Existing comment:
Arrow Motel sign
Native American names and symbols dot the American landscape. Rivers, mountains, and lakes with Indian names. A third of the states. Chicago, Miami, Tuscaloosa.
Washington, DC, is on land between the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, with the mighty Chesapeake Bay to the east. Indian words and places are everywhere in American daily life.
The Arrow Motel has been shuttered for years, yet the sign remains, a landmark in a small town's main intersection. What does a motel have to do with Indians? It is both strange and unremarkable. It doesn't make sense, but somehow it does. Why? One reason is that Indian names and imagery are familiar. They are authentic. They are American. |