Who Is Drew Hayden Taylor's Stereotyping Aboriginal People?

To many people, Canada is known for its equality, freedom and its acceptance of people no matter their race or culture. However, Canada is not always as good and accepting as people think of it to be, especially when it comes to stereotyping Aboriginal peoples. Drew Hayden Taylor, as a half-white and half-Ojibway author, has personally experienced the stereotyping in society against Aboriginal peoples. By providing testimony, using a sarcastic and mocking tone in all three of his essays, and often referring to general stereotypes of Native people, Drew Hayden Taylor’s essays “Seeing Red Over Myths”, “What’s an Indian Worth These Days?” and “Pretty Like a White Boy: The Adventures of a Blue Eyed Ojibway” challenge conventional values and beliefs

For instance, his tone plays a large part in the essay “What’s an Indian Worth These Days?” (Taylor), along with other distinct literary devices. Even the way the essay starts off, “You may have not noticed it yet, it’s so subtle , but trust me, it’s happening … a lot of mainstream Canadians are under the impression that many of us are substantially well off” (“What’s” Taylor 263). Taylor immediately starts the readers off with letting them know that this idea is not a fact at all. His use of the words “mainstream” and “impression” both clearly show that. First of all, “mainstream” refers to the idea that Canadians thinking that Aboriginal people are substantially well off is just a commonly held belief. The denotation of “mainstream”, “belonging to or characteristic of a principal, dominant, or widely accepted group, movement, style, etc.” (citation) also agrees with that as Taylor is evidently trying to tell the readers that people who believe this stereotype are just going with the general assumption of society. The word “impression” also supports the fact that the idea that Aboriginal people are substantially well off is a stereotype, not a fact. Afterwards, Taylor goes on to say “According to word on the street, we all are dripping in money” (“What’s” 263). This quotation reinforces Taylor’s extremely mocking tone, as “dripping in money” is actually

For example, in the essay “Seeing Red Over Myths” (Taylor), Drew Hayden Taylor actually uses a different technique compared to his usual essays to convince readers that stereotyping about a people is quite damaging. Instead of being sarcastic about the matter, or using literary devices to implicate the damages of stereotyping, Taylor straightforwardly tells the readers how exasperating it can be to have to constantly clear up stereotypes about one’s group/culture. This can be seen when he says “When people ask me, ‘What do First Nations people want?’ how do I answer? Some of the Mi'kmaq want to catch lobster; some of the Cree want… and I know bingo is in there somewhere” (“Seeing” Taylor). In this quotation, Taylor very clearly explains to the readers how annoyed he feels when someone asks him a question of that sort. His tone when he says “how do I answer?” (“Seeing”) shows just how irritated he is by that question. He is trying to show the readers that it is wrong to address an entire culture of people as just one, since there are many subcultures within that group too. Taylor then goes on to once again blatantly express his point about stereotypes when he says “Such is the power of myths. By their very definition, they're inaccurate or incomplete” (“Seeing”). This one line basically sums up what Drew Hayden Taylor has