What You Pawn I Will Redeem

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

Pre-Reading “Icebreaker”

Does your family have any heirlooms of special significance? Alternatively, do you own anything that you feel represents some aspect of who you are? How would you feel if you lost that object?

Teaching Suggestion: The regalia Jackson hopes to reclaim holds personal significance as something that once belonged to his grandmother, but it also symbolizes his broader Spokane heritage; without this heritage, he is alienated and purposeless. Use students’ responses to spark discussion about how objects can reflect our identities and what it means when those objects are bought and sold.  

• “Spokane celebrates Native culture with Gathering at the Falls Powwow”: 2018 Spokesman Review article featuring multiple images of powwow regalia (photography by Libby Kamrowski)
• “Stolen History”: 2019 Cowboys & Indians article by Tara Nieuwesteeg discussing tribes’ efforts to reclaim their artifacts from museums and private collections

Post-Reading Analysis

The title of “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” has a clear meaning in terms of the story’s plot, but what symbolic or figurative relevance does it also have? How does the idea of redemption inform the story and its themes?

Teaching Suggestion: The title of Alexie’s story connects to all three of its major themes—not just the personal rebirth that Jackson experiences, but also the rebirth of Indigenous culture and peoples as well as the presence of an economy in which “value” exceeds exchange rates. There is a lot to unpack regarding each of these themes, but you can use students’ responses to the work’s title to begin thinking about the different ways one can “redeem” something.

• Merriam-Webster entry for “redeem”