Only Approved Indians: Stories

In this 12th volume of the publisher's American Indian Literature and Critical Studies series, Native American scholar Forbes turns from anthropology to anthology with 17 short stories about the vicissitudes of life for modern-day Indians. Many of the selections display a strong sense of irony and humor: in the title piece, for example, an Indian basketball team makes it to a championship only to be disqualified because their members aren't recognized as natives by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In ``An Incident in a Tour Among the Natives,'' a Native author receives romantic advances from a woman eager to be ravished by a red savage. Fantasy, too, plays a part in these lives, as in the particularly intriguing ``The Cage,'' in which the last full-blooded male Indian is put in a zoo. The tales portray pain like that of the boy who, losing himself to drink, dreams only of ``Someone to Love''; and they portray triumph, as in ``A City Indian Goes to School,'' in which a troubled teen turns his back on alcoholism and delinquency when he recovers his racial identity. Though occasionally heavy-handed, these diverse stories nonetheless reflect a unique style and a thoughtful perspective on a struggling nation. (Mar.)