The theme
of the demise of a traditional way of life, as seen in Pollock's Walsh,
pertains primarily to the Native Americans of the U.S., as well as the
indigenous tribes of Canada, (though Walsh also experiences it).
At the start of Act One, Walsh is studying the contents of supplies shipped to Fort
Walsh. The boxes are filled with farming "implements." Walsh, who knows the tribal
people of Canada better than the British government that rules the territory, recognizes this as
a waste of resources:
Are you telling me, man, that once
again the government has seen fit to burden me and the natives of these parts with another load
of seed and equipment to rot and rust when they know...because I've told them time and again,
that these Indians are not, and will never be, farmers!
The British government is trying to make the Indians self-sufficient, but the reader
does not get the sense that it is for the best interest of the native population, but
more so the government does not need to feed
them....
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