Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™
By Rebecca Roanhorse, first published in Apex Magazine
In a near-future Arizona, a Pueblo man in a precarious marriage works at a store that offers virtual reality "Experiences" for tourists, in which he plays a caricature of a Spirit Guide, based on white stereotypes of Native Americans. His life spirals when a white tourist who pretends to be his friend threatens to take everything from him.
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Plot Summary
A Pueblo man named Jesse Turnblatt lives in Arizona with his wife, Theresa, and works at a virtual reality Experience store called Sedona Sweats, where he acts in "Vision Quest" Experiences for tourists looking for a spiritual Experience, under the pseudonym "Trueblood." These Experiences cater to tourist's stereotypes of what native peoples are like. Jesse argues with his wife, who almost left him when he was formerly unemployed but thinks his current job is demeaning to Native peoples. Jesse gets a lot of his content from sensationalized American movies that rely on stereotypes. After Jesse's proposal for a Custer's Last Stand Experience bombs, he is eager to appease his boss and backs his boss up in support of a racist and misogynistic sexual VR Experience that his female co-worker, DarAnne, finds repulsive. DarAnne retorts that next, Jesse will be the one forced to lead a tourist in a sexual VR Experience. Jesse is embarrassed, but thinks he would kind of like that. Jesse goes into one of the VR pods and a tourist requests his Experience. However, the tourist is unimpressed by Jesse's script and says he was looking for something more authentic. Jesse begs to try again, not wanted to have another bad mark at work. He gives the tourist a name: White Wolf. The tourist leaves abruptly. After work, Jesse reconciles with DarAnne in the Hey USA Bar, saying he just agreed with their boss because he needs to keep is job and is afraid of Theresa leaving him. As he leaves the bar, the tourist he named White Wolf finds him. The next day at work, White Wolf requests his Experience again, saying he wants to just talk. The two decide to meet in person at the bar. White Wolf wants to hear Jesse's stories and listens attentively. He says he had a great grandparent who was Cherokee. Jesse thinks of people who falsely claim to have Cherokee blood, who Theresa calls "Pretendians," but decides to give White Wolf the benefit of the doubt. He notes White Wolf speaks Lakota surprisingly well. The meetings at the bar become regular, and the two become best friends, Jesse opening up to him more than he's ever opened up to anyone. His wife notes he's really happy and he says he just made a friend from work, because he's embarrassed to explain that White Wolf is a tourist. Then, Jesse falls ill. He calls in sick for work and misses a night at the bar with White Wolf. He doesn't want to stand him up again and doesn't have his number, so on the next regularly scheduled night he asks Theresa to go meet him and tell him Jesse is sick. Theresa takes a long time and when she comes back, she's beaming. "You didn't tell me he was Cherokee," she says. The next Monday, when Jesse goes back to work, his boss has hired White Wolf to take his place. He says he's "good, a real rez guy." He tells Jesse, "nobody knows anything about Pueblo Indians, so all you've got is that TV shit," implying that White Wolf is more authentic. Jesse gets upset and security escorts him out before he can explain. He goes to the normal bar and runs into DarAnne, who doesn't recognize him, and is with White Wolf, who pretends not to recognize him. He wakes up in a gutter two days later. He walks three miles home to find White Wolf in his house, instead of Theresa. White Wolf says Theresa is at her mother's for her own safety. She's leaving Jesse for White Wolf. White Wolf says, "Did you ever think that maybe this is my experience and you're the tourist here?" and kicks Jesse out of his house, claiming that it's his now.
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