A seat in the Garden

I’m not the Indian you had in mind; a video that was written and directed by Thomas King challenges the stereotypical image that America has towards Native Americans. King is also the author of a short novel “A seat in the Garden”. This short story also challenges the established perspective that American society has towards the Native Americans. There are various stereotypes and perspectives that a majority of the public has toward a particular group. For example some of the common stereo types that are seen throughout the media are that all Asians are good at math, women are primarily sex objects, All Africans like fried chicken, and all Mexicans are gangsters. These stereo types are not completely true for an entire group, yet they can be for a part of it. There is living and walking proof of many of the minority groups subverting the dominant view. “A Seat in the Garden” opens up with a man named Joe working on his garden, and suddenly he notices a big Indian standing in his garden. Joe becomes furious and demands the Indian to leave. As soon as this story opens up we can already see that there is negative tension that Joe has towards Native Americans. When he demands the harmless Indian to leave and the Indian just sits there, for he shouts “Get the hell out of the corn, will ya… this is private property. You people ever hear of private property” (King). Once Joe decides to start pointing fingers at the Indian and assumes that he and his “people” lack the knowledge of what private property is; he begins to label Indians as illiterate. As Joe turns to look for his shovel to shoo the Indian away he is gone. One of Joe’s friends shows up later that day and as they share coffee Joe tells his friend Red about the Indian standing in his garden.
The Next day as Joe works on his garden and once again he sees the Indian. The Indian just kind of sits there and says “if you build it they will come.” Joe then calls the police and explains to them his situation

Cited: King, T. (200). A Seat in the garden. In L. King, Hear my Voice (pp. 50-59). New Jersey: Dale Seymour Publications.