Tommy Orange on Pretendians, Religion and Elevating Indigenous History | Strombo’s Lit

Author Tommy Orange (Cherokee/Arapaho) and George Stroumboulopoulos discuss growing up in a religious home, Indigenous history, Standing Rock, John Trudell, Pretendians, and his book Wandering Stars.

Tommy Orange of the Arapaho and Cherokee Nations leans into humanity and history to deliver his latest book, Wandering Stars. He weaves the colonial past with the urban present with such clarity and intensity. He also looks at the complexity of humans and all their flaws. An amazing book for this latest addition to Strombo's Lit and Apple Books.

Join our conversation to deep dive into his journey and work. It will also involve roller beach hockey.

Listen to the full interview on ‪@Apple‬ Books here: https://books.apple.com/ca/audiobook/...

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Featuring Tommy Orange
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/au...

Chapters
00:15 — Writing the Characters for ‘Wandering Stars’
01:35 — Roller Beach Hockey in California
02:28 — Putting yourself in the story
03:57 — Humanizing Indigenous Narratives Through Writing
05:20 — Tommy’s Roller Hockey Career
06:05 — Growing up in a “very religious” household
06:47 — Searching for meaning in fiction
08:45 — Colonization and Christianity
11:25 — The Education of Little Tree
13:16 — Pretendians Betrayal
14:30 — Diversity in Indigenous Narratives
16:15 — Can Fiction Change Our View of Indigenous History?
18:16 — Staying grounded
18:59 — Tommy’s next book is on Pretendians and betrayal
21:23 — Visiting high school students in the Bronx
23:02 — The complexity of substance use
24:06 — John Trudell
25:42 — Standing Rock