The Truth About Stories was both an enjoyable and informative read. Through historical anecdotes and personal experiences, Thomas King demonstrated how storytelling has shaped and continues to shape our society, as well as our personal identities, perceptions, and choices in life.
As a public health researcher, storytelling is something that I have always greatly valued. Unlike most scientific evidence which tends to be largely objective and numeric-heavy, sharing stories of lived experiences can resonate personally with the public which in turn has the ability to trigger a positive change in knowledge, attitude, and ultimately behaviours. This can be extremely powerful as it not only allows for a more in-depth understanding of individuals’ realities but also amplifies voices and perspectives that may have otherwise remained silent.
The Native American culture has long been known for its rich oral tradition of storytelling. However, there is a sharp contradiction between the stories told by Native Americans about themselves versus the stories told about Native Americans by the settler population. As King repeats over and over again in this book: “The truth about stories is that that’s all we are.” He illustrates how stories essentially create a framework for understanding the world around us. He warns us: “You have to be careful with the stories you tell. And you have to watch out for the stories that you are told.” Through the stories he tells in each chapter of this book, he is able to point out issues of oppression, racism, identity and discrimination faced by the Native population. At the end of each story, he constantly reminds readers that now they are aware of that story, they do not have any reason to remain ignorant.
“Don’t say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story. You’ve heard it now.”
– Thomas King
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Stories have the ability to not only shape who we are, but also how we think and interact with others. King contrasts the Judeo-Christian creation myth (the story in Genesis), with a Native creation myth (the story of The Woman Who Fell From the Sky) to illustrate the idea of how different society would be if we had simply been told a different creation story. The story in genesis emphasizes individualism and law/order as it created a universe governed by a series of hierarchies (God, man, animals, plants). On the other hand, the universe in the Native story emphasizes cooperation as it was governed by unity and social cohesion between all living beings. Depending on which stories we are told, they play a powerful role in creating our own framework for understanding the world around us. And so, if we want to create change, or a different world entirely, we need to choose differently – i.e. tell a different story.
- The Native identity is a constructed image. The construction of Native identity has largely been dictated from the outside, by non-natives, to the point where Native Americans have to act as a “true Indian” according to someone else’s definition in order to be recognized within North American society. King shares his own personal experiences of when he was questioned about his own identity simply because he didn’t “look” or “act” visibly Indigenous. He points out how absurd it is to use visual checkmarks and colonial markers (e.g. tribal enrollment) to determine authenticity, an overtly racist action that has resulted in groups of widely differing cultures to be reduced to one single archetype. This constructed, stereotypical “Indian” is so entrenched that there is no fighting it – except through our stories.
- Legislation is threatening the existence of Indigenous people. King educates readers about how the Canadian government has used legislation to not only rid Native people of their land but also legalize them out of existence, by slowly enrolling less and less of them as status Indians. For example, the Canadian Bill C-31 contains a two-generation cut-off clause that makes children, rather than adults, lose their Indian status through marriage. This means that when status adults marry out of status for two generations, the children are no longer “Indian” and can never gain that status back. By using legal criteria to classify Indians as non-Indian, this has caused Indigenous people to not only have less rights and resources, but also turn them against each other.
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