Dear Sherman Alexie,

My name is Gautom Bajracharya. I am a ninth grader from Riverside Secondary, and my class and I have just finished reading your book, “The absolutely true diary of a part time Indian.” I really enjoyed the book and loved how you added your comedic traits. However, other than being an enjoyable book to read, it affected my thinking in certain ways. For example, it changed how I view racism towards aboriginal people. I always thought that aboriginal people were not discriminated against in modern day as much as this book portrayed. When Junior goes to Reardan, he was bullied just for being native which caught me off guard because I always thought racism against aboriginals wasn’t as common amongst society. This taught me to be more cautious and aware of the effect racism has on other people’s lives. I learned that even seemingly harmless words can hurt, and that kindness goes a long way. Gordy stood up to the bullying that Junior experienced from his teacher, which was a brave act of courage that Junior appreciated. When Junior starts dating Penelope, people start to respect him and treat him as an equal. This implies that peoples’ views can be changed once there is acceptance and love. I was surprised that the same students that thought of him as lesser than them were suddenly acting different just because he was dating a white girl. Racism is complicated and it is something many natives experience. It is also barely talked about which is a big problem.

Alcoholism is a running theme in this story that affects Junior’s life tremendously. His sister, grandmother, best friend and dad have been affected by the effects of alcohol. His sister lost her life due to being unable to leave a burning trailer while drunk, and the grandmother was runover and killed by a drunk driver. This showed me how important it is that help is prioritized in aboriginal communities affected by addiction. Before reading this book, I never considered how much alcohol is relied on as a coping mechanism, which is heavily abused by family members living in reserves. By reading this, I learned that even if people’s problems aren’t seen by the naked eye, it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. This taught me to be more compassionate and empathetic towards other people because we never know what they have and are going through.

Another big issue is poverty. It is never discussed or addressed in news outlets and is completely neglected. The aboriginals are all poor with limited opportunities, education and resources. This book shows how much Junior values education as he attends Rearden, rich white school. This decision was made after he realized how outdated textbooks were in the schools at the reserve. I learned that valuable education is rare in these communities which affects the futures of the children and destroys their hope. This is something that I didn’t know before reading this book. It is an issue that could be easily resolved with some help from the government and more attention from the people. These people deserve a right to standard education and health, and they should not have less opportunities for being poor. This book taught me that poverty is an ongoing and big issue for millions of native people. I belive hope is the first step for creating change, but people must have the drive for it. This comes by knowing they have opportunities available to them even if they are in poverty.

Thank you for raising awareness by talking about your story. This is something that takes a lot of courage, and it has helped me better understand the issues that run deep in aboriginal communities. I think that this book is important because it is told from a realistic point of view, and these issues are still ongoing today. This story made me more aware of bullying, alcoholism and poverty in these reserves. I have learned to be more kind to others.

Sincerely,

Gautom Bajracharya

Grade 9

Riverside Secondary School