Evolution Summary & Analysis
by Sherman Alexie

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  • “Evolution” Introduction

    • Sherman Alexie's "Evolution" was published in his best-selling 1992 collection, The Business of Fancy-Dancing. With Alexie's characteristic dark humor, the poem examines the exploitation of indigenous Americans. It features a modernized version of the famous frontiersman Buffalo Bill (a.k.a. William F. Cody), whose 19th-century roadshow "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" sensationalized life on the frontier and battles with American Indians for entertainment and profit. This time, Bill opens up a pawn shop on a reservation where the local "Indians" go to sell their possessions. After they've pawned off everything they have, Bill opens up a "Museum of Native American Cultures"—selling a hollow experience of the same traditions and identities that he essentially destroyed. The poem works as an extended metaphor for the continued devastation and exploitation of native peoples.

  • “Evolution” Summary

    • A man called Buffalo Bill comes to an American Indian reservation and opens up a pawn shop (a kind of business that offers people monetary loans in exchange for material collateral). This shop is very close to another store that sells alcohol. Buffalo Bill keeps the pawn shop open all day, every day.

      The indigenous people who live on the reservation come to the shop to pawn things like jewelry, TVs, video cassette players, and even an intricate, hand-made traditional outfit that took a woman over a decade to complete.

      Buffalo Bill buys whatever they have to sell and then stores it all away systematically. The indigenous people start selling their own body parts—starting with their hands and eventually moving on to their thumbs.

      They pawn their very bones, which keep separating from their skin. And when the only indigenous person remaining has nothing left to pawn except for his own heart, Buffalo Bill buys it from him for a measly twenty dollars.

      Then he closes his shop and repaints the sign. He refashions the shop as a "Museum of Native American cultures" and makes the indigenous people pay $5 each to go inside.

  • “Evolution” Themes

    • Theme The Exploitation and Cultural Destruction of American Indians

      The Exploitation and Cultural Destruction of American Indians

      "Evolution" explores the devastating cultural destruction and exploitation of American Indians at the hands of white society. The poem is a kind of retelling of the story of Buffalo Bill, whose popular 19th-century roadshow "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" repurposed indigenous traditions and trauma for the entertainment of white audiences. Here, a modernized Buffalo Bill opens a pawn shop on a “reservation,” where the locals come to pawn their goods (implicitly in order to earn money for alcohol). Once they've sold everything they have down to their own bodies, Bill opens a "Museum of Native American Cultures" and charges his old customers an admission fee to see what used to be theirs. The poem can be read as a sharp critique of the centuries of exploitation and violence that continue to devastate American Indian cultures.

      The poem's tragedy, of course, doesn't start with this Buffalo Bill; the fact that the native peoples in this poem live on a reservation nods to the lasting effects of settler colonialism and Westward expansionism. Some historical context is important here: the U.S. government engineered a wide-reaching land grab throughout the 18th and 19th centuries that, whether through treaty or outright force, pushed indigenous peoples into specific areas under often punishing restrictions. This process amounted to the wholesale loss of many traditional ways of life. And in the hundreds of years since, reservations have become frequent sites of despair and poverty, with high levels of alcoholism that many link to immense generational trauma.

      Buffalo Bill thus arrives on the scene sensing an opportunity: his pawn shop is just the next "evolution" of exploitation. He's not simply offering a loan service, but rather contributing to the cultural erosion that, historical context implies, created this situation in the first place. Exploitation, poverty, and cultural destruction are linked in a vicious cycle.

      The Indians start by selling VCRs and TVs. In the same breath, the speaker notes that they then pawn traditional items like a "buckskin outfit / it took Inez Muse 12 years to finish." The juxtaposition between these things—mass-produced electronics and an intricate, handmade outfit—suggests how desperate the Indians are. And the loss of this traditional item of clothing more specifically represents the loss of traditional ways of life.

      Once all material goods are gone, the Indians begin to sell their own bodies—from their hands, to their "their skeletons," to their "heart[s]" (for a mere twenty bucks!). These can be taken as representing the loss of their identity, community, and spirit. Bill then "catalogue[s] and file[s]" everything he acquires, imposing a cold, pseudoscientific approach on an entire culture.

