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Following writer Thomas King's revelation on Monday that he's not half CherokeeSome Indigenous writers and scholars say the statement was a good first step, while others say it is not responsible.
Author of such books as Inconvenient Indian And Indians on vacationKing said in an essay Monday for The Globe and Mail that he learned he had no Cherokee ancestry after meeting with the Tribal Alliance Against Fraud (TAAF), a U.S.-based organization.
Daniel Heath Justice, a Cherokee Nation citizen and professor at the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of British Columbia, was on the Zoom call between TAAF and King.
Heath Justice said King seemed genuinely shocked to learn of his genealogy. But he said t.this came as no surprise to many Cherokee citizens who had long known that King was not Cherokee.
He said that while King is absorbing the information, his “statement is the first step, but it cannot be the only step” toward accountability.
Heath Justice added that it's an opportunity to learn “from different voices and voices that have done a lot of work.”
“This doesn’t have to be a time of despair; in fact, this may be a time of reaffirming our commitments,” Heath Justice said.
“There are so many truly wonderful Cherokee citizens. We are not short of Cherokee writers who write from a Cherokee perspective, who have Cherokee relatives, who have Cherokee connections.”
He encourages people to read writers such as Twila Barnes, Andrea L. Rogers, Annette Sonook Clapsaddle, Gladys Cardiff, Mary Leona Christensen and Wilma Mankiller.
Burden sides with King, writer says
Anishnaabe writer Jesse Wente said King's students were the first to come to mind when he heard the news.
“I think about all the people who were in relationships with him, how they feel today,” he said.
Wente said he was aware of the rumors about King's legacy and distanced himself from him following his experience working with director Michelle Latimer on the film adaptation. Inconvenient Indian.
“This should have been taken care of a long time ago,” Wente said.
“I can't explain why people don't solve their own problems if they're going to represent themselves publicly.”
He said his experience with Latimer felt like a deep betrayal but prepared him for this moment.
“You know, the last time it almost cost me my life, because depression and anxiety and all those things will kill you,” Wente said.
“This time, thanks in large part to that, I went on a real big journey of healing, and it changed my life.”
Wente said he doesn't understand how King could be shocked because this is not new to many in his circle and that the burden of repairing these relationships lies with King, not his community.
“I don't feel like I'm taking on any of the burden that Tom has to carry himself, and this time it's a relief,” he said.
“So my message to all these students, people who are hurt: know that you can end up in a better place.”
Wente said empathy for the colonial disunity experienced by many Indigenous people prevents many from asking questions about the peoples' identity.
“We stop asking questions because we realize it’s painful,” he said.
“I refuse, in all this time, to lose the generosity of the Anishinaabe, which is that I want to believe you when you come before me.”
Support Indigenous students, says professor
Celeste Pedri-Spade, an assistant professor of Anishinaabe anthropology at McGill University in Montreal, said King's revelation was “like Groundhog Day“
She said King's statement seemed “disingenuous” because “people have been asking him to clarify his statements for years.”
Pedri-Spade called on King to act on part of his statement about continuing to support the interests of Indigenous people and Indigenous artists.
“Your book royalties, the money you make from these Indigenous stories, donate it to some initiative to support Indigenous students, to support the future of brilliant Indigenous writers,” she said.
