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.

• Read the full text of “Evolution”

• “Evolution” Summary

• “Evolution” Themes

  • 

    The Exploitation and Cultural Destruction of American Indians

    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

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 4-8

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

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 8-12

    The Indians ...
    ... for twenty bucks

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 13-15

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

    

    

    

    

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• “Evolution” Symbols

  • 

    TVs and VCRs

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Line 5: “television sets, a VCR”
  • 

    The Buckskin Outfit

    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

    

    

    

    

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    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

    

    

    

    

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    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

    

    

    

    

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    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

    

    

    

    

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    Where metaphor appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-15

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    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

    

    

    

    

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    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
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “Buffalo Bill opens a pawn shop”; Line 13: “closes up the pawn shop”)

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

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Evolution” Speaker

• “Evolution” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Evolution”

• More “Evolution” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Alexie's Biography — A valuable resource from the Poetry Foundation. 

    • Native American Poetry and Culture — A selection of poems and essays by indigenous writers. 

    • Alexie Interviewed — The poet on his life, work, and wider issues around Native American identity.  

    • The Story of Buffalo Bill — A short biography of William F. Cody, a.k.a Buffalo Bill.  

    • Reservation Living Conditions — Striking statistics about living conditions on modern reservations.

    • Native Americans and Westward Expansion — More on how westward expansion devastated North America's indigenous peoples.

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