#6. What was Junior’s grandmother’s greatest gift? What has happened to Indians’ sense of tolerance? Why has that occurred? (Alexandra F.)

Junior’s grandmother had the unique gift of tolerance for others, a trait that all Native Americans used to have before xenophobic white people showed up in America. According to Junior, Indians used to celebrate people who were different from them: “Epileptics were often shamans because people just assumed that God gave seizure-visions to the lucky ones. Gay people were seen as magical, too” (Alexie 155). For a long time Indians viewed people who were unique as powerful and respected them. The Native Americans’ views on the matter slowly changed as white people began populating North America, bringing along their “Christianity and fears of eccentricity” (Alexie 155). Being surrounded by closed-minded white people, the Indians’ tolerance for others ended up diminishing. This is evident on the Spokane Indian reservation when the Wellpinit high schoolers turn their backs on Arnold just before their basketball game. They do not accept the fact that he is following his dreams at Reardan and living life differently than they do at the reservation. Before she died, Arnold’s grandmother was one of the only Indians on the reservation who would still “talk to...the homeless guys who were talking to invisible people” (Alexie 155). This shows how accepting and open-minded she was. Grandmother Spirit was important to the reservation society because she was one of the only Indians left who accepted everyone for who they were. Now that she has passed away it is up to people like Arnold to bring tolerance back to the reservation society.