The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

• How does history and personal experience play a
  role in shaping who we are?
• By Amy Breiter

VS.
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We reservation Indians dont get to realize our
dreams. We dont get those chances. Or choices.
Were just poor. Thats all we are.-Arnold
Spirit, page 13
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Does history and personal experience help shape
who we are?

• Arnold Spirit is shaped by two different worlds
• He feels his life as a Reservation Indian has set
  him up for failure and poverty
• He takes his life into his own hands, and
  switches to another school in the local town of
  Reardan
• These work together to shape who Arnold will
  become

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Arnold Spirit Indian vs. White

• Who
• am I?

Arnold feels as if hes living two lives. He
feels the pull of his past and the history of the
Native American people trying to shape who he
will become, but he also has hopes that he can
push past the common outcomes of the Native
American people with his education at Reardan.
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Who is Arnold?

• Arnold learns that he cant be defined by one
  term. He is not merely a Spokane Indian. He is
  not just a Reardan student. There are many parts
  that define him and have made him who he is.

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I realized that, sure, I was a Spokane Indian. I
belonged to that tribe.
But I also belonged to the tribe of American
immigrants.
And to the tribe of basketball players.
And to the tribe of bookworms.
And the tribe of cartoonists.
And the tribe of chronic masturbators.
And the tribe of teenage boys.
And the tribe of small-town kids.
And the tribe of Pacific Northwesterners.
And the tribe of tortilla chips-and-salsa lovers
And the tribe of funeral-goers.
And the tribe of poverty
And the tribe of beloved sons.
-Arnold Spirit, Page 217