Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is shaped by West African and Black American oral culture, specifically the folktales of West Africa and what enslaved people made of those tales as they survived the Middle Passage, the journey from Africa to the Americas, and lived through the terrors of slavery. Black folk culture is thus an important cultural context used as a thematic element for understanding the world of the novel.

Storytelling is an essential part of the oral culture produced by Black people in Africa and the Americas, and it served as an important strategy in the face of powerfully oppressive systems of control over newly enslaved African people. Once enslaved people came under the direct control of owners, not only did they have to deal with loss of control over their bodies, but they also were forced to operate in a setting in which their names, language, music, food, and spiritual beliefs were discounted. In some instances—as in the case of drumming—slave holders actively forbid aspects of their culture to discourage community-building among enslaved people. Owners feared that such connections would encourage revolt against the masters.

First generation enslaved people relied on the language they used to facilitate trading back home, the music and storytelling traditions they encountered in the Americas (including those derived from Christianity), and the storytelling traditions they brought with them to create Black American folklore.