Sherman Alexie:

Dances with Skeletons

Last Updated 4/8/02

“Indians call each other Indians. Native American

is a guilty white liberal thing.” -Sherman Alexie

About this Web Page:

This experience has been brought to you by Shelly Childress in participation with Professor Kevin O’Donnell’s American Literature class. Shelly is an undergraduate student at East Tennessee State University studying Mass Communications who discovered Sherman Alexie through a reference from Professor O’Donnell. Please e-mail any questions, comments, or concerns to Shelly at sunstroke7@hotmail.com.

Alexie has overcome many obstacles in his life. He was born hydrocephalic, which meant he had water on his brain. At 6 months he underwent a brain operation and was not expected to live. After he unexpectedly survived the operation, doctors predicted he would live with severe mental retardation. Through his youth, Alexie showed no signs of retardation, but he did suffer side effects such as uncontrollable bed-wetting and seizures. Alexie did not allow these obstacles to hinder him. By age three, he had learned to read, and by age five was reading various novels, including The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

In search of a higher quality education, Alexie decided to attend high school off the reservation in Rearden, Washington. Alexie was the only Indian at Rearden High where he excelled in his academics and became a star basketball player. After graduation in 1985, he attended Gonzaga University for two years on scholarship, and then went on to Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.

Alexie’s initial career choice was in medicine until he realized he didn’t have the stomach for it. After attending a poetry workshop at WSU, Alexie decided to pursue a career in writing. Shortly after his graduation from WSU Alexie began publishing poetry collections and hasn’t slowed down since.

Alexie’s first collection of short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven was published in 1993. This collection was also the start to Alexie’s film career. Modeled after one story from the collection, Alexie wrote the screenplay to “Smoke Signals,” which was a favorite at the Sundance Film Festival. Alexie’s most recent film is titled “The Business of Fancydancing” and is also his directorial debut.

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Sherman Alexie’s Literary Career and Awards

Sherman Alexie began his literary career in the early 90s. His collection ranges from novels, short stories, poetry, and many anthology contributions.

Alexie’s first publications were The Business of Fancydancing and I Would Steal Horses, which are both poetry collections. Shortly following these publications, in 1993, Alexie published The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.

Some of Alexie’s most acclaimed works include the novels, Reservation Blues, and Indian Killer. Alexie’s most recent claim to fame was his publication of the screenplay “Smoke Signals” in 1998. “Smoke Signals” originated from the chapter titled “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” a story from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. “Smoke Signals” was a favorite at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and was the winner of several awards including, the Filmmaker’s trophy, the Audience Award, and was a Grand Jury Prize nominee. “Smoke Signals” was also featured at several other award ceremonies including the Independent Spirit Awards, the First Americans in the Arts Awards, and the Christopher Awards.

Alexie is currently in the process of writing a screenplay based on his poetry collection titled The Business of Fancydancing. The screenplay is of the same title.

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Excerpt from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven:

“Hey,” he said. “You two want to hear a story?”

Junior and I looked at each other, looked back at Thomas, and decided that it would be all right. Thomas closed his eyes and told his story.

It is now. Three Indian boys are drinking Diet Pepsi and talking out by Benjamin Lake. They are wearing only loincloths and braids. Although it is the twentieth century and planes are passing overhead, the Indian boys have decided to be real Indians tonight.

They all want to have their vision, to receive their true names, their adult names. That is the problem with Indians these days. They have the same names all their lives. Indians wear their names like a pair of bad shoes.

So they decided to build a fire and breathe in that sweet smoke. They have not eaten for days so they know their visions should arrive soon. Maybe they’ll see it in the flames or in the wood. Maybe the smoke will talk in Spokane or English. Maybe the cinders and ash will rise up.

The boys sit by the fire and breathe, their visions arrive. They are all carried away to the past, to the moment before any of them took their first drink of alcohol.

The boy Thomas throws the beer he is offered into the garbage. The boy Junior throws his whiskey through a window. The boy Victor spills his vodka down the drain.

Then the boys sing. They sing and dance and drum. The steal horses. I can see them. They steal horses.

“You don’t really believe that shit?” I asked Thomas.

“Don’t need to believe anything. It just is.”

Thomas stood up and walked away. He wouldn’t even try to tell us any stories again for a few years. We had never been very good to him, even as boys, but he had always been kind to us. When he stopped even looking at me, I was hurt. How do you explain that?

Before he left for good, though, he turned back to Junior and me and yelled at us. I couldn’t really understand what he was saying, but Junior swore he told us not to slow dance with our skeletons.

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Junior said.

There are things you should learn. Your past is a skeleton walking one step behind you, and your future is a skeleton walking one step in front of you. Maybe you don’t wear a watch, but your skeletons do, and they always know what time it is. Now, these skeletons are made of memories, dreams, and voices. And they can trap you in the in-between, between touching and becoming. But they’re not necessarily evil, unless you let them be.

