Out of Circulation and Orvil's Search for Identity

 In the prologue of his novel There, There, Tommy Orange makes an observation:

“We’ve been defined by everyone else and continue to be slandered despite easy-to-look-up-on-the-internet facts about the realities of our histories and current state as a people… Our heads were on the penny first, of course, the Indian cent, and then on the buffalo nickel, both before we could even vote as a people—which, like the truth of what happened in history all over the world, and like all that spilled blood from slaughter, are now out of circulation (Orange 7).”

The description of the Indian cent and the buffalo nickel as “out of circulation” does not simply refer to currency, but to Native American identity in its current form. When something goes out of circulation, it can sometimes become more valuable or highly sought out; however, the more common and tragic reality is that these things become entirely forgotten and abandoned. And because the history and the culture have been buried so much, pushed so far into corners and reservations and small watered-down sections of textbooks, Native American identity becomes functionally extinct: so little is left to hold onto that the Native communities, and societal understanding of both the history and current affairs, may never recover. 

Through one way or another, these characters are disconnected from their heritage, and many struggle to overcome other personal hardships such as addiction or abuse alongside this search for an identity that ultimately cannot be found in its purest, original form. But in the case of Orvil, he is even totally forbidden from that attempted connection by his great aunt Opal because of the unspecified risks of “Indianing” (Orange 118). Opal tells Orvil, “Learning about your heritage is a privilege. A privilege we don’t have. And anyway, anything you hear from me about your heritage does not make you more or less Indian. More or less a real Indian (Orange 119),” but Orvil understands that being Indian and feeling Indian are not the same thing. Orvil understands that one cannot have heritage without personal identity, and one way he searches for that identity is through the internet, through watching Youtube videos of powwow dance and learning.

But when it comes time to dance, Orvil still feels like a “fraud,” unsure if he has successfully made the connection (Orange 232). Even when the dance begins, when his nerves have calmed and he sees, “They’re all one dance,” there is a sense that he will always be searching for something more, just as the performance ends and he searches for his brothers (Orange 233). He will always be looking for the Indian cent and the buffalo nickel—for the signs that his identity can and does exist within this heritage, if that heritage can still be found.

There is no There, There

     In Tommy Orange's There, There, there is a constant battle with identity within culture that presents itself. Orange does an excellent job of showing this struggle within identity in the Native American culture. He does so through the characters of Orvil Red Feather and Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield.

    The two characters represent contrasting viewpoints on this struggle with identity. Orvil expresses worry that he is not Native enough, and struggles with his lack of identity within his Native American culture. Contrarily, Opal is very aware of her Native identity, and makes efforts in an attempt to hide it from the world, as well as from Orvil. Being only fourteen, Orvil is at the age where it is normal to want to feel apart of something. With little to no information about his culture, he feels a sort of longing to be apart of a whole. His longing for identity can be seen in the quote, "It's important that he dress like an Indian, dance like an Indian, even if it is an act, even if he feels like a fraud the whole time, because the only way to be Indian in this world is to look and act like an Indian. To be or not to be Indian depends on it" (Orange 122). Orvil feels as if his identity depends upon how Indian he is, and with no information about his culture from his elders, he feels like he has an identity based upon nothing. 

    On the other hand, Opal, who has a strong sense of identity within her culture, attempts to shield others such as Orvil from it. Opal explains why she is so brief and direct when addressing Orvil and his brothers, "It's to prepare them for a world made for Native people not to live but to die in, shrink, disappear" (Orange 165). From Opal's own experiences, she has only seen the chaos and struggle that comes with being Native, and wants to protect Orvil from it. Despite this, Orvil is drawn to his identity and attempts to inform himself about it. This is shown in the book when mentioning his use of the internet, "And virtually everything Orvil learned about being Indian he'd learned virtually. From watching hours of powwow footage, documentaries on YouTube, be reading all that there was to read on sites like Wikipedia, PowWows.com, and Indian Country Today" (Orange 121). In a sense, it is apparent that both characters want what they cannot have. Orvil wants to be apart of his Native American culture, Opal does not. 

    In the story, there are separate instances of spider legs being found in both Orvil and Opal's legs. The significance of spiders is mentioned in the book, and is discussed to hold importance to the Native American culture. The usage of the spider leg bump that both Orvil and Opal have serves as a physical representation that whether one identifies with their culture or does not, it is inherently apart of them. 

Orange's Interlude in "There There" - Unfamiliar Concepts in a Real-World Context

The interlude of Tommy Orange’s There There is an insight to the lives of contemporary Native Americans not just as characters in the novel, but as real people in the world we live in. The interlude takes a break from the story to openly address the issues facing Native Americans in twenty-first century America, while relating them back to the plot of the story. 

The section of the interlude entitled “Blood” is, in my opinion, what resonates the most. The “Blood” section begins with an analysis of actual, physical blood, saying that while it must flow freely inside of us, “blood is messy when it comes out. It dries, divides, and cracks in the air.” Orange uses physical blood as a metaphor for ancestral blood, which is notorious for causing division between Native Americans and white settlers in America. While blood courses through all of our veins and makes us human, it is also what drives us apart. 

