Thomas King Stereotypes

It has become increasingly normal within mainstream culture to stereotype people based on their cultural heritage, however these stereotypes are often proved untrue. Thomas King diverges from traditional Aboriginal stereotypes in his novel Medicine River by depicting daily Native life as relatively similar to North American culture. By subtly mentioning Native stereotypes as almost a joke, King conveys how absurd it is to assume that all Aboriginal peoples are bound to their heritage in the 21st century. Through this, King illustrates that Native heritage does not dictate the careers, clothing and hobbies that North American’s have falsely attributed to Aboriginal culture. He demonstrates how important native culture is to characters within

When Will reflects on his childhood, he often recalls him and his brother wearing traditional North American clothing. When having their photographs taken, James and Will reminisce about wearing starchy dress clothing comprised of a white shirt and blue wool pants (King 213). Like many cultures, Will and James wore simple clothing during their childhood, rather than traditional stereotypical apparel. Similarly, into adulthood King conveys the illogicality of assuming Native Americans wear traditional Indian apparel on a daily basis, through banter among several men. During a game of bones, Big John teases Eddie about his traditional bone choker (King 67). When they run out of things to gamble, Big John jokes, “What say you throw in the plastic choker of yours… should cover it, couldn't cost more than a dollar or two” (King 67). Although Eddie teases Big John about his white-man polyester tie, the mockery among the men indicates that Big John’s tie is far more common apparel within their circle than Native neckties. As a result, it is evident that wearing North American clothing on a daily basis is far more normal than traditional Native clothing pieces, contradicting how mainstream culture often depicts