohol available to Indians through trade, according to Fred Beauvais, Ph.D. This was the first encounter Natives really had with alcohol. However, through the infliction of trauma, tragedy, and loss of sovereignty, many Natives began to internalize their pain, and cope through the common method of drinking. Alcohol is an addictive substance often used for self-medication throughout the novel. Jackie Red-Feather describes how deeply the substance has permeated her body when discussing her 10 day sobriety. Jackie states “[t]en days is the same as a year when you want to drink all the time” (99). Drinking as a response to pain is prevalent in the novel, interweaving in many different character's stories. Thomas Frank for example discusses the root of his own drinking, he states “[h]ow you ended up getting fired was related to your drinking which was related to your skin problems, which was related to your father, which was related to history” (217). He continues “[s]o you had it coming in a way. That need that won’t quit. That years-deep pit you were bound to dig, crawl into, struggle to get out of” (217). Frank comments on the cycle of alcoholism, citing the root of his downfall in history and his father. Acknowledging that the pit was bound to be dug gives Thomas Frank, and also other characters, an almost defeatist attitude, with hopelessness that he/she will not break the cycle. Jackie Red-Feather, stifled by the burden of alcoholism, describes the numbness felt that leads her to continue drinking, she states “[u]ntil your eyes are drained out and you can’t see behind you and there’s nothing ahead, and the needle, the bottle, or the pipe is the only thing in sight that makes any sense” (106). For many who experienced the cycle of alcoholism, drinking becomes the only known coping mechanism, if not shown other mechanisms for dealing with trauma. Jackie describes using alcohol as a crutch, she exclaims “the problem that became a drinking problem started for me way before the drinking was even related to it” (109). While attending a substance abuse and mental health services administration conference, Jackie watches a speaker comment on the suicide problem within the Native community, often coupled with alcohol use. The speaker states “we’ve tried to find ways to get them to stop jumping. Convince them that burning alive is better than leaving when the shit gets too hot for them to take. We’ve boarded up windows and made better nets to catch them, found more convincing ways to tell them not to jump. They’re making the decision that it’s better to be dead and gone than to be alive in what we have here, this life, the one we made for them, the one they’ve inherited” (104). The speaker acknowledges the issue within Native society, often in result of trans-generational trauma and alcohol use, in hopes for effective initiatives in treating the problems at the root.

A Dual Identity

Throughout the novel There There, Tommy Orange utilizes Jacquie Red Feather’s grandchildren, specifically Orvil, to epitomize the development of the modern “Urban Indian” who still retains aspects of their ancestral culture. While tacos and powwows are part of their lives, the Red Feather grandchildren also demonstrate what it means to just be kids growing up in the city of Oakland. 

The first example of this identity balance comes from Opal’s lack of ancestral teaching, stating her methods are consistent with the “‘Cheyenne way, we let you learn for yourself, then we teach you when you’re ready” (Orange, 119). This absence of historical teachings or storytellings cause the boys to learn about their ancestry through modern means - Native American ceremonial depictions on television, use of the internet, listening to traditional powwow music, and learning native dances through streaming platforms like Youtube. Orange has even stated that in the modern day, Native American definition and identity, “Continue to be slandered despite easy-to-look-up-on-the-internet facts about the realities of [their] history and current state as a people” (Orange, 7). With this advice as part of the prologue, Orange is making a direct statement to the present-day reader on how to become correctly educated on the Native American past. Depicted as part of today’s youth, Orvil and his brothers take such advice to learn about their own culture. 

The children again exemplify how to balance the weights of contemporary society with rich historical history when Orvil decides to be interviewed for Dene Oxendene’s filmmaking project. Orvil retells the story of his mother’s overdose, culminating in the discovery of his Indian heritage and beginning identity. Yet, even though he is participating in a project where the goal is to embrace Native American storytelling, Orvil’s main incentive was for the $200. As soon as the cash is in his hand, “Orvil and his brothers leave the Indian Center and go straight to Target in West Oakland to get Lony’s new bike” (Orange, 124). Even though he engaged in a program to create a feeling of togetherness among Native Americans, Orvil’s sole motivation was for the money, so he could purchase a bike for his younger brother. This action of doing anything to obtain money for a loved one, is an action Orange expects non-Native American readers to be able to draw a present-day connection to. 

