Where do people find their identity? I have always been thought you create your own identity through what you do for yourself. For instance, my identity was always as a model student when I was younger, and that was something that benefited only myself. The idea of one's identity is very different for Native Americans, according to what I have learned this quarter. In every book we read, Indians were searching for identity, but they did not search only in their own life, but the community played a major role in finding their identity.
James Welch's novel, Fools Crow, shows just how much community builds identity in Native American society, and what happens when one leaves society. When the title character's best friend leaves the community, he loses his sense of identity, and never really gets it back.
Another aspect of identity is how whites identify Indians. I grew up with the usual romanticized images of Native Americans. Sherman Alexi deals with combating this identity assigned by whites through the characters of Marie and Dr. Mather in his novel Indian Killer. My idea of Native American identity has been completely changed through reading about how ignorant Dr. Mather was, along with reading the Indian's description of an Indian's life. It's just a shame that this is the first time I have been able to get a first hand view of Indian life.
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