The sections called “Powwow” and “Big Oakland Powwow” are what truly connects the dots between the novel and real life. Powwows are real events held by North American tribes to connect with each other and honor their cultures. They draw in Native American people from all over, regardless of background or what personal reason they have for going. In There There, the novel’s characters are all going to the Big Oakland Powwow, of which Orange writes in the interlude, “We all came to the Big Oakland Powwow for different reasons. The messy, dangling strands of our lives got pulled into a braid -- tied to the back of everything we’d been doing all along to get us here.” Much like hairs in a braid, the separate individuals all come together at the Powwow to create something beautiful. No matter who they are or what tribe they come from, the Powwow is there to welcome them as one community of people.

Orange’s interlude in There There showcases not just his profound skill with metaphor, but with relating a story to the real world, and therefore to the reader. The interlude allows readers that have never been exposed to Native American culture (and how Native Americans have been treated in the US) to see a new point of view in a real-world context.

History Repeats Itself

Tommy Orange’s There There is a complex narrative of the past permeating the present. The style in which the story is told stood out to me, because it allows for readers to see common threads among each of the characters' lives, even before they are brought together at the Powwow. Orange draws on themes of identity, oppression, drug and alcohol abuse, physical abuse, and abandonment to illuminate a shared experience among Native Americans living in present day America. 

Although many of the characters struggle with their identity as Native Americans due to a history of cultural oppression in the country and lack of connection due to an absent parent, readers can see how sharply their lives are shaped by their heritage although it may not be directly apparent to the characters themselves. One passage that specifically stood out to me happens toward the end of the novel when Edwin Black is discussing the story he wrote with Blue. He talks about a Native American named Phil who’s apartment gets taken over by white hipsters. The story ends with Phil being forced to live in a closet under the stairs which parallels the concept of a reservation. The white man lies to Phil and says that he (Phil) agreed to this arrangement according to the “records” (244-245).The story is merely a modern adaptation of the Native American experience. The comparison is so blunt, that I was surprised when Blue’s response to it was that it reminded her of a friend's situation.

Another example of history repeating itself in the book happens throughout the novel as characters struggle with a feeling of displacement and not knowing where home is. Several characters face threats of eviction on their houses which directly links to Native American peoples displacement throughout history, repeatedly being forced off their land. An example of this lack of home and belonging comes when Blue talks about her experience growing up, she says, “I kept on feeling white while being treated like any other brown person wherever I went. I got a job in Oakland at the Indian Center and that helped me to feel more like I belonged somewhere” (198). This sentiment is expressed throughout the novel as characters struggle with their identities as Native Americans, often because only one of their parents is Native American, they are adopted, or their parents are not present. In the above examples we can see how Orange tells his story to represent a uniquely modern experience of Native Americans, while still showing that their current experiences are rooted in the past.

Alcoholism and its effects

    Throughout There There by Tommy Orange, alcoholism runs rampant in the Native American community. No matter their past, alcoholism unifies their struggles, serving as an out from the hardships they face. As a result, characters’ lives are significantly altered. 

    The first character explored by Orange, Tony, was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, or what he refers to as the “Drome”. His distorted appearance is a result of his mom’s addiction while she was pregnant. Now, he is 21, reflecting on what that has done to him. He “can drink if [he] wants” yet feels that he “got enough when [he] was in [his] mom’s stomach (Orange 16). Because his mom turns to alcohol when she was enduring tough times, he is born with physical and mental disabilities. These disabilities alter how he views alcohol, but more importantly, they change what he is able to achieve. Tony takes an intelligence test and scores in the bottom percentile (16-17). His performance, a result of his disability, limits the opportunities that are made available to him. Tony knows this is due to his mother’s actions. When he talks to her on the phone, he tells her “you fucking did this to me” (19). His mother’s battle with alcohol has had a drastic impact on the quality of a life Tony can lead, creating a cycle of struggle. 

    Jacquie Red Feather too suffers from alcoholism. When processing the loss of her daughter, Jacquie has a flashback to Veho, a trickster spider her mother warned her about. Veho symbolizes the “white man who came and made the old world watch with his eyes,” a time when Natives would give up their land, homes, and traditions until “the needle, the bottle, or the pipe are the only things in sight” (106). Similarly, she feels that the doctors have taken her baby away from her, despite the baby being born over 2 months early. Jacquie proceeded to spend the “next 6 years stomaching a fifth of whiskey a night” (106). Needing an avenue to help her grieve, she turned to alcohol just like other Natives had in the past. Her alcoholism leads to her being unalert on the job, causing a bus to crash. After the wreck, she is ordered to take a course at the Indian Center, where she achieves a certificate of sobriety through an online course, despite continuing to rely on alcohol. Jacquie Red Feather attempts to process the loss of her daughter and the flashbacks it brings by turning to alcohol, costing her a job while being unable to seek meaningful help. 