As the trio leaves Target, Orvil pulls a mysterious article out of his body, stating, “‘I’m pretty sure they’re spider legs’” (Orange, 125). Again, the children utilize the internet to search for a connection between Indian culture and the strange object. Serving in a literary context as a type of metaphorical foreshadowing about the powwow, the characters themselves discover nothing of a connection except that Opal experienced the same sensation. Parked in a Wendy’s parking lot and void of answers, Orvil “Takes the legs, folds up the toilet paper, and stuffs it in his pocket” (Orange, 128). While the mysterious spider legs tie in the Red Feather’s Native American heritage, the boys actions exemplify those of also non-Indian children; while riding bikes a mysterious object is discovered, stuffed in one’s pocket, and then the play continues. Orvil demonstrates how among the streets of present day Oakland he can have experiences tied to the Indian identity, while still acting like any other child. This dynamic of utilizing both identities harmoniously certifies the birth of the “Urban Indian” disposition.

Kelsey McClymonds

Throughout There, There we see a wide range of narrators that struggle with their identity in relation to their heritage and the burden of their history.  One of the main crises Tommy Orange has emphasized is the lack of understanding of what a true modern Native American most commonly looks like.  Many Americans who are not of native decent have this stereotypical image of the average Native American that is one that is alienated from society and still living the traditional reservation lifestyle.  This is idea is outlined in the prologue as Orange describes the Indiana Head test pattern, the cowboys and Indian movie genres with John Wayne, and the mascots in which the Indiana identity is removed, “then reduced to a feathered image” (Orange, 7).  It is because of this incorrect idea of what the modern Native Indian looks like, that Orange writes first the prologue to explicitly stating that many Indians are urban now and living the same way that everyone else does and also explains how even though they are separated their heritage and culture has not been completely erased.  Orange states “we are the memories we don’t remember, which live in us, which we feel, which make us sing and dance and pray the way we do, feelings from memories that flare and bloom unexpectedly in our lives like blood through a blanket from a wound made by a bullet fired by a man shooting us in the back for our hair, for a bounty, or just to get rid of us” which illustrates his theme that we are our past even if we don’t live in it (Orange, 10).

        Throughout the novel, Orange depicts how a group of modern Indians of different sexes, ages, backgrounds have navigated urban life while also brings them back to their heritage by trying to attend a powwow.  Orange shows the range of challenges that modern Native Indians face from an identity crisis to either embrace their past or forget about it and the social struggles that have impacted the Native Indian community due to their harsh historical past.  The identity crisis is illustrated in Orvil’s struggle to want to dance at the powwow and learn about his culture even though his caretaker Opal is dismissive of their heritage.  Then social struggles especially with substance abuse is depicted in the opening and closing narrator, Tony, who suffers from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Jacquie who suffers from substance abuse and then the drug culture that Octavio’s entire family struggles with including another narrator Calvin.  These struggles that the modern native population faces are represented through Orange’s attempt to explore the effects of the past on the native communities in the present and how it ties into their heritage.  Through this we can also see how Orange depicts the diversity of the urban native community in opposition to the unified stereotypical image that is displayed in the media and in books.

