Stereotypes are group/culture related and often misrepresent individuals. Based on this belief, I really thought that the stereotypes I heard about Native Americans were not true, or that they probably represented a small population on the Rez. There were many brought to light here, so I guess I'm surprised about how many were true (or kept).

Of course, there are still individuals inside the culture, so I really appreciated those, like Junior, who were able to resist the pull of the society he lived in (alcoholism, violence, lack of ambition.) Any stereotype he broke was a surprise as not very many of his people ventured outside the box. I was pleasantly surprised that he broke tradition, and that his parents saw his potential and supported him.

I wasn't all too surprised I guess, but I did find them very humourous. I nearly wet my pants just reading the inner cover (with the illustration of a "white student" and a NA student). It was just too relateable and too close to reality (well, at least with my in-laws)

This book was great. It reminded me in a way of Angela's Ashes. I knew of the stereotyping, but had hoped that a lot of it wasn't true. But if you think about it, how many times can one person be told they are something and try to go against it...usually a person ends up believing they might as well be what everyone else thinks they are. Make sense?

I am taking a class in California History and it has been very amazing. The way Native Americans were treated and abused. A reservation was nothing more than segregation in the worse possible form.

Sherman Alexie brings his point of racism and issues out but in a way where people will read it and not realize what they are learning because he conveys it with humor.