Indigenous Identity And Belonging In Tommy Orange's Novel 'There'

Ezekiel Lu
4th Jan 2022
English 11
Indigenous Identity and Belonging in There There

In Tommy Orange's novel There There, the theme of displacement and belonging is central to the experiences of the Native American cast. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield and Dene Oxendene are looking for cultural roots and a sense of belonging to their Indigenous heritage. Despite their diverse backgrounds and experiences, the characters are united by a sense of displacement and the continuing effects of colonialism on Native American communities. Through the intersecting stories of these two characters, Orange explores the complexities of Indigenous identity and the ongoing struggle for Native American communities to find a sense of belonging in the modern world.

There There is a thought-provoking explanation of the complexities of indigenous identity and Native American communities’ ongoing struggle to find a sense of belonging in the modern world. The novel offers a poignant and timely commentary on the search for connection and belonging in a rapidly changing world through the characters Dene and Opal, as well as a nuanced portrayal of Native American communities' ongoing struggles and triumphs.
Dene Oxedene's racial and ethnic identity is frequently misunderstood and assumed based on his appearance, leading to feelings of not belonging and not being fully accepted as a result of the ambiguity of his identity and others' assumptions of his background. The complexities and fluidity of racial and ethnic identity is emphasized, as are Dene's difficulties in being correctly identified based on his background. Dene believes that people are judging him on the train as the author narrates “Dene is not recognizably Native. He is ambiguously nonwhite. Over the years he’d been assumed Mexican plenty, been asked if he was Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Salvadoran once, but mostly the question came like this: What are you?” (Pg. 28-29) Dene has frequently been assumed to be of a

29). This highlights the complexities and fluidity of racial and ethnic identity and how it is often imposed upon or assumed about people rather than being fully understood or respected. It also touches on the social and cultural expectations placed on individuals to fit into specific racial or ethnic categories, and how those who do not fit neatly into these categories can be treated as outsiders. Furthermore, it reflects how people's racial or ethnic identities are frequently used to define or label them, rather than being seen as one aspect of their broader identities. Leading Dene to want to reform this inequitable system. His idea for changing this inequitable system when asked by his uncle is“It’ll be in the near future. I'm gonna have an alien tech-nology colonize America. We’ll think we made it up. Like it’s ours. Overtime we’ll become like androids, and we’ll lose the ability to recognize each other. The way we used to look. Our old ways. We won’t even really consider ourselves half-breeds, half-aliens, because we’ll think it’s our technology… Become human again like we used to be” (Pg. 31) The use of the terms "half-breeds" and "half aliens" alludes to how cultural histories and practices