Jay Silverheels ... what were you thinking?

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
Sherman Alexie
Grove Press

I read somewhere that Sherman Alexie is better known for his poetry than for his prose. He must be a helluva poet, because this book of short stories is simply amazing.

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a series of vignettes set in a Spokane reservation in Washington State. The stories feature a variety of characters across a generation and all of the tales in some way deal with what it means to be Native in a post-modern, white person's world. Alexie's depiction of life on the reservation brought back some good memories for me -- going to powwows on the Chippewa First Nations' reserve near my cottage and marvelling at the energy, inclusivity, power and grace of the dancers.

It also brought back some not-so-good memories for me and frankly, a great deal of guilt and frustration. No matter what you might hear, Canada has not treated its First Nations with respect. While we didn't commit the same level of genocide as our neighbours to the south (let's not forget that we did manage to wipe out an entire people -- Newfoundland's Beothuk,) the country still has a lot of reparations, reconciliations, and apologies to be made.

But I digress ... I really liked this book because even though I'm not native, I could still relate to Alexie's characters and their flaws. The poetic, almost magic-realist feel to the work made for a beautiful, but sometimes elusive read. Four laughing coyotes out of five.