      Using the Native Americans' pawned possessions, Buffalo Bill then opens a "MUSEUM OF NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURES," selling back to them a gaudy and false version of their own history and identity. The museum continues to exploit indigenous identity by pretending to document and celebrate it; in reality, the museum is just the latest stage in cultural destruction. The "Evolution" here, then, really amounts to devastation under the pretense of civilization, the Native Americans forced to pay an admission fee to wander, like ghosts, through their own ruined world.

      Where this theme appears in the poem:
      • Lines 1-15
  • Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Evolution”

    • Lines 1-3

      Buffalo Bill opens ...
      ... days a week

      The poem starts by taking a real figure from American history, "Buffalo Bill," and reimagining him in the modern world. But first, it's useful to understand some context about the original Buffalo Bill (1846-1917) to whom the poem alludes:

      • This Buffalo Bill (real name William F. Cody) fought for the Union in the American Civil War and later served as an army scout in the Indian Wars. But he is most famous for his "Wild West" traveling show, which repacked and repurposed native traditions—and traumatic experiences—for entertainment.
      • In addition to displaying skills like equestrianism and archery, American Indian actors participated in sensationalized re-enactments of historical battles.
      • The original Buffalo Bill, then, was a white man who thrived on exploiting American Indians—and that's exactly what this Buffalo Bill does in the poem.

      The first stanza describes how Buffalo Bill senses an opportunity. He sets up a pawn shop on a reservation, a tract of land granted by the U.S. government to indigenous peoples. Historically speaking, the reservation system is itself the product of exploitation and oppression.

      A pawn shop, meanwhile, is a kind of store that offers people financial loans in exchange for material collateral. In other words, people can trade valuable items—jewelry, electronics, etc.—to the shop in exchange for money. The seller then has a certain amount of time to buy the item back (typically with interest) before it's resold to other customers.

      The mention of a nearby "liquor store" further hints that Bill is taking advantage of a common problem on reservations: alcoholism. The shop, the poem implies, is meant to catch people at their most desperate, when they're willing to sell anything—including themselves—for a drink.

      That the store stays open all day, every day implies that Buffalo Bill is eager to make a profit. The enjambment in this stanza rushes readers from one line to the next without respite, as if the poem itself is a store with its bright lights on at every hour of the day.

    • Lines 4-8

      and the Indians ...
      ... a storage room.

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    • Lines 8-12

      The Indians ...
      ... for twenty bucks

    • Lines 13-15

      closes up the ...
      ... head to enter.

  • “Evolution” Symbols

    • Symbol TVs and VCRs

      TVs and VCRs

      In the second stanza, the American Indians pawn TVs and VCRs for alcohol (the poem was written before streaming services came along!). These subtly gesture towards modern American consumerist culture, which implicitly contrasts with traditional indigenous cultures. These electronic goods can be seen as markers of the homogenisation of society through mass entertainment, with everyone effectively consuming the same stuff. The fact that they're in the poem hints at the way traditional cultures have already been displaced before Buffalo Bill's arrival.

      It's worth noting, too, that they sell these items alongside a "full-length beaded buckskin outfit" that took 12 years to make—implying that these items are of the same (little) value.

      Where this symbol appears in the poem:
      • Line 5: “television sets, a VCR”
    • Symbol The Buckskin Outfit

      The Buckskin Outfit

      The pawning of the handmade "full-length beaded buckskin outfit" in the second stanza symbolizes the destruction of American Indians' crafts, skills, and cultural traditions. This intricate outfit "took Inez Muse 12 years to finish" yet is sold in an instant to "Buffalo Bill" alongside much more trivial, common objects like TVs and VCRs. This speaks to the way that American Indian culture has been both exploited and devalued. The fact that Buffalo Bill then puts the outfit away in a "storage room" reflects his lack of respect for it; when it later becomes part of his "MUSEUM OF NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURES," this shows how it's been transformed into a relic of a lost world. Instead of being worn by Inez or someone in her community, it's on display for strangers to gawk at.

      Where this symbol appears in the poem:
      • Lines 5-6: “a full-length beaded buckskin outfit / it took Inez Muse 12 years to finish”
  • “Evolution” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

    • Alliteration

      There's not that much alliteration in "Evolution," which, for the most part, features distinctly casual, straightforward language. The brief moments of alliteration add pops of emphasis and intensity to the poem, and they also draw readers' attention to certain important images.

      The name "Buffalo Bill" is itself alliterative, which makes it sound all the more mythical and legendary. Indeed, Buffalo Bill has become a famous character in American history and folklore (and was the real nickname of a 19th-century showman named William F. Cody). The alliteration is loud and makes the name catchy and showy.