    Alcoholism and its effects are repeatedly visualized throughout There There by Tommy Orange. Characters face the harsh impacts of alcohol, whether it be a physical and mental disorder, or an incapacity to work.

The Role of Alcoholism

Alcohol plays a key role in the novel There There, written by Tommy Orange.  From the first character perspective we get in the story from Tony Loneman to nearly every other character in the novel, alcohol and alcoholism have an adverse impact on the characters in some way or another.  Tony Loneman suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome due to his mother abusing the substance while pregnant with Tony.  Tony discusses this reality often and the “Drome” is a defining characteristic for Tony.  He states, “I’m twenty-one now, which means I can drink if I want.  I don’t though.  The way I see it, I got enough when I was a baby in my mom’s stomach” (Orange 21).  The excerpt captures the sentiments of Tony towards alcohol in full, as well as the correlating disgust for his mother and her alcohol addiction.

Dene Oxendene is affected by alcohol as well.  His Uncle Lucas plays an important role in his life as he inspires Dene’s fascination with film.  One day, Dene comes home to the news that his Uncle Lucas is in the hospital dying from liver failure.  His mother tells him, “He’s been drinking too much for too long. His body, his liver’s going” (Orange 48).  Dene is absolutely devastated and genuinely affected as a person as a result of his Uncle’s death.  He wants to know why his mother didn’t stop her brother from abusing alcohol sooner; he wants to know why she let him kill himself.

Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield is affected by alcohol at a very young age when her mother, half-sister, and herself occupied Alcatraz in protest.  Her half-sister, Jacquie, is out partying with fellow older kids on the island when they begin to drink alcohol.  Opal watches Jacquie, “I lied and told everyone I was twelve, but they didn’t even hear me.  I saw that they were passing a bottle around.  It’d just gotten to Jacquie.  She drank long and hard from it” (Orange 76).  This passage marks the beginning of a lifelong battle against alcoholism for Jacquie, which subsequently affects the life of Opal as well.  Opal is left to care for Jacquie’s grandsons after Jacquie’s daughter died from an overdose.

All of the characters aforementioned are affected by alcohol in a negative way.  However, perhaps it is not the fault of any of the characters or their family members.  Instead, maybe their circumstances as Native Americans have led to this inevitability of turning to substance abuse as a coping mechanism.  The character of Thomas Frank helps elaborate on this speculation, as he struggles with alcoholism.  Thomas says, “How you ended up getting fired was related to your drinking, which was related to your skin problems, which was related to your father, which was related to history” (Orange 324).  The above passage exemplifies the domino effect of events in history in respect to Indigenous people in America that have led to the massive issue of alcoholism amongst Native Americans.

Opal and Orvil: Cultural Identity Discovery

 Opal and Orvil: Cultural Identity Discovery

In the novel There There by Tommy Orange, there are a series of very different people who are tied together by their Native American roots and culture. Throughout the story many characters feel as though they do not belong to their Native American culture but what they further discover is that they will find themselves when they accept their culture. The family dynamic of finding oneself through native culture is evident in the story of Opal and Orvil. 

One of the main characters, Orvil, is not exposed to his native culture because Opal does not want to show him how the culture has changed from its original meaning. Opal tries to “prepare them for a world made for Native people not to live but to die in, shrink, disappear” (Orange 242). By not incorporating and teaching the native values into Orvil’s life, it makes him more curious about the culture.

Opal’s mother tells her that, “the monster that was the machine that was the government had no intention of slowing itself down for long enough to truly look back to see what happened” (Orange 58). This quote is referring to how stories are what has shaped the native culture into what it is because there is no other way to spread the culture. Orvil was eager to learn more about the culture and he turned to the internet. His plan was to go to the next pow wow with his brothers after memorizing Native dances from online. Orvil’s eagerness to learn about his culture was something that was indescribable. Orvil finds an itchy bump on his leg which was filled with spider legs. He learns that Opal had this when she was younger and it symbolizes his cultural identity inside him. The spider symbol shows that no matter what, the native culture will remain a part of him so if he chooses to ignore it the feeling will get worse. 

When Orvil brings himself and brothers to the powwow the powwow ends in chaos because of a mass shooting. Orvil ends up being shot and in the hospital, Opal turns to the culture she has known since a young age. Because of the mass shooting, Opal ends up finding her personal identity through her cultural identity and prays that Orvil makes it through the shooting. Overall, Opal and Orvil develop their personal identity through their cultural identity in There There by Tommy Orange.

The Search for Identity in There There

            A common theme throughout the novel includes their desires to find their identities. Native Americans, throughout history, have had a difficult time knowing where they belong. This is due to the oppression they were faced with, and being forced to move off of their land. This leaves Native Americans still wondering where their identities lie, as seen in There There. 

