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Collie Parker

Collie is indigenous to the Americas, most likely as a Lakota, Sioux. Even though his wish is not stated, one can guess it would be Land Back. This interpretation is intrinsically, of course, related to his ethnicity, and his implied wish therefore is tightly wound to his character.

First, I would like to establish what I understand about the US in relation to this topic. In 1887, the Dawes Severalty Act was passed and took effect in the form of capitalist land grab after discovering oil on the Great Sioux Reservation. This new form of land allotment pressured and coerced selling of acres, culminating to the loss of more than 100 million acres by 1934.

The traditional, indigenous ways around the world is often labelled socialist and thus a natural enemy of capitalist endeavours, especially of white men. When previously, before the Act had passed, the US government promised to leave reservations "untouched", they immediately betrayed and dishonoured their practice by capitalist motivation.

Boarding schools were set up to promote and inject white supremacist beliefs with the aims of disconnecting Natives from their heritage. [1] The US was able to force their presence into the Native lives once again and destroy what they believed were tribalism and backwardness and enforced Christianity while attempting to erase traditional religions and traditions. The purpose of an Indian Boarding school was, in the words of Richard Pratt, "To kill the Indian in him, and save the man." By 1926, 80% of school aged Natives were put into boarding schools throughout the nation. [2]

There was not only the stripping of land, there was also stripping of cultural and ethnic identity. From late 1800s until 1990, there were boarding schools that groomed students to be pro-military and presented military participation as an honourable act. [3] During the period of the America-Vietnam War, there were school-sponsored Pow Wows held for students through K through 12 in which veterans attended with Lakota staff holding the American flag. The military personnel even carried dummy rifles.

Out of desperation and poverty, many Indigenous Peoples participated in the America-Vietnam War, with many disillusioned by the end of it. Bill Means, a US Army veteran showed shame of having been a part of the Army during the interventionist war. [4]

It was only 1924 when "the United States Congress that declared Native Americans born within the United States are US citizens." And in 1930s, there were resurgence of Native identity expression, especially in gratitude to Native women who had preserved culture and language. [5]

'The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934' was passed directly in reaction to the Dawes Severalty Act through reformations: 1) Restoration of Land for economic and social development; 2) Self-governance under democratic governance structures; 3) Economic support (assistance were given to education, health, and infrastructure).

In order for there to be a drastic change by the alternate presumed '60s and '70s, we'll stop recounting history here.

Immediately we can see how the Indigenous population had interacted with the America-Vietnam War wherein they were funnelled and groomed into the 'choice' of recruitment in order to prop up a capitalist system which had caused so much generational trauma. Some Natives were also disillusioned as they were able to see some parallel with how they were being treated due to the ethnic hierarchy-based vernacular from the US army in regards to capturing Vietnamese villages.

This makes Collie's participation in the Long Walk further interesting as he was able to become disillusioned and rebel. There is also the allusion to the Trail of Tears of 1830–1850 which occurred despite the complicity to US capitalism by the 'Five Civilized Tribes'. [6, p. 15]

Considering the information that I've shared of the Boarding Schools, there was institutional suppression of ethnic and cultural identity for Collie where he was forced to American-ise himself, which of course would mean he'd have to adhere to the beliefs built upon white supremacy. Even the act of keeping his hair long and wearing a bear tooth necklace is a sign of rebellion.

Above all, we have Collie's death scene wherein he falls to his knees, sings a memorial song with blood on his hands visibly out for the audience and the soldiers to see. This invokes the image of the red handprint which is symbols of generational tragedy and trauma from the systematic violence against Native Women and Girls from the US and Canada.

So, as Collie holds onto his heritage in his last moment of will in his life, as well as to rebel against the soldiers, he does so through pure existence alone: he does this by giving himself a funeral and dying the way that his traditions, religion, and culture would accept; and fundamentally rejects the white American execution.

Despite the history of institutionalised suppression of his identity, he retained his Nativeness. He fought back with his very existence and a connection that the Army failed to sever.

Hank Olson

Olson is of Chinese descent, most likely a multi-generational immigrant. The first wave of Chinese immigrants were from the 1850s which then prompted the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Despite the Chinese labour, this marked as the United States' first major immigration restrictions. After the repeal in 1943, major immigration waves continued from the '60s. Of course, these kinds of decisions were attributed to the US' isolationist policies and philosophy, stretching back to the beginnings of the colonial period. [7]

It wasn't until the '60s that Chinese immigrants were seen as hardworking and good for the economy. So I'm guessing from the time period when The Long Walk appears, this paradigm shift had not happened.