Modern Identity

The development of the Urban Indian is a complex concept to those of us who do not identify as Native American in this day and age. While, I'm obviously not certain that Native Americans of today feel no cognitive dissonance about their identity, it seems that in some cases represented by Orange, characters don't feel as though they are going through a big cultural shift in their history. When we see Opal raising her grandchildren, she doesn't tell them about the great occupation of Alcatraz, she tells them an amount about her childhood that most grandparents tell their grandchildren of the present day. When we as adults in 2019 think about times with elderly members of our family, we don’t recall stories about the Vietnam War, protests with bell bottoms or flower crowns, or even the evolution of the internet or cell phones. When we ask about those instances, a typical answer goes something like “I just lived it.” These kinds of responses that I personally hear from various people in my life, make me think that Tommy Orange is sharing a similar phenomenon. He is showing the reader that this was a norm for those who lived it.

Orange does a fabulous job of illustrating problems that Native Americans face in the modern age. We see the struggles of alcoholism, the many examples of marginalization, and identity crisis; but while these ideas have a significant impact on the reader and are clearly due to the holocaust of Native Americans by white legislation, it doesn’t have to represent the Urban Indian. Perhaps, due to the fact that Native Americans have suffered from years of forced assimilation and punishment if not completed, this concept of an Urban Indian is that of an urban human in today’s world. Perhaps labeling Native Americans as this “Urban Indian” is as detrimental as the effects of labeling can be. We see Edwin living at home after years and years of school, but this is a problem that many post-graduate adults deal with. As Orange describes, his problems are exacerbated by trying to find his father and trying to connect with his father’s Native American background. Due to the revolution of the internet, he is able to find his father via Facebook. This reconnection is something that so many people, regardless of race, religion, or ancestry have been able to do.

But, the characters that we see all stay true to their roots. All of the characters go to the powwow at the end of the novel, and while the powwow is less than perfect, the benefits of it are spread throughout the internet. The characters are able to spread news of the powwow, and they are able to connect with Native Americans from all over the country. When there, there is not any talk about the “Urban Indian” they all are just living their lives as normally as they can.

Modernism and "There There"

The design of the novel “There There” by Tommy Orange is to tell the stories of Native Americans which are often unheard. When most non-native people think of Native American fiction they think of reservation stories or some variety of historical fiction. They often regard Native Americans as a traditional people living in the past. Tommy Orange and his character Dene Oxendene have the same goal: tell the modern Native America stories that are often ignored in favor of the nice narrative of compromise and a guilt free relationship between Native Americans and white Americans. The use of modernism and its juxtaposition with tradition throughout the novel showcase both that Native Americans have been able to maintain their culture despite attempts at cultural assimilation by the U.S. government and that Native Americans still exist in the modern world as much as anyone else. Without the constant reminder through modern technologies, music, language, and cultural practices, it would be easy for the novel to be read as something timeless and in the past. Much like “All the Living” it would be difficult to place chronologically, and could therefore be dismissed as a novel simply depicting issues of the past. Jacquie’s character specifically points out a lot of the issues inherent in the Native American population through her own alcoholism, her work with suicide prevention and substance abuse counselling, her rape, her mother’s frequent evictions, and her daughter’s suicide. Even her presence at the shooting at the end, although all of the characters are present then. She is connected to the issues that are discussed in the book more than many of the other characters, and her character is used to showcase them all in one place that makes it clear how severe they all are, as well as contextualising all of them as existing simultaneously. But without the constant reminders of the time period, it would be easy to dismiss these issues as something from a different era and to pretend that they no longer exist. However, between Jacquie’s grandsons’ phones, Daniel’s drone, the 3-d printed guns, Edwin meeting his father on facebook, and all the other, smaller acknowledgements of the modern era, it is obvious that these are problems being faced now. Orange makes it clear and constantly reminds the reader throughout the book that these are modern problems, and they can’t be pushed aside as being something from a different time. 

Intersectionality and Diversity in Tommy Orange's There There

             Tommy Orange’s novel There There works to disrupt common ideas and stereotypes  that Native Americans face in their daily lives. One of the biggest stereotypes that Orange rejects using novel is the idea that there is only one type of Native American, and this Native American lives on a reservation without access to modern technology. Through demonstrating how different characteristics, along with a person’s Native American identity, intersect to create diversity within the Native community in Oakland, Orange reshapes readers’ ideas of what a Native American is. 

