Reservation Blues

“That colt fell to the grass of the clearing, to the sidewalk outside a reservation tavern, to the cold, hard coroner’s table in a Veterans Hospital.”

This sentence describes the slaughter of Indian horses that Big Mom witnessed, the event that will reappear with the repetition of the phrase “the horses screamed.” The death of the horse parallels the death of many Indians.

“Big Mom played a new flute song every morning to remind everybody that music created and recreated the world daily.”

To cope with these deaths, Big Mom turns to the healing power of music.

“These little wars were intimate affairs for those who dreamed in childhood of fishing for salmon but woke up as adults to shop at the Trading Post and stand in line for U.S.D.A. commodity food instead. They savagely, repeatedly, opened up can of commodities and wept over rancid meat, forced to eat what stray dog ignored.”

“These little wars” refers to the fights between Indians. This further illustrates the frustrations of reservation life.

“Indians were supposed to have visions and receive messages from their dreams. All the Indians on television had visions that told them exactly what to do.”

Junior feels he should be conforming better to television’s idea of what it means to be Indian.

“Everybody heard those voices, but nobody like to talk about them. They were loudest at night, when Thomas tried to sleep, and he always thought they sounded like horses.”

The imagery of screaming horses reappears, symbolizing the difficulties faced by the Indians.

“Those songs floated up to the clouds, fell back to the earth as rain, and changed the shape of the plants and trees. I once bit into a huckleberry, and it tasted like my brother’s tears.”

Chess describes the power of music and the way it carried emotions after the death of her baby brother. As she tells Thomas her story, he feels that he has finally met someone who shares his love of stories.

“He turned on his little black-and-white television to watch white people live. White people owned everything: food, houses, clothes, children. Television constantly reminded Thomas of all he never owned.”

When Thomas watches television, he clearly sees the disadvantages that Indians face compared to white people.

“The audience reached for Coyote Springs with brown and white hands that begged for more music, hope, and joy. Coyote Springs felt powerful, fell in love with power, and courted it.”

Coyote Springs begins to find an audience of both Indian and white people, and they are drawn to the feelings of success.

“‘And you know,’ Chess said, ‘as traditional as it sounds, I think Indian men need Indian women. I think only Indian women can take care of Indian men. Jeez, we give birth to Indian men. We feed them. We hold them when they cry. Then they run off with white women. I’m sick of it.’”

Chess expresses her displeasure at finding Victor and Junior with Betty and Veronica and discusses her feelings about interracial relationships.

“The Indian world is tiny, every other Indian dancing just a powwow away. Every Indian is a potential lover, friend, or relative dancing just over the horizon, only a little beyond sight. Indians need each other that much; they need to be that close, tying themselves to each other and closing their eyes against the storms.”

The band runs into other Indians in the marketplace in Seattle. This quote shows the close-knit nature of the Indian community, a camaraderie partly formed because of the difficulties the community faces.

“Johnson felt free and guilty at the same time. The guitar would never let go of those Indians now. It held onto Victor even harder than it ever held Johnson.”

Johnson is relieved to have finally gotten rid of the guitar, but feels bad for Coyote Springs, and especially for Victor, who now possesses it. It becomes clear that guitar may be more of a curse than a blessing.

“Those blues churned up generations of anger and pain: car wrecks, suicides, murders. Those blues were ancient, aboriginal, indigenous.”

Robert Johnson sings the blues at Big Mom’s house on top of the mountain, and his song echoes through the reservation, sparking memories.

“We have to keep our songs private and hidden. There is somebody in here now who would steal from us.”

As Thomas sits in church with Chess, he has a vision that he is sitting in the sweat lodge while Indians around him sing and pray. When it is his turn to sing, Thomas hesitates, knowing that someone is trying to steal the Indians’ songs. This vision foreshadows the way that the record executives and Betty and Veronica will steal Indian songs and culture for their own gain.

“You want the good stuff of being Indian without all the bad stuff, enit? Well, a concussion is just as traditional as a sweat lodge.”

After Betty and Veronica spend some time on the reservation, they decide that it does not match up with their preconceived ideas. Chess expresses her frustration with white people who fetishize Indian customs without understanding the reality.

“I looked at Big Mom and thought that God must be made up mostly of Indian and woman pieces. Then I looked at Father Arnold and thought that God must be made up of white and man pieces.”

After meeting Big Mom, Checkers examines her ideas of God and religion, which are tied up with her conceptions of gender and Indian identity.

“‘When are Indians ever going to have heroes who don’t hurt people?’ Big Mom asked her students. ‘Why do all of our heroes have to carry guns? All Indian heroes have to be Indian men, too. Why can’t some Indian women be heroes?’”

Big Mom wants to change the culture of violence and sexism that has grown within the Indian community. Through her music, she advocates a more peaceful, caring way of life.

“What if we screw up in New York and every Indian everywhere hates us? What if they won’t let us on any reservation in the country?”

When Big Mom tells the band that she has taught them all she can, Thomas expresses his fear that they are not ready. He feels overwhelmed by the pressure of representing his community and worries that the band will not be able to live up to people’s expectations.

“But then, as the song moved forward, bar by bar, his finger slipped off the strings and frets. The guitar bucked in his hands, twisted away from his body. He felt a razor slice across his palms.”

As Coyote Springs auditions for the record company, Victor’s guitar seems to turn against him. This is the key moment for the band’s future, and the guitar seems to control everyone’s fate.

“Wright looked at Coyote Springs. He saw their Indian faces. He saw the faces of millions of Indians, beaten, scarred by smallpox and frostbite, split open by bayonets and bullets. He looked at his own white hands and saw the blood stains there.”

After Coyote Springs loses their opportunity for a record contract, Wright shows up at the band’s hotel room and apologizes. He finally feels remorse for the Indian lives that he has played a part in destroying.

“Johnson felt the whip that split open the skin on his grandfathers’ backs. He heard the creek of floorboard as the white masters crept into his grandmothers’ bedrooms. ‘Freedom,’ Johnson said. ‘I love freedom.”

Johnson remembers the moment when the Gentleman asked him what he loved the most. His answer draws on the experiences of his ancestors. In this moment, the narrative draws a parallel between the histories of Blacks and American Indians.

“They had some grandmothers or something that were Indian. Really. We can still sell that Indian idea. We don’t need any goddamn just-off-the-reservation Indians.”

Sheridan expresses his plan to market Betty and Veronica as Indian.

“Because when I closed my eyes like Thomas, I didn’t see a damn thing. Nothing. Zilch. No stories, no songs. Nothing.”

Junior’s ghost explains to Victor that he killed himself because he didn’t have anything to believe in.

“Then he ran around his house, grabbing photos and souvenirs, afraid that somebody was going to steal them next. He had photographs of his mother and father, a Disneyland cup even though he’d never been there, a few letters and cards. He gathered them all into a pile on the kitchen table and waited.”

After Thomas learns that Betty and Veronica have landed a record deal and are making an album of Indian music, he feels robbed. The record executives have stolen his songs and his culture, and he must protect the few things he has left.