Ten Little Indians

by Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie offers nine poignant and emotionally resonant stories about Native Americans who find themselves at personal and cultural crossroads. In 'The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above', an intellectual feminist Spokane Indian woman saves the lives of dozens of white women all around her, to the bewilderment of her only child. In 'Do You Know Where I Am?' two college sweethearts rescue a lost cat - a simple act that has profound moral consequences for the rest of their lives together. In 'What You Pawn I Will Redeem', a homeless Indian man must raise $1,000 in twenty-four hours to buy back the fancy dance outfit stolen from his grandmother fifty years earlier.

Even as they often make us laugh, Sherman Alexie's stories are driven by a haunting lyricism and naked candour that cut to the heart of the human experience.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Native American, Book Club, Indigenous, Contemporary, Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Sherman Alexie is a Native American author, poet, and filmmaker known for his powerful portrayals of contemporary Indigenous life, often infused with wit, humor, and emotional depth. Drawing heavily on his experiences growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, Alexie's work addresses complex themes such as identity, poverty, addiction, and the legacy of colonialism, all filtered through a distinctly Native perspective.
His breakout book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is a semi-autobiographical young adult novel that won the 2007 National Book Award and remains widely acclaimed for its candid and humorous depiction of adolescence and cultural dislocation. Earlier, Alexie gained critical attention with The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, a collection of interconnected short stories that was adapted into the Sundance-winning film Smoke Signals (1998), for which he wrote the screenplay. He also authored the novels Reservation Blues, Indian Killer, and Flight, as well as numerous poetry collections including The Business of Fancydancing and Face.
Born with hydrocephalus, Alexie faced health and social challenges from an early age but demonstrated early academic talent and a deep love for reading. He left the reservation for high school and later studied at Washington State University, where a poetry course shifted his path toward literature. His mentor, poet Alex Kuo, introduced him to Native American writers, profoundly shaping his voice.
In 2018, Alexie faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment, which led to widespread fallout, including rescinded honors and changes in how his work is promoted in educational and literary institutions. He acknowledged causing harm but denied specific accusations. Despite the controversy, his influence on contemporary Native American literature remains significant.
Throughout his career, Alexie has received many awards, including the PEN/Faulkner Award for War Dances and an American Book Award for Reservation Blues. He has also been a prominent advocate for Native youth and a founding member of Longhouse Media, promoting Indigenous storytelling through film.
Whether through poetry, prose, or film, Alexie’s work continues to challenge stereotypes and elevate Native American voices in American culture.

Reviews

[Fabian · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are so many short story collections postmillennium that convey exactly what the writer is all about (The interpreter of maladies, Olive kitteridge immediately come to mind). Ten Little Indians is no exception. The heartbreak of the modern Spokane Indian is palpable--S. Alexie is not only a master of his craft, he actually has valuable insights to contribute to the ongoing national discussion. He has something earthshatteringly Terrific & Terrible to say.

[Babs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up because I really wanted to read Alexie's other short story collection - The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (fabulous title!) and couldn't find it at the time. I'm not a fan of short stories, and I didn't enjoy this collection. But I can say that in my opinion the stories are well-written and if "bold, uncensored, raucous, and sexy" is your thing, then you might really enjoy the book. The story I enjoyed the most was "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" - telling the story of a homeless Indian man's one-day quest to find $999 to buy back his grandmother's stolen pow-wow dance regalia from a pawn shop. It wasn't bold, uncensored, raucous, and sexy; it was poignant and touching and human and real. That's what I enjoy.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. Very funny, deadpan. Also eye-opening, in that I had no idea there was (apparently, insofar as the stories are realisms) so much anti-Native racism in the Northwest. His dialogue is fantastic, especially when people talk past each other. Most people seem to think the "9/11 story" or the last, longest story are the show-stoppers; it certainly has the longest stretches of hard-fought transformation, and features a man and his (dying) father, and actually, like many of Alexie's stories, has very convincing male friendships. I tend to like stories with multiple axes (axises?), tho, so I preferred the basketball love story and the story of the literary stalker who chases down the possibly fake Indian writer adopted into a white family who has his heyday with the spoken-word hippies, then disappears.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars is being generous, it's more like 2.5. Most of the stories seemed pretty pointless and even though the books "theme" was Indians, most of the stories had nothing to do with that. If the author deleted the sentence that told you the main character was an Indian, there wouldn't be anything. This was very disappointing.

[Mauri · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s been awhile since I’ve thought to myself “I’m too much of a prude for this” and felt bad about it. I certainly don’t mind erotic fiction, judging from my enjoyment of romance novels and explicit fan fiction. But there’s a difference between the happy-ending stuff and the stories in this, each of which contained an explicit sex scene or references to explicit sex. It was unexpected, for starters, since the summaries focus on Alexie’s (well-deserved) reputation for insightful, clear prose. It was also uncomfortable and desperate and voyeuristic and upsetting and a whole bunch of other, similar adjectives. These were generally not people having a great time and it made it hard to focus on the rest of the plots.

