Dying Culture
Native American culture relies on storytellers to preserve history facts and religion believes for future generations. Many storytellers have been repeating the same stories passed on from past generation. Storytellers are now viewed as crazy Indians by young and trendier culture because many do not care about the past so many Indians feel it’s a dying culture.
A way of preserving history and religion believes was thru telling stories recorded by Native Americans. When the Indian culture was striving against the white man, a way of preserving their stories was thru verbal communications which were passed by father to sons labeled as storytellers. Without storytellers history of the past would be forgotten because in those years recording devices and calligraphy did not exist or were not obtain by Indians.
When stories became repetitive by the storytellers many of the young and modern generation did not want to be informed. When Sherman J. Alexie introduces Thomas builds-the-fire in “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” he is portrayed as a person who told the same damn stories over and again (165). Nobody wanted to be near him because of all those stories we told were the same ones. Even though no one wants to listen, Thomas believes that his stories “can change or not change the world. It doesn’t matter which, as long as I continue to tell the stories” (171). Many Native American can be influenced or changed by stories told by storytellers. One thing Alexie seems to assume their traditions and culture is on the verge extinction for future generations to come.
Victor knew that Thomas would remain that crazy storyteller who talked to dogs and cars, who listen to the wind and pine trees (171). Native Americans storytellers are viewed as crazy from those who did not seem to care about stories about their past. Victor is portrayed by Alxies as a non-caring friend of Thomas. Thomas knew Victor was not going to treat him any better than...