Native scholar and activist Thomas King delivered the final talk in the prestigious annual Massey Lecture series on Friday night. The lecture, delivered to a packed Isabel Bader Theatre at Victoria College, carried the provocative title “What is it about us that you don’t like?” The title of this year’s series is “The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative.”

King discussed the difficult relationship between aboriginals and the rest of the country, and the laws and regulations that are making that relationship still more troubled.

“One of the surprising things about Indians is that we’re still here,” he said. “Natives can disappear with their culture and identity intact. We exist with two identities-the cultural one and the legal one. What I want to argue is that we should have the right to take both with us wherever we go, whatever we do, and whoever we do it with.”

He discussed in particular Bill C-31, a 1985 law which defined who was a status Indian and who was not. A particular clause in the bill, the “two generation cut-off clause,” means that over time, people of native ancestry will simply be defined out of existence, he argued.

“No need to send in the cavalry, guns blazing,” he said. “Legislation will do just as well.”

The evening began when a native drum group and dancers took the stage. A traditional native ceremony has opened each of the five lectures across the country.

The Massey Lectures have run since 1961 and have included speakers such as Martin Luther King Jr., Northrop Frye, Doris Lessing, John Ralston Saul, and Michael Ignatieff. The lecture series has become an industry in itself, including a national lecture schedule, a five-hour series of radio programs on CBC’s Ideas, and a book.

King is known for his novels (such as Green Grass, Running Water and Medicine River) and by CBC listeners as the creator of the much-loved “Dead Dog Café Comedy Hour,” which was a weekly segment on Morningside. During the question period after the talk, an audience member asked King whether he had any plans to bring back the show. He told the audience to write to the CBC if they wanted it back on the air.

King will be participating in an online forum until Dec. 5 to discuss the lectures and his book. To access the forum, go to www.anansi.ca. The radio shows of the lectures will be airing on Ideas Nov. 17-21 on CBC Radio One.