Whiskey Tender

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, death, and suicidal ideation.

Whiskey Tender is a story about the damage of the US government’s assimilation policies on directly affected Indigenous Americans as well as subsequent generations. Because of how assimilation policies affected her parents and grandparents, Taffa was raised as a mainstream American girl. Her skin was light enough to pass for white, and her family and society encouraged her to take advantage of this privilege. However, as Taffa got older, she realized that she “wanted more than the Western world could offer” (208), but through centuries of oppression and assimilation policies, “the government had wiped [their] generational memories clean” (208). The culture and history that Taffa was desperate to connect to were no longer valued or easily accessible, generating feelings of rage and devastation that led to Taffa’s suicide attempt. Her crisis was not just personal but historical, as it mirrored the collective loss experienced by many Indigenous people struggling to reclaim identities systematically stripped away.

Starting in the mid-19th century, the United States began concerted efforts to disappear Indigenous American populations by forcing them to adopt European-style customs, language, and religion and incorporate themselves into mainstream American culture. Hundreds of thousands of Indigenous children, including many of Taffa’s relatives, were sent to “Indian boarding schools,” where they were forbidden from speaking their native language, wearing traditional clothing, or participating in Indigenous cultural practices. Later, the government introduced the Termination Policy, which was “designed to disappear Natives into mainstream America” (37). Edmond attended welding school as part of the Termination Policy called the Relocation Program; US government officials hoped that Indigenous people would move to cities for better jobs and marry non-Indigenous people, thus reducing the Indigenous population. Eventually, their dependents would no longer be eligible for tribal membership, and the US government would be able to reclaim the land that housed reservations. While these programs and policies operated under the guise of lifting Indigenous people out of poverty, they mostly “succeeded in isolating many people from their families and culture” (37). This deliberate disconnection from land and tradition was a form of cultural erasure, designed not just to force assimilation but to sever Indigenous peoples’ claims to sovereignty and self-determination.

Assimilation policies destroyed Indigenous knowledge and culture in many ways. The insistence that Indigenous people assimilate and become “civilized” implied that Indigenous culture was inferior and made people ashamed of their Indigenous blood. When Taffa first began Catholic school, for example, she was determined to prove to her teachers that she could tame her “feral” side. Being Indigenous was seen as something that needed to be overcome to participate in mainstream American society. However, as Taffa grew up, she started to see the beauty, wisdom, and value in her culture. The more she learned about her heritage, the more frustrated she became with how her ancestors “had been bled out of our approach to life” (263). The irony of her education is that while it sought to “civilize” her, it ultimately drove her toward rejecting Western narratives and searching for her Indigenous roots. 

The effects of assimilation policies on Indigenous identities were deeply felt throughout Taffa’s life, shaping not only her personal struggles but also her family’s shifting dynamics. Taffa’s public-school education included no mention of Indigenous “successes” or wisdom; they were mentioned only in the context of the conquest of the Americas. Furthermore, information about her tribe and culture was all but non-existent, denying Taffa the opportunity to fully understand herself. Taffa’s insistence that she wanted to return to the reservation after high school and “[exist] as part of a non-Westernized community of thinking” was contrary to everything that her family and society suggested she should want (208), but it was the only way she felt she could fully understand and inhabit her own identity. Her struggle illustrates the broader consequences of colonization—when a people’s history is erased or rewritten, their descendants must fight to recover what was lost. This tension played out within Taffa’s family as well: As she grew older, she began to mirror her father in his longing to reconnect with his roots, inspiring Edmond to reexamine the traditions he once distanced himself from. Meanwhile, Lorraine was forced to confront how deeply she had internalized colonial narratives, particularly the expectation that assimilation equates to success. Her reluctance to engage with her Indigenous heritage reveals the painful reality of self-loathing instilled by systemic erasure, highlighting the devastating long-term effects of assimilation policies on both individuals and families.