It is extremely important to bear the information from the 'character design preface' in mind when reading all character backstories on this blog. Before doing so, please refer back to the information on that particular post first.
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The Native American:
Name: Sidewinder
"In the days of the American frontier before Last Chance Saloon, when the ‘Wild West’ was thriving, certain tribes of the Native American people traded with the white man and, occasionally, met with them to form peace treaties so that a level of civility and order could be maintained across the plains of America. Of course, this was only applicable to certain tribes as some didn’t trust the white man at all after what they had done and would attack with such ferocity that the U.S. Army would get involved. One such tribe which did trade, however, were the Shoshone, or ‘Snake’ tribe. Unlike most other tribes, they traded with pretty much anyone.
Since their origin, they were known to be, like any other aboriginal tribe, born survivors and hunters. The Shoshone subsisted on such items as wild plants, small mammals, fish and insects. Sometimes, large groups of the Shoshone would band together to hunt buffalo, and they were known to be fierce warriors.
However, in the few years before Last Chance Saloon, all trading with the Shoshone tribe ceased, as the American frontier was finally approaching its twilight days and matters such as trading with the Native Americans became outdated and obsolete. It was during this time that Sidewinder was born, born into a dramatically changing world that nobody really understood.
Sidewinder was born to two Native American parents who were struggling to get anywhere in the world after their way of life had been snatched from them. They, along with hundreds of other Shoshone tribe members, had been moved to a reservation a few miles south of an up-and-coming frontier town by the U.S. Army and were powerless to do anything about it.
As he grew up on a reservation, he was able to attend school where he learned the basics of the English language but was far from fluent or well educated. Due to the varied offerings of clothes and other commodities the reservation received from the U.S. Army, he became accustomed to those things more attributed to the lifestyle of the white man. Since he was only a young man and hadn’t gone through the hardships his parents and the rest of his tribe had, he didn’t have much of an issue accepting the clothes the Cavalry had given them. Therefore, his clothes consisted of both materials reminiscent of his tribe and shirts that the white man would be seen wearing.
Over the years, Sidewinder became bored with the reservation and, as a boy on the cusp of adolescence, sneaked off to finally see the town everybody had been talking about for so many years. Although tolerance towards the Native Americans was generally better, the white population still mistrusted them as a whole, and his presence soon caused a commotion in the town.
As people started to get riled up and hostile, the general store owner spied him from a window in his store. He got to the entrance and motioned for the boy to hide away in his store until people lost interest or went to look for him. Since the young Shoshone Indian didn’t want to face the ever-growing crowd of angry people, he obliged and snuck away before anybody could see him.
The general store owner, an aging man in his early 60s, had spent many decades trading with and being helped out by the Native Americans. They were the ones who helped him restock his store, even in dangerous and inclement weather. They were also responsible for procuring hand-to-find and sometimes rare items for him to sell, providing his stock with more variety and bringing in more income as a result. It was due to the Native Americans that his store had been so prolific and successful, and as such, the aging owner respected the young Indian boy who now stood in front of him.
Taking a chance on Sidewinder, the aging store owner offered him a job working at his store. The young boy considered, realising that he lacked direction in life and didn’t really have a life outside of the reservation. So, as a near-adolescent of 12, he became the store owner’s ward.
At first, he worked in the store itself, doing small tasks like bringing stock inside from the backs of various wagons and putting said stock on the shelves. When the owner thought he was older and more experienced, he sent him out with a driver to collect supplies from areas outside of town. Soon, he was travelling out of town and even into neighbouring states by himself.
Finally, when Sidewinder was 24 years old and after many years of arduous and loyal work, the store owner believed it was time for him to retire and, as a thank you to the Native American, bequeathed his entire store to him, truly believing that he had earned it. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Sidewinder found himself a business owner.
With this new revelation at the forefront of his mind, he journeyed back to the reservation he grew up on to give his parents the news.
But they were nowhere to be found.
In fact, the entire reservation, along with all its people, seemed to have disappeared. All that remained was the rough patch of land the reservation used to stand on, as well as some random wooden debris from the tepees that had also vanished with everything else.
Sidewinder scoped around for clues as to where the tribe had gone, but found nothing. The only people he could hope to glean answers from were the awful people who sent them there in the first place; the Cavalry.
And so, with his new mission of locating both his parents and the rest of his tribe from the reservation, he temporarily closed the general store, packed his horse out with survival supplies, and set off in search of a Cavalry officer who could, hopefully, provide him with answers."