So I was too much of a prude for this, but I also felt bad about it because it felt like I was the one who forced the wrong door open and found myself somewhere I didn’t belong.

Edited 5/29/2020: I just learned from this article on beloved (racist) classics that Sherman Alexie has been accused of sexual harassment numerous times, which adds an icky oil slick to this whole thing.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm....after absolutely loving The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, this one was a little disappointing. And it's funny, because there were some stories (like "What Ever Happened to Frank Snake Church?" and "The Search Engine") that revealed the same open-hearted, funny writer that I loved in Part-Time Indian. There were others that just didn't ring quite as deeply true and one ("Can I Get a Witness?") that I found actively distasteful. I still look forward to reading more Alexie -- but I think he should stick with the skeptical optimism of "Frank Snake Church" rather than going all the way down the cynical path as he seems to do in "Witness."

[Nancy Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

White people looked at the Grand Canyon, Niagra Falls, the full moon, newborn babies, and Indians with the same goofy sentimentalism.

[Jocelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last few years I've been trying to read more short stories. It isn't a genre I really gave much time to in the past because I figured my TBR of full length novels was too long. I'm glad I've been expanding my reading horizons, though, even if some of the collections I've read have been hit or miss.

However, Sherman Alexie never misses. These nine stories were fantastic, really taking me away. All of them were more or less set around where he lives and featured Spokane characters, many of whom you could tell reflected himself and his experiences. Of course basketball featured heavily as well.

Darkly funny and often heartbreaking, every single one of these powerful stories was wonderful. Ten Little Indians is just further proof that everything Alexie writes is a gift. The man is my favorite author for a reason, after all.

[Melissa Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 2004 short story collection, "Ten Little Indians," by Sherman Alexie, is another one of those beautiful and gut-wrenching masterworks that made me laugh a lot and made me cry. These nine stories are trenchant, bitterly uplifting, and focused on various themes surrounding Native American identity in the United States after September 11, 2001.

The phrase "bitterly sarcastic" appears in this book, and while the author's ruthless wit can certainly deliver an abundance of cutting zingers, these stories are also extremely generous and compassionate. Alexie's clean, concise prose traffics in the ugly truth, but the stories in "Ten Little Indians" always reaffirm life. In the worldview of Alexie's fiction, the human spirit is profoundly flawed, but still worth the absurdity and pain that come with being alive.

I love reading Alexie because he makes me feel less alone. His work always gives me the grungy kitchen table to gather and commune with my metaphysical tribe.

I'm also glad that I read this collection after reading his 2017 memoir, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me." Many people have read Alexie's incredibly popular YA novel, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," but his adult prose and his memoir hit so much harder than his YA fiction ever could.

I highly recommend "Ten Little Indians" to any Sherman Alexie fans who haven't yet read this book. It's fantastic.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Alexie's PERFECT short story collection. Alexie is able to portray gender, poverty, humor, grief and death throughout these stories. I was most impressed by the way Alexie is able to "accurately" portray women and give them a voice through his own. There's a deep understanding of what it is to be human and what it is to live - to live darkly, to live humorously, to live with grief, to live with love.

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sherman Alexie is one of my favorite new short story writers. In fact, he is one of the few short story writers who have books that I will read cover-to-cover. I love his stories. They are so well written, poignant and sad and funny and sometimes angry, all at once. The story about his son (or at least the man telling the story) being sick and in the hospital was the BEST. Love it.

[Ulysses · Rating 5 out of 5]

You would be hard pressed to find a better application for the phrase “I laughed, I cried” than this collection of short stories, almost all of which are built around tragedies and heartbreak, but you’ll be so busy laughing out loud at the author’s talent for finding humor and beauty in all aspects of the human experience that the pain cannot stop you from enjoying yourself.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
The stories in the beginning and end are great, but the middle part of this book sags like the worn Ikea sofa bed my sister makes me sleep on at her house. Spotty, but there are gems within.

[ems · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ten Little Indians is a collection of nine short stories by the prolific indigenous and self-described Spokane Indian, Sherman Alexie. For the most part, the stories focus on a Spokane Native American who has left the reservation and migrated to Seattle. In "The Search Engine", young Corliss endures the disdain from her tribal relatives to study poetry and tracks down a Spokane poet who ends up being genetically Native American but culturally White. In "What Ever Happened to Frank Snake Church", Frank goes to extreme lengths to honor and, eventually, to fully mourn his parents. I was especially moved by "What You Pawn I Will Redeem" in which a homeless Jackson Jackson tries to earn enough money to buy his grandmother's stolen and pawned regalia. However, I found "The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above" to be distasteful and I wondered what the point was.

