Performance Art

 In Tommy Orange’s novel, There There, Jacquie makes a comment towards the end of the novel on page 279.  In the powwow, so many people dropped to the ground and were shot while dressed in native regalia.  Jacquie thinks that the sight of all of these people at the powwow laying on the ground in their regalia looks like a piece of performance art.  In my opinion, I think that Jacquie means that the image of all of the native bodies on the ground connects to the historical events of Native Americans constantly experiencing violence, pain, or suffering.  Colonization has caused Native Americans to suffer, and the tragedy of the powwow reflects the tragedy of colonization.  Native Americans have had their land taken away, have been killed, and have been assimilated.  Tommy Orange opens up his novel with specific examples and images of the violence towards Native Americans.  For example, in the prologue, Tommy Orange includes examples of some of the massacres that Native Americans have faced.  Furthermore, Tommy Orange shows how the colonization that Native Americans have faced has led to harmful effects as well.  These harmful effects are present in the novel.  For example, Tommy Orange shows the effects of colonization through using characters that may have problems with alcohol, obesity, and unstable family structures.  Also, the Occupation of Alcatraz ended in tragedy since the Native Americans were forced off the land of Alcatraz in 1971 by armed federal marshals.  Overall, I think that Orange shows how Native Americans are stuck in this cycle of constantly facing pain, suffering, or violence.