Embracing Fry Bread: Confessions of a Wannabe by Roger Welsch

It was with some trepidation that I first opened Roger Welsch’s book, having come from a history of teaching Native American literature for over eight years as a “non-Indian,” and having encountered Sioux writer Vine Deloria Jr.’s essay “Indians Today, the Real and Unreal.” In this essay Deloria states, “Those whites who dare not claim Indian blood have an asset of their own. They understand Indians.” He goes on to emphasize, “We need fewer and fewer ‘experts’ on Indians. What we need is a cultural leave us alone agreement in spirit and in fact.” My trepidation left as I encountered Welsch’s work on “Wannabes.” Perhaps this term is best understood in the beginning of the book when he writes that he avoids radical activism and polemics regarding Indian interests because he is not Indian and therefore cannot speak for Indians. “American Indians speak quite well enough for themselves, thank you very much, so I sit back and listen.” Throughout, Welsch manifests himself as a listener who has spent fifty-five years involved in Native culture where he has made uncountable friends. His ability to write honest prose, both informative and erudite, captivates from the beginning.

The choice to start with a coyote story is both applicable and ironic. Coyote, a trickster figure in Native American cosmology, is one who both contradicts and illuminates. According to Welsch, those who are Wannabes become that way for a variety of reasons, which are equally contradictory (to non-Indians and Indians alike) and illuminating. Welsch clarifies all this and more in subsequent chapters full of personal anecdotal information and historical undercurrents. His chapters are engaging, full of pertinent and reliable information, and often glide into humor—his and what he terms “Indian humor.” The information covered extends from cultural and religious traditions regarding Native people to information on Native foodways, gift giving, and “Indian time.” He informs throughout, but his voice is never condescending, apologetic, or didactic. He writes from years of long experience and a love for Native culture and its people. Welsch makes it clear at the end of his book that Wannabes must be strong people who can endure the shattering of their perception of reality and shift into “another cultural gear” without needing to control or assume superiority. One should not take charge, he states, but pull back. Listen. It is evident in his book that he has indeed pulled back and allowed “another cultural gear” to become a part of his life and spiritual reality.