In There There, many characters are shown that are having an identity crisis and want to know where they belong. Edwin is a grown man who grew up with a white mother who raised him, and a Native American dad who was never present in his life. As he gets older, Edwin wants to know more about where he came from so he begins to message men with the same name as his father on Facebook on his mother’s account. His father responds with “I’m coming out to Oakland in a couple of months, for the Big Oakland Powwow. I’m the powwow emcee” (Orange, 70). Edwin has always struggled with looking different from the people around him, while not understanding or being a part of his culture. As he and his father continue to chat, he finds out a piece of his identity, he is a part of the Cheyenne tribe (Orange, 71). Having not grown up around his culture, he struggles with not feeling like he belongs. As he tries to think of himself as native as an adult, “I’m not finished. I am a Cheyenne Indian. A warrior. No. That’s super corny. Fuck. I get mad at that thought, that I even thought it” (Orange, 77), he struggles with even identifying with his culture. Edwin has lived with a white mother who doesn’t understand Native culture his entire life, but finally he at least knows where he comes from. He makes the effort to become part of the Native community and he gets a job working at the Indian Center. 

Throughout the novel, many characters are looking to find their identities and understand who they are. Edwin, wants to be a part of the community, and takes the steps in order to do this.

The Importance of History in There There

     In Tommy Orange's novel There There, the very first chapter of the book discusses the true history of Native Americans in America. This happens again throughout the novel with the Interlude, in Dene's search for stories, and in the characters themselves. The novel itself contains characters that are all lost in some sort of way and some are even running from or trying to avoid something, but the truth of it is that none of them can escape their history. 

    To open the novel with the Prologue means a lot more than the author simply wanting to educate the readers. If that were the only purpose he could have done it at any point in the novel, as we've seen in other books. The purpose of putting that strong Prologue in the beginning is to set the tone. It goes through the history of what really happened to the Native Americans when Europeans came here and long after. Along with that it makes eye-opening statements such as, "We've been defined by everyone else and continue to be slandered despite easy-to-look-up-on-the-internet facts about the realities of our histories and current state as a people" (9). This is important since some characters actually do use the history to learn more about themselves. It also is made clear that this is meant to set the tone, because after going through the history he ends with a section titled "Urbanity" (13). This section touches on "the generation born in the city" (13), which are the characters of the novel, and it touches on Oakland, the setting of the novel. This shows that the history sets the tone of these people’s lives and lives in them. 

    This is seen again in the Interlude. The Interlude is important because it gives even more insight into the history of the Native Americans, but goes more in depth on how they are affected now. There is even a section on about their last names that states,"When they decided they needed to keep track of us, last names were given to us just like the name Indian itself was given to us" (207). This is all pivotal, because at this point the readers have met most of the characters, so to touch more on the history at this point acts as a reminder that the history is not over just because it was at the beginning. It is a reminder now that we have met these characters that this history lives in them, even within their own names. 

    This history continues to follow these characters. Some actively search for it. Some want to escape it, but they can’t. The author is proving that history is not just the beginning of something or the past. It lives in these characters. The history is their story, and with someone like Dene, who acts like author in a way, the reader realizes just how important that is. 

Femininity in There, There

Tommy Orange's debut novel examines societal divides through the lens of modern Native American living. Throughout There, There, contrasts between age and youth, urban and rural, oppression and privilege, and acceptance and rejection are explored as many Native voices in Oakland, California, navigate life's struggles before an upcoming powwow. An additional divide compares and contrasts male and female characters in the novel. As every character wrestles with connection to their Native American heritage in a modern, urban setting, the female perspectives of Opal and Jacquie, specifically, show how carrying the traditionally female burdens of caretaking and dealing with assault influence their willingness to embrace Native American history.

As Native Americans, half-sisters Opal and Jacquie realize their place as women in early adolescence. Even their last names of Bear Shield and Red Feather connect them to their female and Native heritage, as their mom says they "come from old Indian names. We had our own way of naming before white people came over and spread all those dad names around in order to keep the power with the dads" (65). Their mom tells Opal, named after her mother and grandmother, to "carry that big old name around with honor" (66). However, as Opal and Jacquie age, they both encounter hardship that leads them to shun their heritage. As Native Americans gather on Alcatraz Island, Jacquie experiences sexual assault from Harvey, and the girls are both forced to grow up in the absence of structure and discipline from their mother. Well after Alcatraz, they continue to navigate the pressures of womanhood, as Jacquie bears a child and gives her up for adoption and the Opal fends off further advances on Jacquie from Ronald. The half-sisters are not only subjected to the hardships of being Native American, because they have the added burden of being Native American women. 

