The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What has been the purpose of Indigenous reservations in the United States? What is their history, and where and how do they exist now?

Teaching Suggestion: It may be helpful to define the terms “reservation” and “sovereignty.” Consider engaging students in an initial brainstorm of the above questions to gauge students’ existing knowledge. After they spend time with the resources, it may be helpful to encourage them to notice trends and patterns: What happened to reservation borders over time? What do students notice about the locations and sizes of current reservation land? Consider pointing students to the Spokane Reservation (and Eastern Washington, generally) to orient themselves to the setting of Alexie’s book.

• “The Library of Congress: Reservation Maps” - This page from the LOC contains several maps that span various years (from the mid-1800s to the 1930s) and show various reservation borders and how they have changed over the years.
• “The Bureau of Indian Affairs: Land Areas of Federally Recognized Tribes” - This map from the BIA shows the current locations and borders of federally recognized tribes and sovereign nations.

2. How many Indigenous tribes can you name? Do you know where they live currently and have lived traditionally? What do you imagine an Indigenous writer today could be trying to achieve with fictional work that a broad audience will read?

Teaching Suggestion: This question can help teachers discover more about students’ levels of awareness about Indigenous people in the United States, whether they have heard of any smaller tribes, and finally, if they can make the connection between the general population’s lack of awareness of the breadth of tribal existence in the pre-Colombian Americas and today and an Indigenous author’s possible intent in their writing. It may be helpful to include some photographs and maps of eastern Washington state to orient students to the geography of the Spokane Reservation, in particular.

• “The History of the Spokane Tribe of Indians” - This short resource from the Spokane Tribe’s official website provides a brief history of the tribe.
• “Poets and Writers: Sherman Alexie” - In this 3-minute video, Sherman Alexie discusses what draws people to storytelling and why his work appeals to a broad audience.

Short Activity

Read “Remember” by Joy Harjo twice (once out loud, either by the teacher or a student volunteer, and once on your own) and spend 5-10 minutes annotating the poem. Next, respond to the following question: What is the role of memory in Harjo’s poem? What does it mean to remember, and why is memory important?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider having students write their answers to the question in a journal, then engage in a think-pair-share with a partner or small group before facilitating a larger class discussion.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the story.

Take 5-10 minutes and reflect on the role that memory and storytelling play in your life. Can you think of a story specific to your family or community? If not, are there stories in one of your parents’ families that have been passed down? What is your relationship to these stories?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider asking students to share their thoughts with a peer, in a small group, on the board, etc.