      Then, in the second stanza, there's alliteration in the mention of the "full-length beaded buckskin outfit." This sound patterning calls attention to the importance of this outfit in the poem, which symbolically represents the artistry and culture being exploited by men like Buffalo Bill. The fact that this is the same sound as Buffalo Bill also creates tension and suggests a link between the garment and its new owner.

      In line 13, Buffalo Bill reveals the next stage of his plan as he:

      closes up the pawn shop, paints a new sign over the old

      The punchy /p/ sounds here feel sharp and quick, suggesting the violence and cruelty of Buffalo Bill's actions.

      Where alliteration appears in the poem:
      • Line 1: “Buffalo Bill”
      • Lines 1-2: “reservation / right”
      • Line 5: “beaded buckskin”
      • Line 6: “Buffalo Bill”
      • Line 10: “skeletons,” “skin”
      • Line 12: “Buffalo Bill”
      • Line 13: “pawn,” “paints”
    • Allusion

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      Where allusion appears in the poem:
      • Line 1: “Buffalo Bill”
      • Line 6: “Buffalo Bill”
      • Lines 9-10: “they pawn / their skeletons, falling endlessly from the skin”
      • Line 12: “Buffalo Bill”
    • Caesura

      Where caesura appears in the poem:
      • Line 3: “day, 7”
      • Line 5: “sets, a VCR, a”
      • Line 6: “finish. Buffalo”
      • Line 7: “offer, keeps”
      • Line 8: “room. The”
      • Line 9: “hands, saving,” “last, they”
      • Line 10: “skeletons, falling”
      • Line 12: “heart, Buffalo”
      • Line 13: “shop, paints”
    • Enjambment

      Where enjambment appears in the poem:
      • Lines 1-2: “reservation / right”
      • Lines 2-3: “store / and”
      • Lines 3-4: “week / and”
      • Lines 4-5: “ jewelry / television”
      • Lines 5-6: “outfit / it”
      • Lines 6-7: “Bill / takes”
      • Lines 7-8: “it / all”
      • Lines 8-9: “Indians / pawn”
      • Lines 9-10: “pawn / their”
      • Lines 10-11: “skin / and”
      • Lines 11-12: “everything / but”
      • Lines 12-13: “bucks / closes”
      • Lines 13-14: “old / calls”
      • Lines 14-15: “CULTURES / charges”
    • Metaphor

      Where metaphor appears in the poem:
      • Lines 1-15
    • Irony

      Where irony appears in the poem:
      • Lines 12-15: “Buffalo Bill takes that for twenty bucks / closes up the pawn shop, paints a new sign over the old / calls his venture THE MUSEUM OF NATIVE AMERICAN CULTURES / charges the Indians five bucks a head to enter.”
    • Asyndeton

      Where asyndeton appears in the poem:
      • Line 3
      • Lines 4-5
      • Lines 7-8
      • Lines 9-10
      • Lines 12-15
  • “Evolution” Vocabulary

    Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

    • Pawn Shop
    • Buffalo Bill
    • Reservation
    • VCR
    • Full-length beaded buckskin outfit
    Pawn Shop
    • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Buffalo Bill opens a pawn shop”; Line 13: “closes up the pawn shop”)

      A place where people can trade material possessions for monetary loans, usually with an option to buy them back within a certain time period (and plus interest).

  • Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Evolution”

    • Form

      "Evolution" consists of five three-line stanzas, a.k.a. tercets. These short stanzas lend the poem structure, even as it doesn't follow any set meter or rhyme scheme. At the same time, the tercets create subtle tension: every line in the poem is enjambed, with sentences never fully mapping onto the poem's visual line breaks. That is, the strict three-line shape doesn't correspond to the ends of individual sentences, making the poem feel abrupt and disorientating. The tercets, in their uniform shape, could represent oppression and exploitation—attempts to restrain and distill native peoples' ways of life.

    • Meter

      "Evolution" uses free verse, meaning it has no steady meter. Instead, the language unfolds casually and conversationally, evoking the cruel nonchalance with which Buffalo Bill "takes everything the Indians have to offer." The poem's loose rhythms might also suggest that, however tragic, the events being described are commonplace. Something like a steady iambic rhythm, by contrast, would probably feel too measured and self-consciously poetic.

