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Do any of you spend any time with or around Native Americans? What are they up to these days?
I've been reading the 1970s novels of James Welch, which describe the modern lives of Native Americans living in Montana and other places; and that's the most up to date information I have. I guess I wonder if they've been absorbed into atomized individualism, if they still have a big alcohol problem, if there are any interesting cultural developments in general.
(In Welch's novels, I would say they've already been partially consumed by the main stream of American life, suffering from a wistfulness and purposelessness that may only partly stem from the loss of tribal structure and power over the land, and which may just as much originate in the inherent pointlessness of American working-class life as some then saw it.)
I am somewhat curious about this myself. I've been watching/reading '90s content (most notably Northern Exposure, which might deserve an effort post at some point), and realizing that Native American representation has just dropped off a cliff culturally.
My personal thought is that purity spirals have made it difficult to portray Native Americans well enough to steer clear of progressive backlash, and so directors/producers choose the safe option of "doing something else." Which is disappointing, IMO, because the native cultures are surprisingly diverse and interesting in their own right (although sometimes oversold as almost flawless). See where the Land 'O' Lakes butter girl went.
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