What you have to do is keep moving, keep walking, in step with your skeletons. They ain’t ever going to leave you, so you don’t have to worry about that. Your past ain’t going to fall behind, and your future won’t get too far ahead. Sometimes, though, your skeletons will talk to you, tell you to sit down and take a rest, breathe a little. Maybe they’ll make you promises, tell you all the things you want to hear.

Sometimes your skeletons will dress up as beautiful Indian women and ask you to slow dance. Sometimes your skeletons will dress up as your best friend and offer you a drink, one more for the road. Sometimes your skeletons will look exactly like your parents and offer you gifts.

But, no matter what they do, keep walking, keep moving. And don’t wear a watch. Hell, Indians never need to wear a watch because your skeletons will always remind you about the time. See, it is always now. That’s what Indian time is. The past, the future, all of it is wrapped up in the now. That’s how it is. We are all trapped in the now.

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Commentary:

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a collection of twenty-two short stories. The above excerpt came from the chapter titled “A Drug Called Tradition.” I chose this passage because I love the way Alexie combines the traditional Indian ideals with the modern Indian reservation life. The battle between tradition and modern ways is evident throughout the entirety of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, as in much of Alexie’s other works.

“A Drug Called Tradition” begins with the three Indian boys, Victor, Junior, and Thomas driving out to Benjamin Lake to try out a new drug they’ve gotten. Each tries the drug in the car while they are driving and the drug causes them to have wild hallucinations. Thomas is the storyteller of the group and promises the other two that he won’t tell any stories until after he takes the drug. Once he eats the mushroom he begins his first story. Victor is the subject of this story. Thomas says that he sees him with his long hair braided and that Victor is going to steal a horse to earn his adult name.

Each of Thomas’s stories holds a sense of nostalgia. The Indians of the reservation all have a strong sense of their past, but each is trying to live in the present as best they can. Thomas’s stories are his outlet to the traditional way of Indian life.

The second story Thomas tells is the story I have presented above. Thomas tells of three Indian boys sitting out by Benjamin Lake and drinking Diet Pepsi. They are the three boys sitting in the present wanting to bring back the tradition of earning their adult names. Thomas tells of the three boys stealing horses.

After he finishes his story he walks away. He calls back and tells Junior and Victor not to slow dance with their skeletons. The boys aren’t sure what Thomas means, and they don’t ask.

Alexie leaves the boys behind for a few paragraphs and illustrates to the reader what Thomas meant by saying not to slow dance with skeletons. Alexie’s explanation is clearly of traditional Indian ideals.

I felt like this passage was a good example of how Alexie mixes past with present in his stories and how they often conflict one another. The boys in the story had a good grasp on the past and tradition by wanting to earn their adult Indian names, yet the present was very clear by the boys drinking Diet Pepsi by the lake on the reservation.

Alexie takes a direct opposite route from most authors who choose Native Americans as their subjects. Rather than romanticizing Indians from an outsider’s prospective, he tells the brutal truth from the inside. When reading Alexie’s works, I felt like I was on the reservation. I could feel the humility and passion, the poverty and pride, but most of all I could feel the truth.

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Annotated Bibliography:

Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.

New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1993.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a collection of 22 short stories and is the source that provided the basis of this web page.

Alexie, Sherman. “Sherman Alexie: The Official Site.” 13 March

2002. 6 March 2002. <http://www.fallsapart.com/biography.

html>.

The biography section of “Sherman Alexie: The Official Site” contains a detailed account of Sherman Alexie’s background. This information was found on Alexie’s official website, therefore is accurate and was very helpful in creating this web page.

de Leon, Ferdinand M. “A Wild Happy Ride for Sherman Alexie.”

seattletimes.com (1997). 6 March 2002. <http://archives.

seattletimes.nwsource.com>.

“A Wild Happy Ride for Sherman Alexie” was written by a Seattle Times staff reporter in 1997. The selection is an interview with Alexie in which he discusses his career from writing literature and screenplays, to making movies and awaiting awards.

Fry, Ted. “’Smoke Signals’ buzz is heating up for Sundance.”

seattletimes.com (1998). 6 March 2002. <http://archives.

seattletimes.nwsource.com>.

“’Smoke Signals’ buzz is heating up for Sundance” was written by Ted Fry of Film.com. It is an article that mainly discusses the on-screen version of Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. It contains very useful information about Alexie’s career.

Hartl, John. “Movie Review: Strong directing, breathe life in ‘Smoke

Signals.’” seattletimes.com (1998). 6 March 2002.

<http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com>.

John Hartl is a Seattle Times movie reviewer. His article “Movie Review: Strong directing, breathe life in ‘Smoke Signals.’” Discusses Alexie’s movie “Smoke Signals” and introduces the story which the movie was derived.

Hartl, John. “Screenwriter Identifies with Characters in ‘Smoke

Signals.’” seattletimes.com (1998). 6 March 2002.

<http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com>.

Hartl’s “Screenwriter Identifies with Characters in ‘Smoke Signals’” discusses Alexie’s “Smoke Signals” and compares Alexie to the characters in the story.

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Dances with Skeletons

Last Updated 4/8/02

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