Joseph Boyden is a wonderful writer. Just as Archie Belaney was. There are similarities between the two. Both had been raised without the influence of a father. 

I'm all for forgiving Boyden his deception, if he is willing to own up to them. If his friend's defence in The Walrus is any indication, Boyden doesn't want to admit anything. One who knows no shame cannot expect forgiveness.

I grew up reading the Norse sagas as that was my heritage. The sagas, like all literature, is all about who we are. They give elaborate genealogies, just like the ones in the Bible: So-and-so begat so-and-so and so on until we come to the present.

Joseph Boyden needs to tell the story of his own family. And he must stop hiding behind vague words about ties and connections when what is needed is great-great-grandmother or grandfather. If he's descended from Thomas Boyden of New England, he needs to say how.