It originates from an Aboriginal belief system on what the earth rests on - A turtle, who is on another turtle and on and on. Listened to 5 lectures a number of years ago - The Massey lectures - always interesting
Turtles all the way down - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas King uses the story to frame each of his five Massey Lectures
Heard all of Thomas' Massey series, glad to say. Did you ever get to listen to the Dead Dog Cafe........absolutely outstanding Canadian/Native humor.