Quotes from Thomas King

There are no truths. Only stories.

While the hardware of civilization - iron pots, blankets, guns - was welcomed by Native people, the software of Protestantism and Catholicism - original sin, universal damnation, atonement, and subligation - was not, and Europeans were perplexed, offended, and incensed that Native peoples had the temerity to take their goods and return their gods.

The truth about stories is that that's all we are.

You know what they say. If at first you don't succeed, try the same thing again. Sometimes the effort is called persistence and is the mark of a strong will. Sometimes it's called perseveration and is a sign of immaturity. For an individual, one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again in the same way and expecting different results. For a government, such behavior is called... policy.

History may well be a series of stories we tell about the past, but the stories are not just any stories. They're not chosen by chance. By and large, the stories are about famous men and celebrated events. We throw in a couple of exceptional women every now and then, not out of any need to recognize female eminence, but out of embarrassment.

Or, if you want the positive but somewhat callous view, you might wish to describe Christianity as the gateway drug to supply-side capitalism

A great many people in North America believe that Canada and the United States, in a moment of inexplicable generosity, gave treaty rights to Native people as a gift. Of course, anyone familiar with the history of Indians in North America knows that Native people paid for every treaty right, and in some cases, paid more than once. The idea that either country gave First Nations something for free is horseshit.

Stories are wondrous things. And they are dangerous."

There are no truths, Coyote," I says. "Only stories.

We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.

Closure is a greasy little word which, moreover, describes a nonexistent condition.

To be sure, they have had the occasional success, but there is little chance that North America will develop a functional land ethic until it finds a way to overcome its irrational addiction to profit.

The yard consisted of grass and a Russian Olive tree, which was about the only kind of tree able to survive on the high prairies. Its thin, grey leaves made it look as though it were on the verge of dying, thereby fooling the elements and the bad weather into thinking that they didn't have to bother with something so spindly and bent, something so obviously on its last legs.

The fact is, the primary way that Ottawa and Washington deal with Native people is to ignore us. They know that the court system favors the powerful and the wealthy and the influential, and that, if we buy into the notion of an impartial justice system, tribes and bands can be forced through a long, convoluted, and expensive process designed to wear us down and bankrupt our economies. Be good. Play by our rules. Don't cause a disturbance.

History is the stories we tell about the past.

For an individual, one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again in the same way and expecting different results. For a government, such behaviour is called...policy.

Where do you begin telling someone their world is not the only one? —Lee Maracle, Ravensong

What about human beings? said the animals. Do you think we need human beings? Why not? said the Twins. And as quick as they could the right-handed Twin created women, and the left-handed Twin created men. They don't look too bright, said the animals. We hope they won't be a problem. Don't worry, said the Twins, you guys are going to get along just fine.

A great many intelligent and compassionate people have called residential schools a national tragedy. And they were. But perhaps "tragedy" is the wrong term. It suggests that the consequences of residential schools were unintended and undesired, a difficult argument to make since, as Ward Churchill points out, the schools were national policy

writing a novel is buttering warm toast, while writing a history is herding porcupines with your elbows.

Why do we ask the important questions after they've been answered?

And cranky old Jacques Derrida notwithstanding, we do love our dichotomies.

You know you're only old if you want to be.