But of course, such representations of Indigenous peoples are not confined to the classics. The damaging stereotypes may be even more blatant, and thus more widely disseminated, in best-selling fiction. Jordan Abel brilliantly deconstructs this aspect of this genre of novels in his 2016 poetry collection Injun<\/em><\/a>, highlighting the way they deploy racial epithets (such as the \u201cinjun\u201d of the title), racially charged terms of violence (warpath, scalped), and land-related terms in ways that favour settlers and disenfranchise Indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n These stereotypical representations in classic and popular literature reflect the colonial values that underlie the theft of Indigenous land, and the legal and extra-legal violence visited upon Indigenous people within Canada. This makes this body of literature a helpful diagnostic tool in coming to grips with what might be going on beneath the surface of contemporary legal decisions such as the Stanley verdict. It also underscores how fiction can influence readers to accept and perpetuate injustices done to Indigenous people. Of course, fiction doesn\u2019t do this on its own; it\u2019s one strand that should be considered together with other media such as film, news media, social media, and legal and political discourse.<\/p>\n If literature is part of the problem, it could also be part of the solution. A number of studies have indicated that reading fiction can build the capacity for empathy. Clearly the sort of stereotypical portrayals I\u2019ve described won\u2019t have this effect, but a switch in reading materials could begin to dislodge the stereotypes. Those settler Canadians who immediately assume menace upon encountering a young Indigenous man might be less likely to do so if they become acquainted with such realistic, complicated, fully human characters as Saul Indian Horse (Indian Horse<\/em> by Richard Wagamese), Larry Sole (The Lesser Blessed<\/em> by Richard Van Camp), Jared Martin (Son of a Trickster<\/em> by Eden Robinson) and Frenchie (The Marrow Thieves<\/em> by Cherie Dimaline).<\/p>\n In Richard Wagamese\u2019s Indian Horse<\/em>, after the horror of being torn from his family and forced into residential school, Saul finds an unexpected refuge in hockey. But ultimately that too is taken from him by the racism he experiences as the sole brown face on the Maple Leafs\u2019 farm team. He responds with anger, then copes through alcohol, eventually becoming, in his own eyes, the embodiment of a caricature. But after witnessing his journey, the reader could never reduce him to that caricature.<\/p>\n A few decades on, in Richard Van Camp\u2019s raw coming-of-age tale, The Lesser Blessed<\/em>, Larry Sole contends with the intergenerational trauma visited on the children of residential school survivors as he navigates high school in 1980s Fort Simmer (a fictional analogue to Fort Smith), Northwest Territories.<\/p>\n The back cover of Eden Robinson\u2019s Son of a Trickster<\/em>, set in contemporary Kitimat, British Columbia, proclaims: \u201cEveryone knows a guy like Jared: the sixteen-year-old burnout in high school who sells weed cookies.\u201d But those who think they know Jared likely wouldn\u2019t suspect that he uses the proceeds of those weed cookies to pay his dad\u2019s rent, one of many ways that he essentially parents his parents. Jared upends everyone\u2019s expectations, including his own.<\/p>\n Finally, at the centre of Cherie Dimaline\u2019s The Marrow Thieves<\/em>, is Francis or \u201cFrenchie,\u201d struggling to survive in a dystopian future Ontario. Fearing he\u2019ll never again see his parents and older brother, he tries to serve as a repository of family memory and is hungry for the story and tradition that has been denied him. He also takes seriously his responsibilities to his new family made up of a multigenerational group of fellow survivors, in particular as protector of those younger than himself, as his brother had once protected him.<\/p>\n Monolithic stereotypes have to be cleared away so that they are recognized as such. Nuanced fictional portrayals like the ones I have described could help to dismantle the stereotypes and foster empathy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ve focused on this quartet of fictional young Indigenous men, because the Stanley trial has preoccupied me with how damaging stereotypes of young Indigenous men may have contributed to the violence done to Colten Boushie, and the denial of justice for his family and community in the aftermath. I\u2019m not suggesting that any of these characters can or should serve as representative of Boushie or of Indigenous youth more broadly. In fact, my point is the opposite. He, and Indigenous youth, are unique individuals with their own experiences, histories, families, communities, nations, territories. Monolithic stereotypes have to be cleared away so that they are recognized as such. Nuanced fictional portrayals like the ones I have described could help to dismantle the stereotypes and foster empathy.<\/p>\n Of course, settler Canadians shouldn\u2019t need to be educated to meet and treat Indigenous youth as human beings. And these novels are complex literary texts and were not created for this purpose. But many of us do require a narrative that will counter the colonial narratives we regularly consume in a myriad of media, and the novels I\u2019ve mentioned, plus many more, have been generously put into the world so we can learn from them. We should read these books, promote them, and assign them in schools. We should also support the writing and publishing of many more books as part of a broader campaign to create a safer world for Indigenous youth and ensure there is justice for the families and communities of those who are subjected to harm.<\/p>\n This article is part of\u00a0What can we learn from the Stanley trial?<\/a>\u00a0special feature.<\/strong><\/p>\n Photo:\u00a0Indian Horse<\/em>\u00a0by Richard Wagamese,\u00a0Son of a Trickster<\/em>\u00a0by Eden Robinson,\u00a0The Marrow Thieves<\/em>\u00a0by Cherie Dimaline and\u00a0The Lesser Blessed<\/em>\u00a0by Richard Van Camp. Photo by Madi Haslam.<\/span><\/p>\n Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the\u00a0<\/em>Policy Options\u00a0discussion, and send in your own submission.\u00a0Here is a\u00a0<\/em>link<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on how to do it.\u00a0<\/em>|\u00a0Souhaitez-vous r\u00e9agir \u00e0 cet article ?\u00a0<\/em>Joignez-vous aux d\u00e9bats d\u2019<\/em>Options politiques\u00a0et soumettez-nous votre texte en suivant ces\u00a0<\/em>directives<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When the verdict was handed down in the Gerald Stanley trial, it immediately seemed to me to be wrong on the law. I had trouble making sense of how anyone could apply the defences argued to the facts established and arrive at an acquittal in the death of 22-year-old Cree man Colten Boushie. How did […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":240318,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T02:15:48Z","apple_news_api_id":"f6308262-5283-4957-858d-5f45c81a5912","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T02:15:48Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A9jCCYlKDSVeFjV9FyBpZEg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9380,9385,9372],"tags":[8413,9241],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4371,4339],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7136],"class_list":["post-266604","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autochtones","category-medias-et-culture","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-journalism-fr","tag-systeme-de-justice","irpp-category-autochtones","irpp-category-loi-et-justice","irpp-tag-medias-et-culture"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/02367095.jpg\")
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