Liminals

“Indians in Unexpected Places” first chapter had me thinking about liminal spaces and people. Native Americans have become a liminal in American society. Their representation and stereotyping, perpetuated by rumors and fear of the misunderstood, of the unknown, only worsened their situation. Deloria explores this stereotype and violence within the Wild West of the 1800’s through battles and the society of the west, including interplay between white society and Indian reservations. Indians became liminals because of whites trying to control and stabilize a mobile culture. Indians were distrusted on a reservation and off it. They became liminals because white society did not allow them to belong to their own land.

The issue of “outbreak” also became important. Rumors and stories of sudden attacks from Indians grew fear deeper into west. Sudden breakouts in fire or sickness were attributed to Indians. “As a white fear and expectation, the, outbreak offered a new understanding of violence, one poised to replace the surround and the last stand” (27). The “surround” and “last stand” were two fears about Indian culture and the stereotype of violence that was placed on them. It is interesting to note that the stereotype placed on the Indians of violence was created by the white society that wished to control the Indians, fearing violence as a repercussion of their own actions. Groupthink certainly would be an interesting study. Indian names were translated, or just fabricated, into English, perpetuating the “liminal” cycle. The Native Americans were loosing their culture to a synthetic new one of English names and violent acts, something that was not the natural case.

Indians were given the unwanted land for the unwanted people. They were gated and fenced and told to stay, then mistrusted and forced to assimilate. The fear born out of whites’ own actions forced an entire culture to be unsure of its space among their own land, their own culture and their interaction with others. This movement, though not an unheard of story, is surprising and worrying as we look to it today. When did this not become a major issue? When will it be revisited? Will Native Americans cease to become liminal, if not to themselves, then to the American society?

Jennie Z