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Smoke Signals (1998) is a movie that revolves around the lives of Victor Joseph and Thomas Builds-the-Fire. Throughout the movie, the audience follows both of these individuals around on a spiritual journey of self discovery and forgiveness. This journey was embarked by Victor and Thomas because of a series of events that happened on a Fourth of July, when Victor and Thomas were only a couple of months old. On this day, a house was engulfed in flames and both Victor and Thomas were caught inside. Victor's father saved both infants, but Thomas's parents died. As the movie progresses, we discover that Victor's father was an alcoholic and was abusive towards Victor and his mother. Years later, Victor's father leaves and dies in Phoenix. When Victor’s mother found out, she wanted her son to travel to Phoenix to retrieve his ashes. However, due to poverty, she couldn’t afford the travel. This is when Thomas offers to give him the money to travel with the condition that Victor agrees to let Thomas to tag along. This journey leads to Victor's struggle of finding forgiveness for his father’s abuse and abandonment.

Victor is presented to be a Coeur d'Alene Indian with long, flowing, thick, black hair. Throughout the movie, he continuously tells Thomas how a true Indian is suppose to dress, talk, and behave. He continuously voices that a true Indian grows out and lets his hair down. In addition, he tells Thomas that Indians do not wear suits, they wear beat up clothes. Lastly, he demonstrates that an Indian is not suppose to be smiling all the time. His justification was that an Indian is suppose to be stoic to invoke masculinity and toughness. Victor conforms to the stereotype that Native Americans are unable to feel anything positive, such as happiness, joy, compassion, and hopefulness. In the film, even when he seems to at his most vulnerable state, he is shown to deal with his feelings with anger and aggressiveness. He also conforms to the stereotype that most, if not all, Native Americans are savages who are too uncivilized to conform to social norms, such as being polite. For example, on their way to Phoenix, Victor expresses his annoyance with a passenger by expressing his anger of the mistreatment Native Americans had to face.

This character works to justify Native Americans’ social and economic marginalization because of the stereotypes that people associate with them. For example, it could be argued that Native Americans do not deserve to be included as part of America because of their “inability to become civilized to American culture”. In other words, why should they be considered American if they are refusing to abandon their culture and traditions to become American? As for the economic marginalization, it could be argued that Native Americans are “selfish” for attempting to keep Americans from expanding, so in their minds, these people feel they are finally get what they deserve, which is having their land taken.