Smoke signals is a movie that deals with the topic of being a Native American within a white man’s world. The story focuses on the two main characters Victor and Thomas. The topic of identity is a central theme of the movie, as it deals with many of the old stereotypes that have been attributed to the Native American community for centuries. Drinking and violence run rampant through the Native American community throughout the story of Smoke Signals, and Thomas and Victor try to find their own identity .

The entire story is told with the use of spirits, in a revelation fashion, in which Victor and Thomas both learn truths about themselves, as they continue on a journey both physically and mentally searching to where they fit in. In once scene Victor proclaims that “Indians are not supposed to smile” he then goes on to say “If you arn’t serious people wont respect you”. The idea of stereotypes places heavy into the movie. As seen in the quote above, Victor understands and believes in the idea that Indians need to play into the idea that they need to be spiritual and quiet beings if anyone is to take them seriously as people.

By using certain conventions such as telling an entire story through spirits, or portraying Indians as drunks such seen within the character Arnold (Victors father) burning down an entire building because he was intoxicated, much of the myth and stereotype of Indian culture is laid out, making the task of combining the Victor and Thomas’s culture with their own unique identity not an easy task. The trip the Victor and Thomas embark on allows them to find themselves and mix their Indian culture with their own unique perspectives finding themselves. They take a tripe from Idaho to Arizona, and along the way they seem to bounce of each other and learn what is to be both a Native American, and a their own person.