Indigenous writers, academics say they aren’t shocked to hear Thomas King’s not Cherokee

After author Thomas King’s revelation Monday that he is not part Cherokee, some Indigenous writers and academics say the statement was a good first step, while others believe it lacks accountability.  

Author of books like The Inconvenient Indian and Indians on Vacation, King said in an essay Monday for The Globe and Mail he learned he has no Cherokee ancestry after meeting with the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF) a U.S.-based organization.

Daniel Heath Justice, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a professor in the Institute of Critical Indigenous Studies and the Department of English Languages and Literatures 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 this wasn’t a surprise to many Cherokee citizens, who were aware King was not Cherokee for a long time.

He said while King is absorbing things, his “statement is a first step but it can’t be the only step” toward accountability.

Heath Justice added it’s an opportunity to learn “from different voices and voices who’ve been doing a lot of work.” 

“This doesn’t have to be a time of despair; it can actually be a time of reaffirming our commitment,” Heath Justice said.

“There are so many really amazing Cherokee citizens. We are not bereft of Cherokee writers who are writing from Cherokee perspectives, who have Cherokee relations, who have Cherokee connections.”

He encourages people to read writers like Twila Barnes, Andrea L. Rogers, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, Gladys Cardiff, Mary Leauna Christensen, and Wilma Mankiller.

Anishnaabe writer Jesse Wente said it was King’s students who first came to mind when he heard the news.

“I think of all the people that have been in relationship with him, what they’re feeling today,” he said.

Wente said he was aware of rumours surrounding King’s heritage and distanced himself from him after his experience working with director Michelle Latimer on a film adaptation of The Inconvenient Indian. 

“This should have been taken care of long ago,” Wente said.

“I can’t speak to why people don’t resolve their own issues if they’re going to represent themselves in ways publicly.”

He said his experience working with Latimer felt like a deep betrayal but prepared him for this moment.

“The last time that happened, it nearly cost me my life, you know, because depression and anxiety and all those things are gonna kill you,” Wente said.

“This time, in large part because of that, I’ve gone on a real big healing journey and that has 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 is with King to repair those relationships, not his community.

“I don’t feel like I’m taking on any of the weight that Tom should be carrying himself, and that’s a relief this time around,” he said.

“So my message to all those students, the folks hurt, is know that you can emerge in a better place.”

Wente said empathy for the colonial disconnect many Indigenous people have endured prevents many from asking about peoples’ identities.

“We stop questioning because we understand that it’s painful,” he said. 

“I refuse in all of this time to lose the generosity of being Anishinaabe, which is that I want to believe you when you present yourself to me.”

Celeste Pedri-Spade, an Anishinaabe associate professor in anthropology at McGill University in Montreal, said King’s revelation felt “like Groundhog Day.”

She said King’s statement feels “disingenuous” because “people have been asking him to clarify his claims for many years now.”

Pedri-Spade called on King to act upon the part of his statement about continuing to support Indigenous causes and Indigenous artists.

“Your book royalties, the money that you make off of these Indigenous stories, donate them to some initiative to support Indigenous students, to support the future of brilliant Indigenous writers,” she said.