The Role of Identity Politics in Powwow Highway
Two completely different people with different destinations are placed in the same car, on the same road. Philbert and Redbow both challenge the authorities with a lot of spirit yet in very different ways. Redbow can be seen from the beginning as an activist standing up for the economically suppressed Native Americans. Philbert, on the other hand, is laid back and lets things be how they are meant to be. He does not necessarily accept them, seen towards the ends of the movie when he breaks Bonnie out of jail. Redbow is aggressive and anger driven. When the owner of the stereo store was looking down on them thinking that they would not be able to afford the equipment they were looking at, Redbow was building up anger. He just needed a reason to go crazy. Instead of realizing maybe he did not know how to work the stereo, it was his reason to go in and trash the store. Redbow was also disappointed to hear that his friend was giving up the fight and moving to a safer place (a place Redbow considered all the coward people who were too afraid to stand up for their own people, lived). Philbert lived in his own little world full of signs from the gods believing that all things happen for a reason. He is driven by “The Cheyenne� and the courage that they had. It is seen that towards the end Redbow began to understand Philbert. Redbow started to understand that being angry all the time does not solve anything and that Phibert and him were fighting the same oppression just in different ways. In the beginning it seemed like Redbow was annoyed with Philbert but he’s love for Philbert showed at the end when he thought Philbert had died in the crash. Identity politics played a dominant role in this film, it definitely could not have been missed.