At the time that the novel takes place, Opal and Jacquie’s experiences have definitely shaped their willingness to embrace Native American history, but in vastly different ways from each other. Jacquie, after bearing another daughter and grieving her death, abandons her grandchildren and succumbs to an alcohol addiction. She chooses to shy away from the pain of her experiences in life, giving up true connection to her legacy and only recently beginning to communicate with her relatives over text (147). Jacquie is most distrustful of personal relationships and avoids them through addiction because of her experiences as a woman; Jacquie does not, however, ultimately shy away from her Native American heritage, as she eventually chooses to attend a Native American conference and make a trip to the Oakland powwow with Harvey after reconnecting with him an AA meeting. Her heritage becomes not something to shun, but something by which Jacquie says she can “‘make my way back’” (163) and define herself outside of being a failed mother and an addict.

Conversely, Opal utilizes her experiences as a woman to shun her Native American heritage. Opal assumes the role of caretaker for Jacquie’s three grandsons, and in embracing this role, she abandons all sense of connection to her Native American history. In Opal’s view, the experience of Alcatraz and subsequent trauma is best dealt with by prohibiting connection to heritage. While she is “secretly superstitious” (236), her duties as a caretaker who says of her grandsons, “it will take more for them to succeed than someone who is not Native” (242) supersede the desire to connect with anything cultural and lead her to dissuade her grandsons, even powwow-curious Orvil, from learning about heritage as well. Even though Jacquie and Opal grew up with similar hardships and are greatly influenced by womanhood and Native heritage alike, their ultimate approaches greatly differ.

Violence Uniting Time in There There

Throughout the novel There There, characters can be taken to represent different aspects of time, either through their direct rumination of its effect on their culture and heritage, or indirectly through their actions and mediums. Certain factions show up, each with a different take, but a same chronological position: Opal and Bill, for example, take up the side of ‘the past’ – the history of being an American Indian in the United States – while characters like Orvil and Edwin represent the ‘modern’ or ‘the future’ American Indian.

The way Opal raises her grand-nephews shows two views which situate her in the past: first, Opal is reluctant for the boys to participate in or celebrate their native ancestry. She looks down on it as a sort of dangerous responsibility; she likens “Indianing” to “drinking or driving or smoking or voting” (173). The second is her desire to prepare them for the inevitable prejudice they will face for their being Indian. She thinks that “She needs to push them harder because it will take more or them to succeed than someone who is not Native,” (242). Despite this, Orvil and his brothers attend the Powwow, and Orvil, who educated himself through YouTube videos, performs a traditional dance.

Similarly, Bill has a hard view on the life of the American Indian, and his reflection on his son Edwin’s “baby” character shows a sort of disapproval for the way modern technology steals the truth of Native oppression from the youth; “When it comes to the real cold hard gritty world outside, beyond the screen, without the screen, [Edwin]’s a baby,” (119). Edwin, meanwhile, struggles with meeting this expectation, trying to bridge together the Native life into something real in the present. Referring to art, Edwin explains how difficult it is for modern indigenous music to truly be both modern and indigenous. He explains that “If it isn’t pulling from tradition, how is it Indigenous? And if it stuck in tradition, in the past, how can it be relevant to other Indigenous people living now, how can it be modern?” (112)

The shooting which takes place at the Powwow represents something which truly unites the Native people, no matter their place in time: violence. Among the victims of the crossfire, Bill, Edwin, Orvil, and Thomas (a drummer who we might also say represents the present) are shot, with Bill and Thomas confirmed as dead. The violence, both in history and in the present, affects Natives indiscriminately. Of note, however, is that Dene Oxendene lives. As someone who spends his entire time recording the stories of Natives, both young and old, we might be able to say that Dene represents the full, unabridged history of the Native people, something which, despite the violence, lives on.

The Role of Feminism in There There

    Tommy Orange’s novel, There There, brings to life the stories of multiple characters of Native American descent. The novel discusses how gentrification has impacted the lives of native individuals and the hardships they face because of their racial identity. It discusses other very real issues which are often associated with those of Native American descent such as poverty and alcohol abuse. However, I found it interesting how the novel aims to bring to attention the cultural uniqueness of Native American society by sharing the unique traditions and variances in gender roles in Native American culture. In the novel There There, Tommy Orange depicts the female characters as individuals who play a particularly influential role in the lives of their families in contrast to the more dismissed role women generally have in the typical male-dominated patriarchal culture. 

    The women in the novel who portray the role of a motherly caretaker are depicted both as very strong women, but also those who deserve to be protected. Octavio Gomez plays the role of a drug dealer who plans the robbery of the Powwow. In the novel, he returns to his grandmother’s home unable to stand and climb the stairs on his own. Orange writes, “By the time I got back to my grandma Josefina’s house I could barely stand. She had to drag me up the stairs. My grandma’s old and small, and I was pretty big even then, but Fina’s strong” (171). Josefina is the mother figure in Octavio’s life and even after he has grown up and she has aged he still relies on her for strength. He goes to her when he is weak which shows how much he thinks she can withstand. 

