Right Story, Wrong Story: How to Have Fearless Conversations in Hell

by Tyson Yunkaporta

Right story is not about objective truth, but the metaphors and relations and narratives of interconnected communities, living in complex contexts of knowledge and economy, aligned with the patterns of land and creation. Right story never comes from individuals, but from groups living in right relation with each other and with the land. Wrong story, wrong way—this means unilateral or unbalanced ritual, word and thought. So, in exploring the pathologies of a world in wrong relation, I have to tell wrong story in this book. This means sharing stories made by individuals or corrupt groups separated from land and spirit (and these include both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people). To understand the perverse incentive systems currently burning our world, I need to carve some objects the wrong way to spark the emergence of cautionary tales. Carving