Truth and Bright Water

Truth & Bright Water, a novel by the Canadian author and academic Thomas King, is a coming-of-age story about a young, Indigenous boy growing up between the fictional American border town of Truth and the Canadian reservation of Bright Water. As a scholar of Indigenous history and culture and as a self-identified person of Cherokee and Greek descent, King often uses his work to explore questions of Indigenous identity, self-perception, and the importance of community in understanding the self. Much of King’s early academic work focused on oral storytelling tradition as literature. This thematic thread is visible throughout his body of work and influences the structure and narrative flow of Truth & Bright Water.

This guide refers to the First Grove Press paperback edition of Truth & Bright Water published in 1999.

Content Warning: The novel and this guide refer to domestic abuse, child abuse, emotional manipulation and abuse, sexism and sexist language, anti-gay language, animal death, suicide, and colonial trauma.

Plot Summary

Truth & Bright Water opens with a description of the Shield, the river that both divides and connects the American border town Truth and the Canadian reservation Bright Water. From the bridge that crosses the river, it’s possible to see two of the area’s most distinctive landmarks: the abandoned church and the two stone pillars, called the Horns, that rise from the river and touch a nearby cliff.