Patriots By Emma Lee Warrior

Indigenous culture is full of diversity and different valuable traditions that are often misunderstood due to fixed and stereotypical ideologies that are often overlooked. “Compatriots” by Emma Lee Warrior follows a story of Indigenous traditions and the different issues that are faced by individuals of that culture. One of the underlying issues that can be seen through the story is stereotyping, which can be seen through the character of Hilda Afflerbach. Hilda contributes to the theme of stereotypes by making assumptions about indigenous culture, having fixed views on Indigenous people and following stereotypes set by her environment. Firstly, Hilda makes many assumptions about how indigenous people act and feel towards their culture. The reason Hilda is here to visit is to learn more
Hilda wants to go to someone who is not truly of indigenous culture because that person fits more into the stereotype that she holds. This shows the confirmation bias at play because she is using content in support of her ideas and not acknowledging information that contradicts her views. Her unwillingness to consider true views of indigenous people can be seen when she was talking to Lucy throughout the story. When Lucy was telling Hilda about her life, she got the feeling that “she [Lucy] was telling her [Hilda] things she didn’t want to hear” (51). This not only would make Lucy feel unacknowledged and disrespected by how Hilda’s acting, but it also emphasized how Hilda did not want to hear things that Lucy was saying because they were not stereotypical norms. Lastly, Hildas character shows how stereotypes can be affected by society and cause misinterpretations. Hilda is visiting the reserve from Germany where indigenous people are celebrated. In the story Hilda mentions how, “People in Germany are really interested in Indians. They even have festivals”