            The diversity of Native Americans is seen right away in the first character of the novel, Tony Loneman. Loneman has a disability called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He says, “The Drome is my mom and why she drank, it’s the way history lands on a face and all the ways I made it so far despite how it has fucked with me since the day I found it there on the TV…” (16). Tony believes that his disability is a result of the history of the treatment of Native Americans in the United States. Not only does Orange use Loneman to show how Native American identity intersects with disability, but Orange also relates Loneman’s disability to the horrific treatment of Native Americans in the United States. 

            The character of Edwin Black is another example of how complex identities intersecting disrupt the idea that there is one type of Native American. Edwin Black is an Oakland Native American who has an addiction to technology. While he spends time on Facebook, Black reveals a large online community of more than 600 Native Americans (69). Typical stereotypes of Native Americans include individuals living on reservations without access to the Internet or even a computer. However, Black’s Native American background and his addiction to the Internet combine to allow readers to see an active population of Native Americans using modern technology even though Native Americans are not commonly depicted doing so. 

            Each character in the novel has different identity traits that shape their time as a Native American. Gender, disability, addiction, age, and body size all contribute to the characters’ experiences and intersect with their Native identities to create stories and lives that are vastly different between each character. While it is easy to assume that Native Americans are all similar to each other, a huge breadth diversity exists even just between 12 Native Americans. 

Strong Female Character: The Rejection of Femininity in "There, There"

            Tommy Orange’s novel There, There takes on the stories of many native people, and in it we see three distinct female characters. The half sisters, Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield and Jacquie Red Feather, both live distinctly different lives throughout the novel but seem to follow the same path in regard to their roles as women. Each of these women reject their own femininity; maybe not consciously, but in a way which seems to be required to survive as a native woman. Femininity, in the sense of this argument, is traditional in its expected motherly roles and emotional availability.

            Jacquie is the most blatant in her rejection of womanhood and femininity, made clear in her refusal to take on a matronly role. Jacquie puts her first child up for adoption, and it seems she was negligent to the second child she had, at least to the degree that her daughter was able to become addicted to drugs. She has no connection with her grandchildren; instead, “Opal [takes] care of [her] three grandsons—whom she’d never even met” (100). Instead, Jacquie falls into the traps of alcoholism, seemingly unable to keep any meaningful connection with her family. Only when she gives up drinking do we see her make any attempt to see or meet her grandsons, and even then, she isn’t coming back to take on the role of a loving, involved grandmother. Jacquie is completely disconnected from the motherly role she never even wanted to take on, and she seems to believe that her survival depends on a lack of connections to anyone in her life. This can easily be traced back to her trauma, but it causes her to reject feminine motherhood and connections with her family.

            Opal herself seems to take on part of her grandmotherly role while rejecting other parts of it. She is the person to raise Jacquie’s grandsons, Orvil, Loother, and Lony, but because she must take on the role of the single parent to three young boys, she seems forced to abandon some of the sentimentality of inherent in that role in order to provide for them. She doesn’t take time imparting the family traditions of native culture down to them, instead spending most of her time working to pay for everything they need. Nor does she appear particularly emotionally available to them—Orvil feels the need to hide his dancing from her, forcing his brothers to “[promise] not to tell Opal” when they find out (126). Opal herself even knows that their connection seems jilted, noting that “the boys are afraid of [her], like she was always afraid of her mom” (165). She’s lived a difficult life, and her past trauma has made her feel the need to reject emotion and love, and to be “brief and direct” and “hypercritical” (165). In Opal’s case, it seems she hasn’t just shed her femininity, but some aspect of her humanity.

            Jacquie and Opal’s characters come from the same circumstances and go on to follow wildly different paths, but their shared childhood trauma is a connecting force which leads them both to abandon femininity and emotion within their lives.