There are moments I would like to focus on when it comes to his ethnicity which I thought was interesting.

This introduces the idea of xenophobic censorship and propaganda in this alternate America, but I will only focus on Olson (and hopefully talk about in-universe censorship another day).

Olson shows disdain on the French for eating frogs. I've seen this type of sentiment played for laughs in American TV shows so I'm assuming it's quite a normal thing to say. When it came to these types of dialogue, I remember pulling a face whenever they make an East Asian character say it, and this is because eating frogs is quite mundane. I remember when I was a child and first discovered a person could eat frogs and I felt no discomfort, nor was the channel I was watching show any disdain towards it.

Ultimately, especially in China, appreciating every animal and most importantly every part of an animal is normal. Meaning, when they eat, say, chicken, they eat every part of the chicken. Same with cows, same with pigs, and this of course extends to other edible animals. This of course extends to cuisines and ingredients the West may dislike, such as silkworms, duck blood, and, you guessed it, frogs.

Considering that Olson is East Asian, the passion he has for disliking frogs can come from a myriad of influence in regards to his ethnicity (experiencing racism), but it could, and I argue is most likely, from the very lack of influence which makes him disgusted at it. (I obviously don't think writers thought deeply about this; I'm talking about my relationship with art rather than the production process of it.)

I've actually written about this in another post, so I'll just lazily quote it from there: "When Olson was the one, an East Asian, who said he found the eating of frogs 'disgusting', I, perhaps unintentionally, interpreted it as a showcase of how an immigrant or children of immigrants can become detached to parts of their cultures and unknowingly villanise them."

@trival-obsession kindly elaborated in the comments, arguing that Olson is dripped in American symbols: baseball cap, chewing gum, sneakers, jean jacket. He additionally had memorised all of the rule book, and even cites it— almost as if it's a performance of the model American identity.

Connecting this to his ethnicity, trivial-obsession points out that this may be in reference to those who tried to prove that they were "a real American" or "unlike the other Asians", ie. 'one of the good ones'. Patriotic. Model Minority.

This is a fantastic addition! I have adopted this representation of Olson ever since reading this comment, because this allows for a deeper analysis on Olson's ethnic identity as it provides a parallel to the stripping of culture in order to fit in and alleviate the pains of being crushed of institutionalised discrimination.

There are additionally some elements you could argue Olson portrays that connects to his heritage culture, but the links can be quite weak. For example, Olson being superstitious and believing if A happens then B happens (gum and victory), and this being connected to the very common cultures of superstition in China.

As Olson is East Asian, we can have the added layer of the empty promise the United States provided to its East Asian immigrants, that as long as they work hard (A) they can achieve equality and respect (B).

But no matter how much Olson tried, he could not win. The very best from him, even to the brink of death, wasn't enough: he would lose.

Just like how Asian-Americans (and other immigrants) could try their very best being laborious, reach the myth of model minority status, and they could never be accepted. They were always going to be positioned below the whites in the racial hierarchy.

My quick conclusion

In contrast to Collie, Olson strips his identity through assimilation while Collie maintains it. This isn't an argument on what is better or worse than the other, but to acknowledge that there is no real, good option. Regardless of whether you comply with the settlers, you are not safe from genocide (e.g. Trail of Tears), and whether or not you assimilate to the foreign nation and work hard, you are not safe from surveillance and restriction (e.g. 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act).

Overall, I think the two of the characters show how one's relationship with their ethnic identity can go in opposite directions: one rebels by retaining it, and the other assimilates in order to be accepted. Either way, there was no right answer as they were rejected and killed because 'they weren't good enough'.

Reference(s):

[1] Native Nations: A Millennium in North America (2025) by Kathleen DuVal, p. 516

[2] Native Nations: A Millennium in North America (2025) by Kathleen DuVal, p. 514

[3] Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (2012) by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco, p. 44

[4] Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt (2012) by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco, p. 45

[5] Native Nations: A Millennium in North America (2025) by Kathleen DuVal, p. 517

[6] 'Towards a Theory of Displacement Atrocities: The Cherokee Trail of Tears, The Herero Genocide, and The Pontic Greek Genocide.' (2016) by Andrew R. Basso

[7] Article: The Evolution of American Isolationism by Robert (2025) Robert Longley (x)

Further Reading(s):

Wandering Stars (2024) by Tommy Orange