Photo Challenge — The Plight of the Native American

Fandango

The instructions for the Photo Challenge prompt from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie tell us we’re supposed to use the featured photo (credit: Veerendra at Pexels.com) as inspiration for a poem or short story. But I’m going to do something a little different today.

My wife and I just finished binge-watching “Longmire,” a six-season, 63 episode contemporary western crime drama on Netflix. It centered around the charismatic and dedicated sheriff of fictional Absaroka County, Wyoming. This county abuts a Cheyenne Indian reservation.

The Absaroka County sheriff and his small team deal with crimes committed in the county and must also work with the Cheyenne reservation’s tribal police, which has authority within the reservation boundaries. A significant aspect of the series deals with matters of contemporary Native American life on and around the reservation, as well as with the sometimes challenging relations between the members of the tribe and the mostly white residents of the country outside of the reservation.

My wife and I really enjoyed “Longmire.” It had strong acting, a great cast of characters, and compelling stories. I enthusiastically recommend the show if you’re looking for something to binge-watch.

When I saw the photo for this challenge, I thought about the plight of the Native Americans depicted on the show. They were good people, most of whom were living on the reservations, trapped in the squalor of poverty, and with limited opportunities. I saw in the photo a member of the Cheyenne Nation standing on a bluff on the reservation looking across the land as the sun was setting. She was wondering about the future of her people.

11 thoughts on “Photo Challenge — The Plight of the Native American”

  1. Sadje May 11, 2021 / 4:49 am

    I’ll look for this one. But it is not available here.

    Liked by 1 person

      • Sadje May 11, 2021 / 11:55 am

        I do but the programming schedule is different for different countries.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Fandango May 11, 2021 / 1:43 pm

          Ah. I didn’t realize that, but I guess it makes sense.

          Liked by 1 person

          • Sadje May 11, 2021 / 2:51 pm

            It does, but we are missing out.

            Liked by 1 person

  3. Marilyn Armstrong May 11, 2021 / 10:20 am

    Anti-Indian (Native) prejudice is alive and well. You’d think time would change it, but it hasn’t.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Marleen May 11, 2021 / 12:47 pm

    Yeah. I agree this is a good show. I don’t think I’ve seen every episode, but I see the making of the series as quite a worthwhile undertaking.

    Liked by 1 person

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