Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience, by Rebecca Roanhorse

Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience by Rebecca Roanhorse

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


So we have a story by an authentic Native American, about a character who is an authentic Native American, but has a job as a VR immersive experience lead doing a kind of "therapy" as an "Indian". This story works better if you've read more about the experiences of Native Americans and people of color outside of the story, and can identify with it in that way. There's a lot of potential depth and ideas to explore about "passing", and what Native Americans have to do to get by in a White world. (view spoiler)[ In the end, we have a White guy who absorbs the protagonist's stories through the pretense of friendship, then ends up taking both his job and his girlfriend by being a better "Indian" than the Native American. And it's absolutely unsurprising, since the construct being marketed is for White consumption. (hide spoiler)] Subtle and wry. I wish Roanhorse well in her writing career.



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