Smoke Signals is a narrative about Native Americans in modern times. It is about a family’s bond with their son. It was about learning about ourselves through our interactions with others. This is a narrative about two guys on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation in Idaho who are transformed by fire. As newborns, it was the flame that brought these two young guys together.
Generational conflict is a tendency in human relationships that has occurred for as long as people have lived on the planet. Misunderstandings between the young and the old can arise for a variety of reasons, and finding an appropriate solution to generational disputes has been one of the issues that have drawn not only pragmatic psychiatrists but also artistic minds.
Environmental adaptability tales are the foundation of Western films featuring Native American protagonists. While westerns with Native Americans at the centerpiece or on the periphery portray Native Americans as either savages or nobles, the movie also shows how well Native Americans have adjusted to what white settlers consider an ecological hell or worse.
Native Americans in a number of western films convert a seemingly dead terrain into a place they can feel at home in an effort to promote a more sustainable vision of grassland and desert environments. This theme of adaptation to the environment is continued in modern western movies set on or near tribal territory, with Sherman Alexie’s Smoke Signals having a powerful impact.
- Racial and Cultural Discrimination of Native Americans
- The Problem of Native Americans’ Existence
- Aspects of Native American Culture
- Historical Trauma in Native Americans and African Americans
- Native Americans: The Value of Environmental and Cultural History
- Popular Culture: Native American Communities
- The Native American Indians