Thomas King frequently addresses stereotypes and their impact on Indigenous identity. Reading the chapter “You are not the Indian I had in mind” reminded me of one of King’s poems “A Short History of Indians in Canada” (King, 2005). In the poem, King addresses how Indigenous peoples have become a type of entertainment which has been reduced to stereotypes created by the settlers, and highlights this by comparing Indigenous to birds that are only recognized “By the feathers…We got a book” (line 44) and are seen as “nature’s mystery” (line 58,59).
Though this narrative may have been constructed in benevolence and a wish to preserve something believed to be on the verge of extinction, it is vital to acknowledge the damage it has inflicted and how it has colonialism at its very core. This Western obsession with Indigenous culture has not only created a false narrative that is disconnected from reality, but it also is one of the underlying causes of the issues with self-determination and identity formation that underlies many of the problems Indigenous Peoples are facing today. Though there is a need to address this on a systematic level, we can all do our share to make this change. It can be as simple as being aware of the misrepresentations we come across, as well as our own biases, and actively fighting them. King repeatedly tells us the choice is ours. We have heard the story, and it is up to us what we do with it, “But don’t say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story” (p.60)

Link to a free copy of the poem https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofin0000king/page/n9/mode/2up