In the collection of short stories "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist fight in Heaven" Sherman Alexie writes about the importance of songs and stories in the lives of the people on the reservation through drug induced visions, the character of Thomas Builds-A-Fire, Jimi Hendrix's music, and basketball players on the reservation.

In the short story a drug called tradition the main character, Victor, and his two friends Thomas Builds-a-Fire and Junior take drugs that give them visions of themselves in strange historical Indian settings. The stories they tell of these visions relate to Indian culture and tradition. Junior has a vision of Thomas performing a dance around a campfire that brings back all the dead Indians. Victor has a vision of Junior singing. Both visions include real things from history, end with the idea of the Indians winning and/or driving out the white people, and use music or dance to show this. This shows their …show more content…
Victor's father likes to tell about going to Woodstock and seeing Jimi Hendrix perform the Star Spangled Banner. For him this was an important moment and he makes a connection with the song. It becomes a way to express himself and also a release of pain. Victor’s father would come home after a night of drinking and listen to Jimi Hendrix with Victor curled up at his feet. In the morning when the guilt hit him he would tell “stories in means of apology” (p.26). In its own way this shows a crucial bonding moment between Victor and his father as well as gives an example of the way Victor remembers his father. Alexie writes about this music as a way of expressing the lives of Victor as his father. Music becomes to Victor “the most important thing there is” (p.29). These times listening to Jimi Hendrix were most important because it gave Victor an appreciation for music, especially songs with meaning to