PROLOGUE
Aboriginal music plays in the background and Simon says that he is an urban
Indian, unlike the stereotypical Indian, who is expected to shapeshift and
understand animal sounds. He recalls the performance as a tale of survival. He
lives in Coyote Lake Reservation Number Four. The coyotes scared the
missionaries who came to the lake, but after taking over the land, the coyotes
have mysteriously disappeared.
Scene 1: Genesis
Simon‟s mother Tina is single and pregnant. She is supported by her mother-in-
law Kye7e Josie who encourages her to be brave. Tina wants to name her son as
Robert but the white officers name him Simon Doughlas. Tom, Simon‟s father
visits them after three years and leaves them shortly. The family is converted to
Christianity and baptised.
Scene 2: Coyote Lake
Simon introduces his friends Nick and Daniel. Simon‟s mother Tina is working
at a restaurant. A seemingly progressive man named Alistair falls for Tina. He
persuades Tina and Simon to move from the reservation to the big city of
Vancouver. Tina‟s mother believes that Simon would become an alcoholic if he
remains in the reservation. She claims that she has no choice but to go to
Vancouver. However, Kye7e Josie argues, “Choice is the only thing you never
lose” (11). Simon does not want to go to Vancouver and reaches out to his
father who fails him. His grandmother consoles him and hands over a small,
plastic container and tells him that it is a piece of their land.
Scene 3: Lotus Land
Alistair, a German, brings Tina and Simon to live with him. His mother detests
Simon‟s behaviour and reprimands him. Alistair wants to prove himself as a
progressive man, devoid of gender and racial prejudices. They consume alcohol,
thus exposing Simon to alcohol consumption at a young age. Three years pass
and Alistair feels that Tina is trying to assimilate in the white society and
comments that she is not very aboriginal. This offends Tina and she leaves with
Simon to the reserve.
Scene 4: New Beginnings
The children in the reserve are curious to learn about the big city of Vancouver.
Simon becomes a ten-year-old tribal storyteller. Daniel, one of Simon‟s friends,
is gay and is often mocked by everyone in the reservation. Simon is close to him
but is accused of being gay and so he looks for a girlfriend and finds Becky to
prove that he is straight. People cannot handle the friendship of Simon and
Daniel. So Simon detaches from Daniel, and rudely remarks at Daniel‟s
sexuality. Daniel is fed up of the repeated taunts and commits suicide in a
forest.
Scene 5: Girls, Girls, Girls
Simon is thirteen-year-old and is curious to make out with a girl. Becky had
already left him as she thought he is immature. Janine, another girl, comes to
the reserve to stay with her uncle. She is promiscuous and spends the night with
both Simon and Nick. A week later, she leaves the reserve.
Scene 6: Forbidden Fruit
Simon starts eighth grade and is awestruck by the beauty of white blonde girls.
The school bus is flooded with children of all sorts and Simon is particularly
attracted by Kimberly Thompson. He contacts her through phone, but gets
rejected because he is an Indian. He looks at the lifestyle and living conditions
of the Natives and is disgusted by it.
Scene 7: New Identity
Simon understands that he cannot get ahead in life with the „Indian‟ identity.
During this time, movies portray Indian men as exotic beings with savage
lifestyles. They are represented as play-boys, alcohol and drug addicts and lady
killers. Simon makes it as an Indian actor by enrolling into a Drama
programme.
Scene 8: Liquor is Quicker
Simon is fifteen and wants to experiment with liquor. He consumes plenty of
alcohol and starts throwing up badly. Nick and Simon hang out with Gordon,
the chief‟s son. He invites them on a five-hour road trip and Simon lies to his
mother to join him. Simon tells her that he is camping with Uncle Charlie and
might go fishing. The boys carry two cases of beer, vodka and a bag of weed.
They drive fast and are drunk causing an accident. Simon‟s mother takes him
home and decides to move to the city. Grandmother Kye7e Josie is disappointed
with Simon.
Scene 9: Lotus Land II
Simon and his mother Tina go to Vancouver, British Columbia. Simon wants to
right the wrongs and he registers for his elective courses. The school is big and
Simon hits at a popular girl who insults him. Simon finds it hard to fit in and so
he visits the Native Friendship Centre. He realises that there is discrimination in
the centre against the different indigenous communities. Simon wanders and
reaches Hastings Street and finds the natives to be very „friendly‟. In a bar, he
befriends Walter and Edna who are a couple and have been there for twenty
years. They are drug addicts and persuade Simon to take a needle. Simon
refuses and somehow manages to reach home to learn that Nick is died due to
alcohol abuse.
