Whiskey Tender

"In my mind, my parents were lying when they said that promising future was within my grasp. How could they deny that most kids in Farmington wouldn't get out? And what did "getting out" even mean? A honeymoon in Hawaii. A tract home in the suburbs. A plastic Christmas tree. I didn't want a white American life. I wanted a life that would make my ancestors proud."
Whiskey Tender, Deborah Jackson's Taffa's memoir is a rich and evocative narrative of searching for an identity while being being caught between two worlds. She sjupent her early years on a reservation. It wasn't a safe place in the 1970's. There was heart breaking poverty, alcoholism, and police brutality. But it was also a place steeped in tradition and strong family ties. Most indigenous families didn't move away. Those who did were considered traitors.
When Taffa's mother was pregnant with her older sister her father decided to take advantage of the Indian Relocation Act to go to trade school. Her mother didn't want to leave the reservation.
"Dad said he wanted to stay out of trouble, but it was hard. No one made a living wage on his side of the river, and he was surrounded by rowdy brothers and clan wars on the reservation. Didn't she want ti get ahead like everyone else?"
The town the family moved to was no bed of roses. The same interracial and intertribal tension was present with flare ups of violence. The children carried the family's hopes and dreams on their shoulders, pressured to be model minorities despite their school's micro aggressions. This was the setting in which Taffa struggled to discover her identity and the place where she would fit in.
On a purrrsonal note, there won't be a Clean Sweep this year. I am heart broken. So many good things will be consigned to the landfill. Black Bear Exchange will miss out on needed funds. And it was the only summer job I'd lined up with poor prospects for anything else due to my still subpar strength, stamina, and balance.
Jules Hathaway