    When Octavio is lying in his bed unable to move, his grandmother Josefina takes care of him and tells him the story of her past. She tells him about when she got pregnant even though she was not yet married and told her father that she was not going to have the child. He was angered and got ready to hit her with a big spoon until Josefina’s mother stepped in. Orange writes “My mom stopped him. He’d cross anyone, any line, but not through her” (173). The respect that Josefina’s father has for her mother demonstrates how much those who fulfill the role of the mother in the family are valued. Through the father’s understanding of needing to protect the mother from harm, it is emphasized that women are treasured in Native American cultures and are prioritized in the home. 

    Later in the novel, Thomas Frank, a drummer participating in the powwow, travels by train to the coliseum where the powwow is taking place. During the journey, he reflects on his family and thinks, “You feel a rush of sadness for your mom and her failed Christianity, for your failed family” (222). The sympathy which Thomas has for his mother shows how even as he has entered adulthood she has continued to play an influential role in his life. When Thomas is at his worst after being fired from his job, rather than pitying himself, he sits and thinks about his mother and all she has gone through. Orange adds “Before anyone was awake, your mom was crying into her prayer book. You looked into that book more than once because you wanted to know what questions, what private conversations she might have had with God” (223). Thomas felt the need to understand her pain even as a child showing how much he has always cared about his mother. His desire to understand his mother’s pain and emotions even as a young child shows how even as children Native Americans have been engrained to value and care for the mother figures in their lives. 

Overall, women are seen with a large sense of worth within the Native American culture and are treated with high levels of admiration even by the male figures in the family. Women tend to be central to Native American culture which contrasts to patriarchal societies that tend to revolve more around male dominance.

The Lack of Identity in "There There"

     In “There There,” Orange communicates the effects of oppression through each of the characters. One effect, which the book clearly communicates, is the lack of identity among the Native American characters. The mother of Jacquie and Opal moves her family to Alcatraz to validate her identity as a Native American. Jacquie’s grandson, Orvil, wants to learn more about his identity as a Native American through performing a dance at the powwow. Blue longs for identity as a Native American after growing up feeling white. Tony gives up strengthening his identity as a Native American once he grows up. In the end, the absence of a secure identity is detrimental to all of the characters in the book.    

    The mother of Jacquie and Opal takes them to Alacratraz to protest the government’s oppression of Native Americans. The mother tells her daughters, “We’re going to be with our relatives. Indians of All Tribes” (48). Their mother believes this will validate the identity of Native Americans and help them “rise again” (48). Despite Opal’s disapproval, Orvil attempts to learn more about his identity as a Native American through dancing. Opal describes being Native American “Like drinking or smoking or voting. Indianing” (118). Opal’s push against anything Native American makes it hard for Orvil to find identity as a Native American. Blue also longs to find identity as a Native American. At one point, Blue thinks, “And inside I feel as white as the long white pill-shaped throw pillow my mom always made me on my bed even though I never used it” (198). Because she is adopted, Blue did not grow up with an identity as a Native American. She decides to go to Oklahoma to find out more about where she comes from. As Orange writes, “She’d gone all that way to Oklahoma to find out where she came from and all she’d gotten for it was a color for a name. No one had heard of any Red Feather family” (237). Blue doesn't get answers until the powwow, where she finally finds Jacquie Red Feather. In contrast to Blue’s childhood, Tony grows up around Native American events. The book says, “Maxine had been taking me to powwows all around the Bay since I was young. I don’t anymore, but I used to dance” (23). Although Tony grows up with somewhat of an identity as a Native American, he leaves that behind when he is older. 

    None of the characters in the book have a secure identity as a Native American. This can be largely attributed to the oppressions each one has suffered from being Native American. Trying to find identity results in each of the characters being at the powwow, where each one experiences the trauma of a shootout. The lack of identity in Tony and his accomplices Octavio, Carlos, and Charles results in them turning against each other. Because they do not know and embrace their Native American identity, each character suffers.

Orvil and Opal in There There

     In There There, there are many characters with many different stories, with some identifying as Indian and others that do not. Throughout the entire novel, we witness Native Americans’ struggling with their identity in America, and I believe that Orvil and Opal depict the overall struggle the best.

    Orvil is a young character, so therefore, he does not adequately understand the past history of Native Americans, the past bloodshed, evictions, and so forth. He is innocent. Opal intentionally does not tell Orvil and his brothers about their past because she wants it to be easier for him and his brothers in America. Orange describes why Opal is so hard on her grandnephews by saying, “It’s to prepare them for a world made for Native people not to live but to die in, shrink, disappear” (242). She does not want to confuse Orvil between being Native and being American, because being Native American is tough in America. However, despite being told no, Orvil goes out of his way to learn about Native American culture. He puts on the regalia, listens to powwow music, and even goes to dance in the powwow. I believe that Orvil and Opal strike a balance between identifying as Indian and identifying as American. Orvil is a young character wishing to learn about his culture and be Indian, while Opal, having experienced the hardships of being Indian, understands that being Native is tough.

