The Title
Analyzing the chapter’s title “My God Has Dark Skin,” we can infer that the white Christians wanted the Indians to feel like they are beneath white men because the average people believed in a white God. Therefore, Indians were made to believe that white men had higher power. However, Indians
disagreed, for their God has dark skin and learned to accept who they are.
The Epigraph
In the first line, the speaker states, “My braids were cut off in the name of Jesus,” and then proceeds to claim that the braids were cut “[t]o make me look so white.” This suggests that the white people are trying to conform the Indians into their, and ultimately into what they believe their god to look like. This is quite a contradiction, considering Jesus was born in Bethlehem in what is now Palestine, so he was most likely dark skinned with rough black hair.
Checkers Leaves the Band
Checkers left the band after having a dispute with Victor. She “walked to the Catholic Church early Saturday to meet Father Arnold” and told him “she wanted to joined the choir”(136). Checkers seems to be a sincere Catholic because she “[sent] a few prayers over the mountains” to the band as well as her sister (137). If Checkers wasn’t a sincere Catholic she would have not prayed for the band or her sister to the extent that she lost track of the time. She tells Father Arnold that she hates white women because when she was little, and her and her family would go shopping in Missoula, her dress would always get dirty no matter what happened, and she’d see all the little white girls walking, pristine and perfect. She was envious.
Junior's Dream
General Philip H. Sheridan
Slaughter of the horses at Spokane
He could have dreamed about this century old war to shed a bit of light on how Indians were treated unfairly, considering he was sentenced to death without being granted a trial, despite his plea of innocence after General Sheridan asks Junior where he believes he stands, and Sheridan states that he finds Junior guilty anyway, as he considers his word law and exerts his authority over Junior the Indian.
Victor felt violated when he went to the Catholic Summer Camp because the priest touched “Victor’s newly shaved head […, said, he is] a beautiful boy…, [and] kissed [him] full and hard on the mouth”(148). This event explains much of Victor’s present-day rage.
Life off the Reservation
In the Indian world, Indians seem to either stay in the reservation or leave to the big city and
its problems. We think Spokane Springs will venture out to even bigger cities to gain fame to
experience other economic forms of living.
The Ten Commandments from the USA to the Spokane Indians
The "Ten Commandments from the USA to the Spokane Indians" that Thomas writes in his journal, reveals that he disagrees how Indians are treated in the reservation by the government. He feels that the reservation is not the Indians land but the white man’s land. The white men have all the power to do wrong doings to Indians but the Indians must not do the same to the white men.Thomas attitude toward the US Government is pretty much not wanting them to manage the life that he lives. They should be out of the reservation at all costs. That’s why murder is not acceptable in reservation land.
Change of Format
Starting on page 156, Alexie chooses an interview format to tell the readers about the events of the contest. We think this choice works well because Alexie wants to get the audience’s attention, not bore them with a chronological story. Because of this format, he was able to tell the readers everything he needed them to know in a short conversation as opposed to creating multiple scenarios with excess events to get his point across.
Father Arnold's Dream
Father Arnold strange dream about the Whitmans is used as a reference to keep Indians in obedience. He used Marcus and Narcissa “black magic box” idea as a “newfound power” that “kept the Indians quiet”(164). Father Arnold was “jealous of the Whitman’s secret power over the Indians, they used fear to control the Indians instead of love.
Free Choice
As Chess brings the idea of free choice, We agree with Chess’s philosophy that not all bad things happen because God makes it happen, they just happen with or without God. People make choices and the effects of those choices make things good or bad, that is free will. We agree with Chess. When we are born, we are given the freedom to make our own choices and pursuing what we believe to be correct although it may not always be. Our lives are not decided for us, we are not forced into beliefs in right and wrong, we make these choices for ourselves, not our creators.
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