    • Rhyme Scheme

      As a free verse poem, "Evolution" doesn't follow any set rhyme scheme. As with the poem's lack of meter, this keeps things from feeling overly poetic; the poem's events are presented in a simple, straightforward manner that suggests they're nothing out of the ordinary. This, in turn, reinforces the tragedy at the poem's core: the situation described is not surprising or new.

  • “Evolution” Speaker

    • The speaker of "Evolution" is never identified. Instead, the speaker works like an omniscient narrator in a novel, presenting the story at hand without commentary. In a way, the speaker's detached tone makes the story feel all the more tragic; it feels as though the poem is simply presenting facts, suggesting that the brutal reality of life for American Indians is just the way things are.

  • “Evolution” Setting

    • The poem takes place in the modern era on an unspecified reservation, an area of land set aside by the U.S. government for sovereign rule by indigenous Americans. The setting itself is thus part of the legacy of white settler colonialism: the reservation system began largely as a means for the government to seize native lands and to relocate, control, and forcefully assimilate native peoples. Today, those living on reservations often have statistically higher risks of alcohol abuse, poverty, suicide, and many chronic health conditions than the general population, something the poem alludes to in line 2 with the reference to a nearby "liquor store."

      While Buffalo Bill is the nickname of a real person who lived in the 1800s, the poem reimages Bill as a modern pawn shop owner. Moving the poem to the modern era implies that the kind of exploitation of the real Buffalo Bill's day is alive and well, having simply "evolved" into something subtler (yet no less powerful). The reference to mass-produced electronics (TV sets and VCRs) alongside traditional buckskin outfits also reflects the ongoing devaluation of native cultures.

  • Literary and Historical Context of “Evolution”

      Literary Context

      Sherman Alexie is an American Indian writer with ancestry from a number of tribes, principally the Spokane and the Coeur d'Alene people. He grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation, attending a high school outside of the reservation at which he was the only Native American in his class. He later attended Washington State University and was inspired by Alex Kuo's creative writing course to write about his own experiences. Alexie has spoken about being a recovering alcoholic and witnessing multiple family members, including his father, die from the disease.

      "Evolution" was published in The Business of Fancy-Dancing, which came out in 1992 and won numerous prizes. Fancy-dancing is a colorful form of dancing loosely based on a war dance from the Ponca Tribe; Alexie views his own poetry as a similarly expressive way of communicating. His writing focuses on the experiences of native peoples both on and of reservations, and his characteristic use of dark humor and irony can also be seen in works such as "The Powwow at the End of the World," "How to Write the Great American Indian Novel." He published the best-selling novel "The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian" in 2016.

      Alexie is one voice among many exploring Native American experiences and perspectives in contemporary poetry. Others include Joy Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation and the incumbent Poet Laureate for the United States, who has often incorporated the rich oral traditions of indigenous cultures into her work; Leslie Marmon Silko, whose work draws on Native American myths and symbolism; and Orlando White, whose poems focus on the role of language in power, culture, and identity.

      Historical Context

      Though "Evolution" was published in the 1990s, it draws from centuries of American history.

      Believing that colonial expansion was both their right and their destiny, white settlers drove further west across the North American continent throughout the 17th to 19th centuries. This brought them into conflict with Native Americans and resulted in the deaths of millions of indigenous people through both direct violence and exposure to European diseases. The U.S. government also routinely annexed native lands, forcefully displacing or assimilating their indigenous inhabitants in an attempt to "civilize" them by making them more like white people. This resulted in the destruction of innumerable traditional cultures.

      The legacy of all this historical violence, racism, and oppression can be seen in the reservation system, which began largely as a means to control native peoples by confining them to specific tracts of land. Violence, depression, poverty, chronic illness, infant mortality, and substance abuse remain significant problems in reservation communities to this day, where the average life expectancy is often far lower than that of any other group in North America. Such issues are linked to centuries of generational trauma, oppression, and the wholesale loss of traditional ways of life.

      The Buffalo Bill of this poem, meanwhile, is a modern imagining of William F. Cody (1846-1917), a former Union soldier, notorious bison hunter (hence the nickname), and army scout during the American Indian Wars. But Bill became most famous for his traveling roadshow "Buffalo Bill's Wild West," which introduced millions of people throughout the U.S. and Europe to a highly sensationalized version of life on the American frontier—complete with re-enactments of battles from the American Indian Wars, wherein native peoples were routinely stereotyped as violent, strange, and primitive.

  • More “Evolution” Resources