Do Unto Others
Indian Killer has a reverse plot line from what happened in real history. Instead of Native Americans being the cruel and vicious savages they are often made out to be, white men were the causes of disease and dislocation for these peoples. In Indian Killer, a murderer is a Native American, and the white population begins to hate all Native Americans just because one person did something wrong. As Alexie would know from his point of view, the same could be said of Native Americans when the white man arrived, stealing land. Some Native Americans began to hate all white men, and this spread the problematic stereotype of them being savages.
Mystery
The murderer in the novel is very mysterious during his runs, and no one knows exactly who he (or she) is, or what this person looks like. For our purposes, let us assume that the killer is a man. The mystery surrounding someone that could kill you at any moment is frightening enough, but that fright should not influence your belief on others. Because this Native American killer is seen as so mysterious, people assume that he and others like him are bad people, strengthening ethnic divides.