Alexie injects humor, wit, sarcasm, and a little snark into these tales, which primarily explore themes of indigenous identity, tribalism, stereotypes, and the juxtaposition of tradition and modernity. Some stories I liked better than others - a bit of a mixed bag - but overall a thought-provoking and entertaining collection

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these short stories by Sherman Alexie, a Spokane Indian whose works I have read over the years. I guess it's time to admit that he is one of my favorites, and his collection Ten Little Indians is one of the greatest collections of short stories ever written by an Indian raised on a reservation.

Particularly good were "The Search Engine," "The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above," and the last story, "What Ever happened to Frank Snake Church."

There is a gentleness about Alexie's stories that is catching.

[Rachel C · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm not scared of the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons of the world. Jerry and Pat aren't the ones crawling in and out of the sweat houses and pontificating about how much they admire Indian culture. I'm scared of the white liberals who love Indians. I figure about 75 percent of white liberals who hang around Indians will eventually start believing they're Indians, then start telling us Indians how to be Indian." (p. 140)
(from "The life and times of Estelle Walks above")


I picked this collection up after reading Alexie's popular YA novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. That Book had me laughing and crying over and over. Ten Little Indians had a similar effect. At times hysterically funny, other times passionate and angry and there was a good amount of heart warming moments to hold me. The right mix to keep me interested too. I often pick up short story collections and only read the first few, but this one I looked forward to returning to every night. Not a one night stand (unless you pull an all nighter).
This collection has 9 stories that all range from 6 -53 pages, the average story is about 25 pages. My favourite story was "Do You know Where I am?" about a marriage that overcomes infidelity.
I highly recommend for anyone looking to spend time with a witty, quick and passionate guy. Some of the recurring topics include Post 9/11 Terrorism, Family, Marriage, Racism, Colonialism, Writing, the Indigenous experience (often poking fun at 'magical Indian' tropes) and there's two stories that strongly feature Basketball.

Favourite quote: "We fought hard for our happiness, and sometimes we won. Over the years, we won often enough to develop a strong taste for winning." (p. 167)

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still trying to figure out how to say this:

The thing I like best about short story collections (by a single author), if they're written well and compiled well, is the feeling I get, after reading each story, of comprehending an intimate secret the author needed me to understand. Poetry and novels both can (and do) knock me out, but there's something about the short story that can really get into my blood.

I am in love with this book. I couldn't get enough of it while I was reading it. It accompanied me almost everywhere I went this weekend, and when I thought maybe, for social reasons (and reducing the weight of my purse from being a lethal weapon), I should leave it at home for just a few hours, I obsessed over its absence like a phantom limb or shiny, new lover. I held it like a teddy bear going to sleep at night. I wanted to absorb it into my skin, and I feel this immense sense of guilt for refiling it back onto the bookshelf. I'd rather frame it.

Every story contains characters and situations that are tender, profane, and hilarious all at once, and each constantly evaded my expectations by achieving something far greater than anything I could have imagined. I'm not much for spoilers though I hate to not discuss every story for its brilliance, but it seems a little much to tally everything I loved about each story here. I don't recall enjoying The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven as much, but it has been several years and this experience has caused me to seriously consider rereading it.

I think you should read this book.

[Greyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is extremely rare for an author to bat .500+ in these collections, but most stories here stand on their own merit and would be worthy of a magazine highlight. Particularly high highs were: Lawyer's League, Can I Get a Witness?, Flight Patterns, and What Ever Happened to Frank Snake Church?

Written in the immediate impact of 9/11, the fixation on terror and towers seems a little dated but the other themes (grief, familial love, well-meaning failure, the social power of ascribed identity) are timeless.

Another one to file in "wish I had five copies to hand out to friends immediately." Also, must mention (admit) that Amy read the first story to me as we were travelling through Yukon and I never would have picked it up otherwise.

[Dr. Lloyd E. Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book by Sherman Alexis I’ve enjoyed reading over the past few months. Because Ten Little Indians is a collection of short stories, it’s a shame Good Reads doesn’t allow for rating each story. This collection contains an occasional two star short story, mostly three and four star short stories and a couple five star short stories.
I found myself regularly comparing and contrasting this book with the Canadian short story writer Alice Munro and Jhumpa Lahiri’s book, Interpreters of Maladies. Whereas Alice Munro’s describes living in Canada to outsiders, Alexis and Lazaro describe the alien experience of living in 21st Century America, Fascinating to me, Lahiri seems to long for a more inclusive America whereas Alexis seems more confused and hurt living in 21st Century America. My favorite story in this book concerns a self~conscious man laughing at the irony of being a Native American forced to live in a world stolen from him.
Two images from this story will stick in my brain for years. One, an old Native American man tells a young Native American girl to do this when her white teacher tells her about Columbus discovering America. “Jump on the teacher’s back and yell, “I am Columbus and I am discovering you.” What a great image of another perspective of Columbus. Two, a man is reflecting on why he sees the humor in everything. He compares the humor and the hurt of Native Americans with the humor and hurt of Jews. He says, “Maybe being the descendants of people who have survived a Holocaust sharpens one’s sense of humor as a way of coping with the deepest hurts.”
This author is worth reading.

