How Authentic Is It?

“Welcome To Your Authentic Indian Experience” by Rebecca Roanhorse was a bit of a trip. At first, feeling very normal, nine-to-five guy with a job he hates but keeps it up to pay the bills. The only thing that felt off in the beginning was the use of second person, but it’s been done before, so more of an uncommon format than anything truly strange.

The hypocrisy is seen right from the start. The entire Sedona Sweats concept revolves around the “spiritual experience” delivered to the customers, but is spoken of with such irreverence that betrays its true purpose: to make money. It frames Jesse as a hypocrite too, albeit a reluctant one, as his life is more indicative of a real “Indian experience,” and yet he has to pretend to be a stereotype. His motivations are somewhat forgivable, possibly, as he is attempting to remain financially solvent and keep his marriage intact.

The language choice for certain things is interesting as well. The device that the people are using is an advanced form of virtual reality, with simulator pods instead of just the headset and control surfaces available on the open market today. In addition to setting the story about twenty minutes into the future, the terminology around the device tells more about the story’s point. The name of the experience that Jesse typically works on is “Vision Quest,” no doubt to evoke the idea of the film with the same name. The point of the movie is a lesson about staying on track and keeping focused. In addition, the customers are always called “Tourists” instead of just customers. The word “Tourist” simply means someone who is a visitor to an area, but in today’s world it has a negative connotation as an outsider brazenly displaying their outsider status and lack of knowledge about local customs and culture, and that is especially true when it comes to Native American reservations in modern America. The use of the word “Relocate” instead of just disconnect, because of the forced relocation of Native American populations is the final piece of the puzzle.

The whole story is a scathing indictment of the fetishization of Native American culture. In the sense that it ends up destroying Jesse’s life with losing his job, his wife, and his house after a two day alcohol-induced coma, it represents the destruction of Native American culture by the thoughtless acts of violence and hatred perpetrated against them.

However, in another twist, this whole idea is invalidated if the story ends with Jesse exiting another simulation. The language and descriptions hint towards that, which begs the question, what if Jesse was simulating a scenario in which he is the victim of circumstance. He loses his job because of someone who used his offer of friendship to steal his job, and his wife, and pretends not to know him and roughs him up in a bar where he went to drown his sorrows after getting fired because he got sick and was out for a few days.

That prompts the question instead: How much of our reality is real? How much of our story is the objective truth?

And much like real life, the story doesn’t give a definitive answer.