One year ago the Nisga'a people of British Columbia requested and were approved to have a totem returned to them 90 years after it was stolen. The totem pole was stolen nearly 100 years ago by a researcher in 1929. The totem pole is a visual depiction of the story of "Ts'wawit, a warrior who was next in line to be chief before he was killed in a conflict with a neighboring nation" (Canadian Press). This article made me think about our discussions in class about indigenous people having their stories figuratively taken and retold by others whether that we in movies or history books. Now this example is showing that their stories were literally stolen and taken back to Scotland to be on display at a museum, "[the pole] represents a chapter of the Peoples' cultural sovereignty and is a living constitutional and visual record." I think this also relates to King’s writing in The Truth About Stories where he quotes Leslie Silko, “You don’t have anything/If you don’t have the stories” (p. 92). The stories are vital to a culture as they represent their communities, history and so much more. I think King, Silko and the Nisaga’a would all agree that the pole being returned was a reclaiming of their story and an important part of the healing for their people.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/nisgaa-pole-returning-1.6671229