Synopsis of Reservation Blues
Robert Johnson’s mysteriously appears at the Spokane Indian Reservation crossroads and passes his legendary guitar to Thomas, giving birth to the band, Coyote Springs and fueling an adventure only some misfit Indians (Thomas Builds-the-Fire, Victor Joseph, Junior Polatkin, and Chess and Checkers Warm Waters) and an old beat up van can handle. From the dirt roads of the Reservation; to Seattle; to Manhattan; and even to the Holy Woman, Big Mom’s, backyard, Alexie yet again develops a masterpiece from the dust of Native American past and present.
Humor in Reservation Blues
What sets Reservation Blues a part from is the humor used to tell Coyote Springs’ story. Their record deal is produced by Calvary Records, run by Mr. Sheridan (blatant and obvious pokes at history are always acceptable). There is a man on the reservation who is only known as “the-man-who-was-probably-Lakota,” which pokes fun at the typical white, Anglo idea that every Native American in the United States is from a horse tribe of the Great Plains, like the Lakota (Sioux).
But, and this makes Alexie a true literary master, the humor on the surface of the novel exposes the harsh reality of the Native American experience. It examines how Indians fit in with mainstream white society (when asked how they’d be paying for their hotel room the reply was, “With money, what did you think? Seashells?) and how they examine the world from outside the reservation as well as the world from inside the reservation.
Pop-Culture References in Reservation Blues
Alexie also uses pop-culture references in Reservation Blues to prove how white, Anglo society is infiltrating Native American culture. Robert Johnson, legendary and mythical blues musician, appears on the rez to see Holy Woman, Big Mom, to escape from the Devil and find a place in the world without his guitar.
The primary diet of Indians on the rez is Diet Pepsi, Wonderbread, and Spam. While this may seem humorous from the point of view of white society, from the Indian perspective it shows, in great detail, why diabetes is more common on an Indian reservation than almost anywhere else.
While not as poignant or endearing as The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Reservation Blues gives readers a good look at the human condition through humor, pop-culture references, and tragedy (there is always tragedy in a Native American novel, it’s a rule).
Alexie, Sherman. Reservation Blues. New York: Grove Press, 1995.