[Tung · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third short story collection I’ve read by Alexie (the others are The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and The Toughest Indian in the World). If you’ve read his stuff before, you know what you’ll get: great prose discussing identity, Native American culture, and Native American struggles. But while his stories revolve around similar topics, I’ve always found his characters distinct and unique (other than a fixation on basketball). Ten Little Indians is no different. We get fantastic prose in stories discussing a college student finding a book of poetry that causes her to chase down its author; a middle-aged woman who wrestles with her life after experiencing a terrorist bombing; a salesman who has a life-impacting conversation with his Ethiopian cabbie; and a homeless man looking for a way to buy back his grandmother’s stolen tribal gear from a pawn shop (my favorite story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”), to name just a few of the interesting stories. In a few stories, I felt like Alexie built a structure primarily to vent some personal beliefs (“The Life and Times of Estelle Walks Above” was my least favorite). But overall, a solid collection. Recommended.

[J.J. Ulizio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an unexpected read. Voted on by my book club. A collection of mostly compelling short stories of modern day experiences of varying people from the Spokane Native American Tribe. Emotional, heartfelt, and poignant at times. Funny and mildly erotic at others. Covering a wide range of topics from family, destiny, to racism and mental health. The author I feel has a smoothness to his writing style that makes this book more of a “page turner” than it might otherwise seem”. My only major criticism without getting too nitpicky is that a lot of emphasis is put on these stories being about Native Americans, but a handful of them could easily be about people of any heritage. Unless that’s a point I somehow missed. Definitely worth a read. If possible I’d actually give it a 3.5 instead of a 3. But the good reads app doesn’t allow for that.

[Haley McAllister · Rating 1 out of 5]

a collection of nine short stories all centered around a modern member of the Spokane tribe of Indians (the tenth being the author himself). title refers to the offensive nursery rhyme about the genocide of Native Americans. my favorite short story was “What you pawn I will redeem,” which is about a homeless man trying to earn enough money to buy back his grandmother’s stolen regalia. there was like a five-way-tie for my least favorite short story because of the constant theme of over-sexualization (two short stories were very Oedipal. why two?). it felt mostly plotless and sometimes distasteful (or maybe i’m just a prude and blaming the author for that). very heavy-handed writing style and a lot of cheap humor aiming for shock value, which got boring.

favorite quotes:

White people looked at the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the full moon, newborn babies, and Indians with the same goofy sentimentalism.

I don't want long hair, I don't want short hair, I don't want hair at all, and I don't want to be a girl or a boy, I want to be a yellow and orange leaf some little kid picks up and pastes in his scrapbook.

Maybe Sharon and I had never loved each other well enough, but our kids were smart and talented and sober. They made less money than we did, as we made less than our parents did. We were going the wrong way on the social-class map! How glorious!

[Kilian Metcalf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I confess I don't like short stories very much. I prefer long novels I can get lost in for days or weeks. Sherman Alexie is one exception. His short stories are so insightful, funny, or sad, that they contain worlds. This collection is no exception. From the political lawyer who yearns for his glory days as a basketball player to the broke, homeless wanderer who sees his grandmother's dance regalia in a pawnshop, these stories take you far away into a world you can get lost in.

[Hanna Pennington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was recommended to me by a friend. The stories were heartbreaking in their normalcy. Everyone, no matter race, will face the fears in these stories. This was a true learning experience for me due to the context of every story. I cannot begin to imagine life through the lens of a Seattle Indian, but this gave just a little glimpse and I am grateful for it.

[Heather(Gibby) · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some really excellent stories in here, all featuring Spokane aboriginals. Although they all share this commonality, their stories are all diverse and provide a variety of emotional impacts.

Definitely worth a read

[haleykeg · Rating 4 out of 5]

my favorite was the last one with frank snakechurch

[Joseph Koffel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such beautiful fiction non-fiction. It’s real, it’s powerful, and it speaks volumes. I’ve always loved Sherman’s work but this one might take the cake.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book

This is a collection of short stories written by a Native American. Each story is unique and I enjoyed reading them. Some were sad, some not so sad, but all of them were real.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

i ordered this one through PASCAL from clemson and no one has checked it out since september 2004... i was about to born then 😱