Vizenor Concordance: On SATIRE

“The early native parodies and mockery of ethnographic models of cultures could serve as a second notice of postmodern perceptions.  More, some native leaders and storiers mocked the gestures and service manners of federal agents in their absence.  Natives might consider that the creative literature of survivance, mockery, irony, and strategic satire outshine the early theories of postmodernism.” (2.3)

“Native humor and irony are other admired attributes of his literary style as a storier in conversations and publications.  “The current joke is that a survey was taken and only fifteen percent of the Indians thought that the United States should get out of Vietnam. Eighty-five percent thought they should get out of America,” he wrote in Custer Died for Your Sins.  Vine declared that “irony and satire provide much keener insights into a group’s collective psyche and values than do years of research,” and concluded that “until we can once again produce people like Crazy Horse all the money and help in the world will not help us.”” (3.1)