But as with Americans of African origin, the figure of the native American is still bound up with any number of insecurities and simplifications which result in him being seen as either unrealistically strong and capable (the warrior king of the plains, preternaturally skilled in bushcraft and ancient lore) or hopelessly feeble (the unemployable drunk languishing on a reservation). Nowadays many white Americans look for Indian blood in their heritage as keenly as they once delved into their Celtic or northern European provenance, while other more reactionary types rue the positive discrimination they see their native countrymen receiving. All these tensions combine in the literature of First Nation America, but for every fine authentic novelist like Sherman Alexie there is a Nasdijj – the unfortunate white man who decided to hijack the identity of a Navajo and pass it off as his own to capitalize on the vogue for confessional autobiographies and the romance of the Indian. But long before he put mendacious pen to paper, there were other hoaxers whose immersion in their assumed native identities were even more comprehensive and often done for a far better cause than mere self-promotion.
