FRQ 3

In the novel “There There,” Tommy Orange employs the symbol of the Oakland Powwow in order to convey the lasting effects that burden Native Americans as a result of forced assimilation and the identity crises faced by many Native Americans today, ultimately illustrating the continuous effect of historical practices on marginalized groups of people. 

To begin, the Oakland Powwow serves as a symbol for the displacement of Native Americans, influenced by forced assimilation. The characters in Orange’s novel are modern Native Americans living in Oakland, California; however, their tribes are not from the Oakland area. Because Orange wants to represent the displacement forced on Native Americans, he uses the Oakland Powwow to highlight that Native Americans, from tribes all across the U.S., often only have cultural affairs far away from their native lands. Consequently, the extremity of the displacement is emphasized. Therefore, the true continuous effect of historical practices is revealed through the symbol of the Oakland Powwow. The devastating events at the Oakland Powwow further reveal the lasting effects of forced assimilation. The Oakland Powwow, meant to be a culturally rich and inviting event for Native Americans, quickly turned into chaos when gunfire ensued during a planned robbery. The characters planned a robbery at the Powwow because they were forced to live with generational poverty. Poverty is one of the many harmful effects of forced assimilation. Since the characters feel out of place in Oakland, they believe crime is the easiest way for them to get money. They attack the Powwow as an attempt to deflect from their cultural hardships. Thus, Orange uses the Oakland Powwow as a powerful symbol to explore the difficult truth that historical practices still have devastating effects on marginalized groups. 

While the Oakland Powwow symbolizes the burden of forced assimilation placed on Native Americans, it also represents identity challenges braved by many present-day Native Americans. The Oakland Powwow’s symbolic representation transcends displacement and extends to the characters’ search for identity. One of the characters, Edwin Black, grew up mixed. He lived with his white mom, and never knew his native american dad. Because Edwin didn’t grow up around his dad, he never got the opportunity to understand his native traditions, culture, or even his own heritage. Consequently, Edwin attends the Oakland Powwow, as it is his only connection to his Native American roots. Therefore, the Oakland Powwow’s representation of the characters’ search for identity expresses the severity of historical practices’ lasting effects on groups that the practices othered. The Oakland Powwow continues to represent the characters’ search for identity. Many of the characters in Orange’s novel have little understanding of their heritage and native American culture. The Oakland Powwow becomes a place for the characters to fully immerse themselves in their culture. Upon arriving at the Oakland Powwow, the characters enter a state of shock at the vibrancy of the culture around them because they have never truly experienced their own culture. Since they have never understood their own culture, the Oakland Powwow represents the vast aspects of their culture. Thus, historical practices’ continuous effects on the very groups that they marginalized is revealed through the cultural shock of the Oakland Powwow. 

Overall, the novel “There There” by Tommy Orange explores how symbolic representation can reveal characters’ inner challenges and struggles. Orange uses the Oakland Powwow as a symbol for the lasting effects of forced assimilation placed onto Native Americans today, and as a symbol for identity struggles faced by many present-day Native Americans. The Oakland Powwow’s strong symbolic representation highlights the continuous effects of forced assimilation through the characters’ feelings of displacement, and the characters’ distant proximities to their tribal lands. This symbolic representation also emphasizes Native American identity crises through the characters' surprise and utter shock at their own culture. Ultimately, the symbol of the Oakland Powwow reveals the continuous effect of historical practices.

In the novel Wandering Stars, Tommy Orange employs scenes of emotional violence through the abuse endured by the young boy at Carlisle School in order to bring attention to the devastating effects of forced assimilation and explore how generational trauma can impact people’s lives, ultimately illustrating the negative effects of colonization still have harmful impacts on modern Native Americans. 

To begin, Orange explores the experiences of forced assimilation on young Native Americans through emotional violence, revealing the traumatic impact that forced assimilation leaves for generations. In the beginning of the novel, a young, Native American boy was ripped from his family, enrolled in Carlisle School (a school that assimilates Native American children), and forced to learn the English language. Because the young boy is forced to learn English, and stop using his native language, he begins to lose sight of his culture. Consequently, the forced assimilation burdening the young boy emphasizes the true, devastating impact of forced assimilation: losing one’s culture and being forced to embrace a culture one doesn’t truly know. Therefore, the loss of language, made possible by the emotional violence caused by forced assimilation, continues to have lasting effects on Native Americans today. Not only does forced assimilation cause the loss of language, it also causes the loss of one’s culture as a whole. While enrolled at Carlisle School, the young boy was forced to learn Christianity through the teachings of the Bible. The idea of christianization enforces the practice of forced assimilation because it causes the young boy to learn about other cultures than his own. Since the young boy is forced to learn and embrace a different culture, and not allowed to continue practicing his own culture, he gradually begins to drift away from his own culture. Thus, the use of emotional violence highlights the cultural toll taken on by Native Americans, which still have lasting impacts today. 

Furthermore, Orange continues to employ scenes of emotional violence through the theme of addiction, emphasizing the generational trauma caused by forced assimilation. While at Carlisle school, the young, Native American is constantly forced to accept and embrace a culture and a language that is not his own, adding to the emotional toll he is forced to endure. Eventually the boy develops a drug addiction. This addiction is developed because of the emotional abuse he endures while being enrolled at Carlisle School. Since the emotional abuse the boy faces at the school is traumatic, he utilizes his addiction as an escape from the emotional abuse. Therefore, the generational trauma impacting modern day Native Americans is the result of the emotional effects of forced assimilation. Orange continues to use the theme of addiction through the emotional abuse endured by the young Native American boy at Carlisle School in order to highlight where generational trauma comes from. The boy constantly experiences emotional abuse from his teacher, who are supposed to be supportive and educational figures within the school. Because the boy endures emotional abuse, he develops a drug addiction. Consequently, the boy uses the drugs as a way to escape from the emotional abuse caused by the school, which is forcing assimilation and culture onto him, causing generational trauma. Therefore, the use of addiction emphasizes the idea that generation trauma caused by forced assimilation still has harmful effects on Native Americans today. 

All in all, Orange uses emotional violence and abuse to illustrate how forced assimilation and generation trauma endured by Native Americans in the past, still have lasting effects on modern Native Americans. The harmful effects of forced assimilation are seen through the young boy’s experience being forced to learn English and Christianity through the Bible. The generation trauma caused by forced assimilation still has devastating impacts on Native Americans today, as seen through the loss of culture, language, and battles with addiction.