Scalp Dance

Scalp Dance by Spokane Indians

When reading this I could feel negative energy from the speaker. She seemed to be angry at how the Spokane Indians were treated by the artists that came to paint them. It reminded me of how it had always been with the Indians. White man swoops in gets the good stuff and leaves them empty handed. She shows her anger when she says, “When you see me now in that painting dancing with the scalp, you must realize that I didn’t have a husband, that I never danced without a smile, that I never sat still for Kane.” Kane only painted her from memory but to this day people look at the painting and believe she was an angry Indian woman whose husband was killed and she danced with the scalp of those who killed her husband, when it was so far from the truth. Alexie brought out how the speaker wanted the truth to be known. The way Alexie wrote made me angry. I know how the Indians were treated but had never heard or even thought about this type of mistreatment. I found it very odd that Kane was the last name of the artist and the name of the Indians were the Spokanes, so did they feel that this was something else that was taken away from them???