The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven Lesson Plan

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a collection of twenty-four stories about life in and around the Spokane Indian Reservation. Some of the characters, including Victor Joseph, Thomas Builds-the-Fire, and Norma Many Horses, appear in multiple stories. There is also some overlap in plot. For instance, Junior Polatkin’s son is mentioned in one story and is conceived in the final story. In this way, many of the stories cohere and share a narrative arc in a way that gives the collection a novelistic feel. The stories recount many of the serious issues facing American Indians today. Alcoholism, poverty, education, racism, and suspicion of government authority (on both sides)...