Indians on Vacation
Thomas King
HarperCollins Canada
I’m late to the party on this one, but I highly recommend it. Anyone who has wondered around Europe, and even those who haven’t, will enjoy this sardonic travel tale. Don’t expect a preachy novel – that’s not what this is. Rather, it’s an irreverent look at travel that will make you recognize and laugh at things you once took seriously.
Thomas King, of course, is one of Canada’s top Indigenous writers, having given the Massey Lectures and written many books including The Back of the Turtle, for which he won the 2014 Governor General’s Award for Literature. He has written both novels and non-fiction, including The Inconvenient Indian, which won the BC National Award for Canadian Non Fiction and the RBC Taylor Prize. He lives in Ontario.
Apparently, he has also done a bit of travelling in Europe, perhaps as research for this book. It’s about an older couple, Bird and Mimi, who are in Prague, searching for any trace of an ancestor – Uncle Leroy – who took off to Europe nearly a century earlier with the family’s medicine bundle and sent postcards home. They’re in Prague this time, but in flashbacks told throughout the story, they’ve also visited Paris, Barcelona, Greece, Amsterdam, Venice and other cities in Europe, searching for traces of Leroy.
At one point, Mimi and Bird take a six-hour train trip from Prague to Budapest, only to turn around upon arrival when they find out the Budapest train station had been taken over by Syrian refugees. Later, they are almost robbed by tourists pretending to be police in Prague. They end up feeling sorry for those two sad-sack would-be robbers and give them some money, recognizing it’s ironic they gave them money, but gave nothing to the refugees.
There are references to Indigenous history, including the reserve system, residential schools, child welfare issues and more, but they are woven throughout this “romp” through Prague, adding heft in a seamless way.
Bird has several “demons,” as he calls them. Mimi has named them – Eugene, for instance, is the main one and is self-loathing. Cat is another one, and she likes to catastrophize. Both Bird and Mimi have moments of wisdom and moments of inanity. The two mix together in just the right balance to make this a wonderful read.
I will leave you with one sample of the wisdom found in this book. Read it yourself for more. “Stories don’t die. Stories stay alive as long as they are told.”
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