    I think that Orvil and Opal demonstrate why there are people that identify with Indian and why those that do. Orvil, wanting to identify as Indian, shows that culture is important. When Orvil is in the locker room before the powwow, a guy says, “you bring it with you, you dance to it” (345). That guy was talking all about history and expression and feelings when dancing in a powwow, and Orvil knows that to be true. Through Orvil, we can see why culture and heritage is very important. However, once the shooting begins, we understand Opal’s perspective. The shooting represents massacres from the past and how lives were and are lost. Opal knows the bloodshed that happened to Indians in the past and the harshness Native Americans go through, causing her to not identify as Indian, but at the end, Opal goes back to her roots once Orvil is shot. At the hospital Opal wishes “Loother and Lony aren’t even on their phones. This makes Opal sad. She almost wants them to be on their phones'' (422). Opal wishes that everything was normal, but it is not. Orvil’s life is on the line, and that forces Opal to turn towards her Indian culture, praying that Orvil stays alive. I believe that shows that one cannot escape his/her roots. Even though some characters do not identify as Indian, one’s culture will always be with him/her.

The Prologue: Setting the Record Straight

 There There, a novel by Tommy Orange, explores the identity and culture of the modern Native in Oakland through twelve main characters and their overlapping stories. Native stories, the ones that make it to the present and are not perpetually stuck in the past, do not have a large share of modern media. Many people’s mental image of the Native American struggle looks a lot like the Trail of Tears, cowboys and Indians, and worn-out history book depictions of Thanksgiving. Orange opens the book with the intentions to set this wonky record straight and remind his non-Native audiences of the atrocities directed at Native people across America. He takes the time before starting the narrative to point out the current caricature of a Native person in the average American’s mind: “We’ve been defined by everyone else and continue to be slandered despite easy-to-look-up-on-the-internet facts about the realities of our histories and our current state as a people. We have the sad, defeated Indian silhouette, and the heads rolling down temple stairs, we have it in our heads, Kevin Costner saving us, John Wayne’s six-shooter slaying us, an Italian guy named Iron Eyes Cody playing us in movies” (Orange 7). He moves to describe the atrocities on the next page, painting his audience a gruesome but true image of the violence committed against Native people to break both their bodies and their spirits as a race: “They did more than kill us. They tore us up. Mutilated us. Broke our fingers to take our rings, cut off our ears to take our silver, scalped us for our hair. […] They broke soft baby heads against trees. Then they took our body parts as trophies and displayed them on a stage in downtown Denver” (Orange 8). This imagery is horrifying on purpose. To discuss Orange’s take on the modern Native identity, we must look back at the past that shapes the current oppression Native people across the country face. This is a past stained by blood, wrought with genocide and assimilation meant to completely destroy Native cultures. To understand the alcoholism and disconnect from Native traditions many of the characters face, we must address a system designed from the beginning to destroy Native communities from the outside and from within. Tommy Orange does not let the reader sit idly in their whitewashed ideas about Native identities and forces them to confront the truth—the bloody, horrifying truth of colonialism and genocide.

Tone in the prologue and tone in the novel

 Although Tommy Orange’s There There is written as a novel, the stories told in the book reflect the truth of life as a Native American. Orange utilizes the prologue and interlude to educate the reader about the harsh history of Native people in America. The prologue gives a brief recount of 500 years of genocide and displacement, most of these topics glossed over by history books that are taught in schools. The prologue recounts the story of the original Thanksgiving meal shared by Indians and European settlers, saying “It was a land deal meal. Two years later there was another, similar meal meant to symbolize eternal friendship. Two hundred Indians dropped dead that night from an unknown poison” (Orange 4). This story of Thanksgiving is vastly different from the version that is taught to young American children. I was shocked to find out the truth behind the relationship between the European settlers of the 1600s and the Native Americans. I think that Orange was deliberate in providing an element of shock within the prologue because it grabs the attention of the reader as the novel begins. The prologue also gives a background of the hardships faced by Native people hundreds of years ago, which explains why current Native populations still face issues such as alcoholism and drug abuse.

I interpreted the novel as neutral in tone due to the authenticity of the characters’ stories. Although the history stated in the prologue is dark and somber, the story itself comes across as realistic. Tony Loneman has fetal alcohol syndrome, which he calls The Drome. The hardships that come with The Drome start to fade away as he embraces his Native culture. When Tony puts on his regalia he says, “I looked at my face. The Drome. I didn’t see it there. I saw an Indian. I saw a dancer” (Orange 26). His culture is displayed positively in this scene which shows that being Native can also bring joy and a sense of self to Native people. The history of Native Americans is dark, but the novel also shows a rich and joyous culture.

I thought it was interesting that the novel ends with a tragic event. The buildup to the powwow throughout the book demonstrates its importance for each character as a joyful celebration of culture. The gunfire and death that takes place seems to erase all of the happiness that stems from Native culture, and instead gives another example of a downfall of being Native. I think Orange includes the tragedy at the powwow to show that Native people will continue to face hardships due to their race. The prologue serves as a brief history of this prejudice, while the final scenes show the ongoing struggles of Native Americans. 

