Diane Burns uses the tone and structure of this poem to show her negativity towards Native American stereotypes. The poem is written in the form of answers she gives in an unwritten conversation, but you can guess the questions from her answers. Many of her answers show that she has heard these questions many times and is bored of entertaining them. For example, she says “Let me guess, Cherokee?” (line 16) showing she already had many similar conversations before. Also she responds “Yeah. Uh-huh. Spirituality. Uh-uh. Mother Earth. Yeah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Spirituality.” (line 31) which shows her lack of enthusiasm for the stereotype of Native Americans as medicine men or overly spiritual people, and perhaps she isn’t spiritual at all and only agrees to end the conversation.
The tone of the poem is also very blunt and sarcastic in some places. This also shows that Burns is sick of these same questions and is becoming more annoyed with the conversation. Many of the answers are somewhat humorous as well, showing the silliness of the questions. Answers like “No, I don’t know where you can get peyote” (line 25), “No, I didn’t make this. I bought it at Bloomingdales” (line 27) and “No, I didn’t make it rain tonight” (line 30) relay this sarcastic tone. The last lines of the poem “This ain’t no stoic look. This is my face” are the most blunt and direct. They show that the speaker is really starting to get annoyed and the questions are getting more offensive.
What is the effect of the sarcasm for you? Do you think it brings you in as a reader or puts you off? Which readers do you think would find it brings them in, and which would not?
It definitely brings me in; it shows how ridiculous the conversation can get sometimes and how easy it is to offend someone without noticing or caring. It reminded me of when I met a Native American from Seattle a couple of years ago (well, he was 50/50 Native American). I hung out with him for just one day but I managed to ask a lot of questions that the poem made me realize might have been offensive or just plain stupid (“Why don’t you have those cool braids, bro?”) Similarly, the first thing a stoner might think when meeting a Native American is if they can hook them up with some peyote or ask if they wove the shirt they are wearing (No, I bought it at Bloomingdale’s, just like everyone else). So the sarcasm is a very good addition in relaying Burns’ message that she is fed up with being stereotyped.
I guess the audience that might get rubbed the wrong way by the sarcasm may be Native Americans who take pride in these cultural nuances. They may view the sarcasm as disrespect and disregard towards their heritage. My friend from Seattle told me when he was younger, he would pretend he was fully Hispanic (his other half) to blend in with the other kids. When his older Native American cousins found out they threw him a beat down to remind him that even though their cultural was not what it once was, it is to be treated with the utmost respect and pride.