I bask in the harshly shining sun as I lazily run down the road in great leaping bounds.

International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology (IJRASET) is an international peer-reviewed, open-access & multidisciplinary online journal published for the enhancement of research in various disciplines of Applied Science & Engineering Technologies.

It’s hot.

Jack had taken to carrying around a standard hotel Bible that he’d scoured off a corpse in a broken down DLR. I could hear him muttering prayers at night when he thought we were sleeping. That went on for a week. Then the fever found him.

When it came time to select a topic for this next essay, I was pleased to find that Indigenous literature was an option. It is seldom discussed in the debate on world literature, yet traditional storytelling, which includes Indigenous literature, is supposedly the oldest method of imparting knowledge, culture, and experience. I was especially curious to learn how the imagistic techniques and metaphorical power of Indigenous narration would operate as a commentary on contemporary genres. Having done so, I contend that Drew Hayden Taylor’s short story collection, Take Us to Your Chief: And Other Stories (hereafter abbreviated as Your Chief), challenges prevalent tropes in science fiction by indigenizing colonial literature. Taylor’s future-oriented reinterpretation of humankind through the Indigenous lens reminds readers of the postcolonial traumas Indigenous peoples in Canada and worldwide still endure. Your Chief also strives to empower Indigenous communities with its forward-looking motifs.

It started with a deafening sound then the day turned into the night but we could still see the blue sky and the sun

Chapter 1

Prologue

One bright, ninety-degree summer morning, two brothers played basketball in an apartment division basketball court. Their names were Atlas and Apollo. Their similarities only stretched to appearances; their brown curls tangled together with the antics of boyhood, their dark skin becoming darker with the heat of the sun. On a day such as this, Apollo felt light as a feather, while Atlas felt that he had the world on his shoulders.

DIALOGUE WITH MY HIGHER SELF

It is springtime. I can see a road ahead of me lined with trees that are blooming with flowers, shining when the sun lightly touches upon them. No one is here, except for me. As I walk further down the road, I see someone walking opposite me. He seems to be wearing a series of ever-changing colors and patterns suit with a bright yellow cravat wrapped tightly around his neck. I am guessing he bought it from one of the stores in Limbo. When you stare at him, which I highly don’t advise anyone to do because it is rude, he reminds me of a kaleidoscope. Taking a glimpse at him, my mind starts to wonder.