Escape from the Dysphesiac People
By Brandon Hobson, first published in McSweeney's
An older man recounts how White settlers violently removed him from his home and took him to a boys ranch to strip him of his indigeneity.
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Plot Summary
Now older, a man recounts his story of forced removal for the younger generations. As a child, pale men from "Juvenile Services" show up to his aunt's house. They grab him, shave his head, and as his aunt cries out, he's taken by the pale men. A pale man, Jackson, sits with the young boy on the train as they head to a ranch for boys. They drive from the train station and arrive at a dilapidated boardinghouse. Jackson decides to call the young boy Chief despite his protesting. Chief goes to sleep but awakens to a figure standing in the doorway. He follows the man with long silver hair to the bathroom, but when he turns the lights on the man disappears. When he returns to his room, he continues to see people that look like him--his ancestors--pass through all night. The next morning, Chief walks into the kitchen and meets Andrew Jack's son Carl. He gives him his work for the day, and for the next few weeks Chief works backbreaking days with little food or rest. Jackson takes him to pick up some kegs and when Chief needs to use the bathroom, he has to walk through hostile groups of pale men. In the bathroom, there's mannequins that are used for photos but Chief is consumed by terror at the bodies around him. He busts out of the restroom and starts running. He runs until he finds a house with a Native man outside. The man invites him in and tells him to remember his ancestors. He tells Chief the way back to Oklahoma and Chief begins his walk home.
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