Indian Killer

I just finished reading Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie. It is basically a who-done-it murder mystery. Let me spoil it for you, we never find out. We have some strong leads but you never really find out who did it. People begin to die, are scalped and left with feathers on them. People begin to believe that the murderer is a First Nation’s person. The story concept is great, however the rest of it is not.

My first problem with the book is the writing. The style does not flow for me. I found the paragraphs structures hard to read for me. Short Sentences. That tell us the plot. That stop the narrative. Very abruptly.

My second problem is the characters. I am First Nations and I do not believe these characters are First Nations. Every First Nation’s person in the book hates (not just dislikes a little or is uncomfortable with, but they literally hate) every non-First Nation’s person in the book. For starters, there is John who is adopted by a non-First Nation’s couple who treat him with love and respect for his culture. When John goes up, he despises them. There was a chance for some real character development here, some internal struggles to understand what it means to be First Nations and living in a white community, but no. John is a single dimensional character who hates “white people”. Maybe as I read the book, a reason would become apparent but no. Like all the rest of the First Nations characters we meet, they all despise “white people”. No reasons are given, it is just in the blood I guess.

Now I am not saying that some First Nations people do not feel this way and this hatred would be good fodder for a book, but the way it is presented is too simplistic.

Thirdly, I get that the author is First Nations, but he makes claims about First Nations people that do not feel real to me. One, when First Nations people of differing tribes meet they remember past tribal disputes and wars. Real “Indians” know these things. Secondly, in his story he tries to write in as many cultural tribes he can, (Spokane, Navajo, Utes, etc…). It feels like he is trying to list as many as he can in the book to give it authenticity. Lastly, that any non-First Nations person who shows interest in First Nations culture is a fraud and is to be distrusted. A sympathetic person to First Nations person is too be treated with hostility. The only characters I liked in the book were the sympathetic “white people” because they were the only people who didn’t have a chip on their shoulder. Lastly, that educated or urban “Indians” are less “Indian”. Again, he could have dealt with this issue and made his characters richer but doesn’t. They become cardboard characters that I hated to read about.

I am glad that Sherman Alexie is a First Nations author and that gives me hope as a writer to dream big. I am sure he cares passionately and deeply about First Nation issues and is not as racist as the “Indians” he writes about. I just wish he wrote a better book.

I would not recommend this book to anyone as I feel it is just a long racist rant, and what the world needs now is understanding and friendship between all cultures to make this world a better place.