Scene 10: Red Power
Simon is seventeen and still struggles to fit into the school. He starts denying
his Indian identity. He changes his reserve accent to gets friends and people talk
to him and assume that he is just well-tanned. He continues visiting Hastings
Street and lives a double life. The portrayal of Indians in movies changes. So
Simon gets Native pride and is surprised by how Indians have become the lead
stories in news. He learns of how the Mohawk people are protesting against the
conversion of burial grounds into golf courses. One of his classmates, Gerald,
remarks that the Mohawk people must be killed and the women with their
children must be displaced and the soldiers must be given a medal of honour.
Simon gets angry and argues with Gerald. He isolates himself and does not hide
his accent any longer. He decides to become a movie star and reaches out to
Rhonda, an Indian Talent Agent.
Scene 11: A Star is Born
The cinematic portrayal of Indians has not changed much. It focuses on white
men captured by Indians or Indians saved by Whites or White men riding with
beautiful Indian maiden. He quits school and oscillates between acting and
Hastings Street.
Scene 12: Brenda
Simon is twenty and meets Brenda, an Anthropology student of the University
of British Columbia, working as a waitress in a Strip Club. Brenda is White but
falls for Simon, almost immediately.
Scene 13: Blow
Simon is twenty-one; he snorts cocaine and believes that it boosts his
confidence. At four o‟ clock in the morning, Simon sees Walter and Edna with a
stranger on the street. Walter holds a spoon and Edna adds water to cook the
paste over a lighter. The stranger contaminates the drug by putting in his rig,
angering Edna. The stranger puts needle in his arm and Edna fights him and the
couple gets killed by the stranger.
Scene 14: The Dinner
Simon visits Brenda‟s parents who are surprised by his mild manners. He feels
uncomfortable talking to them and the prejudices they have about the natives.
He starts comprehending the subtext in everyone‟s conversation. He realises
that Brenda‟s parents are egging on her future with Simon. His pride and ego
gets tested and he gives a sarcastic response which hurts Brenda.
Scene 15: Money, Money, Money
Simon visits Hastings Street and meets a young Native girl. The girl used needle
in her arm as Simon shares his share. She offers Simon her needle and for the
first time, he uses it. When he regains consciousness, he recounts that he has
used her dirty needle. He realises that he may contract AIDS or other sexually
transmitted diseases through the dirty needle. The girl drains his funds and
leaves him penniless.
Scene 16: Pokey
Simon is twenty-two and visits the aboriginal centre. There he meets Stephanie
Daniels, a beautiful native woman. She is his new processor, responsible for his
welfare funds. She reads his files and questions him about his history of alcohol
and drug abuse. She realises that Simon is blaming his Indian identity to cover
his inefficiency and laziness. She calls him „handsome‟ and Simon is excited.
Scene 17: Courting
Simon loves Stephanie and realises that she is smart, funny, independent and
proud of her native identity. Stephanie, surprisingly, falls for Simon and tries to
help him come out of drug abuse. When Simon confesses his love, Stephanie
questions about his lies and drinking problem and insists on his quitting it.
Scene 18: Moment of Truth
Stephanie books the twenty-two-year old Simon into a Native Treatment
Centre. She remarks that she is proud of him for admitting to join the treatment
centre. He says that he wants to drink beer once for medicinal purpose. Then he
loses the passage of time and misses work the next day, only to get fired. The
same night, Stephanie visits his house and finds him in his favourite bar with a
hooker. Stephanie is completely disappointed with Simon and he realises that it
is the same look that Kye7e Josie gave him before. After that, he drinks a lot
and has an encounter with God at 5 a. m. in the morning. God confirms with
Simon that he is solely responsible for his current condition and asks him to be
good to himself and others. Stephanie is fed up with Simon‟s irresponsibility
and she breaks up with him and Simon decides to take the treatment seriously.
Scene 19: Treatment
On Halloween Day, Tina, Simon‟s mother takes him from Vancouver to the
Treatment Centre. She reminds him of Kye7e Josie‟s words that choice is the
only thing one never loses. He meets several alcohol and drug addicts.
Incidentally, he meets Janine who states that she has AIDS and is a heavy drug
addict. So, her three-year-old daughter has been taken away by the social
services and now she wants her back. Simon, finally, realises that this is his
second chance in life, as he had lost everyone.
EPILOGUE
Simon makes it through all six weeks of treatment. He makes a wish that a
native child born in future will feel proud about its identity. He prays that one
day things will positively change for the native people.
