Otherworldly Abused In Bloodchild By Octavia Butler

Abusing humans just for their ethnicity is believed to only have happened hundreds of years ago. However, this is still happening today, and nothing is being done to stop it. In the article “Native American elders recall abuse at US government boarding schools”, many Native Americans reflect on times they were abused and beaten by school officials for simply being Native American, which is very similar to how humans are used and abused on the Tlic’s planet in “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler. In this article, many different Native Americans look back to times when they were brutally beaten while attending boarding schools for simply being Native American, and embracing their culture. This is very similar to “Bloodchild” as, in this novel, the

The Tlic, who are otherworldly scorpion creatures, control their planet by manipulating and influencing the humans' every move. Gan, a human boy who lives on this planet, along with his family were always taught to listen and obey their Tlic, T’Gatoi, and respect every request she has (Butler). This obedience Gan and his family have for T’Gatoi displays the power the Tlic have over humans, and is very similar to how Native American schoolchildren obey the staff in boarding schools. The Tlic do not only control humans, they also take advantage of humans' inability to fight against their strength to trap them, and keep control over them. Gan’s mother, Lien, had refused to drink from T’Gatoi’s egg, which caused “the whole left row of T’Gatoi’s limbs” to close around Lien, calming her down. T’Gatoi establishes her power within the household by putting Gan’s mother in a cage, demonstrating how much stronger she is than the ordinary human, and how she uses this power to take control over a weaker group, the humans. This correlates to Native American children in boarding schools who were put in an emotional cage by staff and faculty because they were weaker and could do nothing to stop it. The T’lic also wound and even kill innocent humans just because they can not give birth to their T’lic eggs, which is not in their control as Terrans. Gan’s brother, Qui, tells Gan about how he saw a Tlic kill a human that was failing to give birth to Tlic eggs, saying that the Tlic “cut his throat” with just a simple “swipe of one claw” (Butler). The incident where a Tlic killed a human displays their mercenary beliefs and how they will kill any human that can not give birth to their children, which is not even in their control. This reflects the incidents within Native American Boarding schools where faculty at these schools would beat and harass children just