You, Me, and Them: There There and Changing Perspective

Tommy Orange's There There is a book that tackles the multiple-perspectives style of story writing, in which an interconnected cast of characters each gets a reasonable amount of time within the spotlight, such as to highlight their own unique pasts and presents. However, Orange also switches between First, Third, and even Second person perspective between chapters, seemingly with no rhyme or reason. I believe that these shifts in perspective are meant to help the reader empathize with each of the characters presented, and show just how different yet interconnected their lives are. 

The writing of There There has an air of being told stories about other people to it. This feeling is reflected in how Dene himself records stories and accounts from Native Americans in Oakland. In his introductory chapter, he pleads his case to get his project funded: "I want to bring something new to the vision of the Native experience as it's seen on the screen. We haven't seen the Urban Indian story" (Orange, 40). He records the stories that other Natives within Oakland give to him, and compensates them for it. Their stories, their perspectives, are worth more than just a short amount of listening. They're unique. And Orange shows this to the audience by having some chapters be in the first person, others in the third. While we get to see the pasts and presents of all of the characters, and, to varying degrees, their feelings about them, it is clear that those stories told in the first person feel more personal. 

Tony, the first character introduced in the book, tells the audience about his own feelings of otherness, due to "The Drome" and his identity as a Native American. Because this story is told in the first person, the last few sentences hit quite hard: "I looked at my face. The Drome. I didn't see it there. I saw an Indian. I saw a dancer" (Orange, 26). Here, Orange shows the reader that for some, connecting with one's culture is how Native Americans can feel more of a part of something. By having this story be recounted to us by Tony, we are primed to empathize with him and his life, just like we would be if we watched Dene's interviews. This creative choice, being supplemented with the third person chapters, makes me at the very least feel like I'm being given stories of all kinds about a community. Anecdotal stories that, together, tell an even bigger one. However, I would also like to give attention to the single chapter in which Orange makes use of the second person, and, therefore, forces the reader to step into the shoes of the last of his characters to be introduced, Thomas Frank.

Immediately, this chapter stood out to me. In part, this is because this is the only chapter in the novel that uses the second person perspective. The second thing I noticed, however, is that it was much, much, much more introspective than the others. Here, the reader is not just coming to understand Thomas Frank, but we have become him, if only for a few pages. "Before you were born, you were the nested Russian grandmother doll of possibility... you were two halves of a thousand different kinds of possibilities, a million heads or tails, flip-shine on a spun coin" (Orange, 208). This is true of Thomas, but it's also true of the reader, and every living person. Orange asks the audience to take a look at exactly how human Native Americans are, and how at the end of the day, they're the same as anyone else, even with their differences. And by having this be the final introduction, as well as the final chapter before the events at the powwow, we feel, more than anything else, the tragedy of the losses of their lives.

Intersectionality in There There

One thing that I discovered after reading the novel is that it is common for people, primarily white Americans, to think of minorities as nothing other than their minority group. After reading about all of the characters in the novel I realized that people are much more than their label, and they are often dealing with several disadvantages or struggles at once. This reminds me of the concept of intersectionality, which is essentially an overlap of minority groups or disadvantages in society. Intersectionality reminds us that everyone has their own unique experiences since no one has the exact same attributes as another person. We see this concept many times throughout the book as the characters struggle not only with their Native American identity but also with their own personal struggles such as addiction, disabilities, poverty, and health.

In the novel, the character Tony Loneman deals with something more complicated than just being a Native American in Oakland. Loneman struggles with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which is an example of a character who is much more complicated than his minority group. I found it interesting how Loneman explained his disability as a power and a curse. He stated that it described his past and his history. “The Drome is my mom, and why she drank, it’s the way history lands on my face, and all the ways I made it so far” (Orange, 21). This is similar to the way people view minority groups. Although some people might look a certain way, this is only because of their history, and it identifies where they came from. 

Another character that struggles throughout the novel with issues other than race is Edwin Black. What is interesting about Black’s difficulties is that they are typical stereotypes of western culture. Gambling, Internet addiction, and a bad diet are all things attributed to America’s flawed society. Black explains how he did not grow up fat or overweight; however, he always felt like he was. “I hadn’t grown up fat. Not overweight...But I always felt fat” (Orange, 99). This idea of feeling inferior from the rest of the people you are surrounded by is the same feeling that people part of minority groups feel every day. Could this be Blacks way of dealing with his Native American identity since he feels different from the rest of his peers but can not figure out why. Is black insinuating that he would rather his fatness separates him from everyone else over his Native American roots?

Overall, there are many characters in this novel that deals with issues that go beyond their identity. Some of them struggle with mental health issues, addiction, familial struggles, and more. All of these characters demonstrate that we should be viewing minorities and other people as more than just their minority group. People are very complex individuals with other elements beyond their race or religion. Once we learn to stop grouping people together and assuming they are the same as another person based on similar qualities or characteristics, we will be able to appreciate people more on an individual level.