![]() ![]() Orange must love a challenge: if he wants his work to overcome this inherent sadness, to rise above the level of a dirge, he starts by digging himself into a mighty deep hole. As Dene puts it: “What we’ve seen is full of the kinds of stereotypes that are the reason no one is interested in the Native story in general, it’s too sad, so sad it can’t even be entertaining.” Orange and Dene both realise the pitfalls of telling any part of the Native American story. It is surely no coincidence that Dene introduces himself to the panel as “an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arpaho tribes of Oklahoma,” a phrase repeated word-for-word in the author bio on the book’s dust jacket. ![]() We haven’t seen the Urban Indian story.”ĭene’s movie pitch is a thin veil for Orange’s own goals in writing There There. Laying out his vision for a documentary about the lives and culture of the modern-day Urban Indian (the term used for Native Americans living in major American cities like the novel’s Oakland, California setting), Dene tells the judges: “I want to bring something new to the vision of the Native experience as it’s seen on the screen. ![]() Tommy Orange is a new writer with an old heart.” Louise ErdrichĮarly in Tommy Orange’s impressive debut novel There There, young aspiring filmmaker Dene Oxendene gives an oral presentation to a panel of judges considering his pet project for a grant. “ A comic vision haunted by profound sadness. ![]()
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