Identity Politics on the Road
Powwow Highway illustrates identity politics with the government’s role in the imprisonment of Buddy’s sister, Bonnie. It signifies a wide range of political activity and theorizing in the injustice experience of members of certain social groups. The government attempts to marginalize the Native American people by attempting to get Buddy off the reservation for the vote on the land mine on their reservation. They do so by blatantly imprisoning an innocent woman and her children. It is their attempt to further marginalize and control the Native Americans in the U.S. “Yeah, well it's just too bad those stories don't tell us how to keep our reservations from turning into sewers” (IMDB). The dual contrasting roles of Buddy and Philbert allows the viewer to see the influence of a corrupt government on two extremely individuals; yet, in the end they turn out victorious. They were both born into a role in which holds them back from what they can become and only allows for opportunities that are socially acceptable with their Native American role. The road is altered by identity politics since their marginal identity is ultimately positioned by the law. One scene where they stop to get speakers for their pony, the “protector,” illustrates the salesperson’s demeanor in which Native American people are continuously marginalized. He talks down to them stating, “This much money, understand chief?” They are looked down upon on the road as many individuals believe them to be less intelligent or unable to understand. They cannot even survive outside their reservation land as they are chased and end in an explosion crash of the pony which they survive. They is no place for them outside their reservation land as they are continuously criticized and marginalized by the government restricting them to lands throughout the country, limiting their opportunities and place in society. At the end of the film, the only place where they are able to find safety is in their reservation; outside they are open for manipulation and unfair treatment from other social groups. It speaks volumes of society in which a social group cannot even interact with the outside world as they are taken advantage of and have no rights. Ultimately, it is back to their reservation after their journey on the road symbolizing identity politics.