The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America is a 2012 nonfiction book by Thomas King about the history of relations between Indigenous people and American settler colonialism. King is a novelist of Cherokee descent, and The Inconvenient Indian is his first book of nonfiction. The book was awarded the CBA Libris Award for Best Non-Fiction Book in 2013. This guide follows the first edition of the book.

Content Warning: Both the source material and this guide contain extensive discussion of racism against the Indigenous peoples of North America, including the genocide of Indigenous peoples and forced assimilation.

Readers should also be advised that the terminology used to refer to Indigenous peoples is a sensitive topic for many, with strong feelings on all sides. This guide will use the term “Indigenous” except when referencing well-known historical events (laws, wars, etc.) or King’s own terminology. However, this is not to erase the significance of King’s usage, which he discusses explicitly in the Prologue.

Plot Summary

In the Prologue, “Warm Toast and Porcupines,” King explains how his book differs from traditional history books. While most historians would attempt to present the facts in chronological order and from an objective point of view, King sees his writing as more akin to storytelling and regularly uses personal anecdotes. King also explains that he will generally use the term “Indian” to refer to Indigenous peoples, though he also uses “Native, “Aboriginal,” and other names. Chapter 1 begins with a discussion of how Indigenous history is often based more upon myth and rumor than fact. King discusses Louis Riel and General Custer, who upon their deaths were transformed into martyrs whose cultural representations often deviate wildly from their actual lives.

Chapter 2 continues this discussion of cultural representations of Indigenous people by considering how racism has influenced the types of Indigenous characters seen in television and film. King argues that most Indigenous people in film are presented as being “savage” and “primitive” compared to the White characters. In Chapter 3 King argues that most representations of Indigenous people in US culture are what he calls “Dead Indians,” or amalgamations of symbols that have little to do with how actual Indigenous people live.

In Chapter 4 King turns to the history of relations between Indigenous people and the US government, observing how different government policies have impacted Indigenous people throughout North American history. King describes how Indigenous relations were governed by various treaties from the first encounters between Indigenous groups and European American settlers. These treaties sought to delineate which land belonged to Indigenous communities and which to settlers, but the US government was often quick to abandon such treaties when they became inconvenient. Beginning in 1830 with Andrew Jackson, the US government switched to a policy of removal, breaking treaties and forcing Indigenous communities to move to new territories further west to make room for American expansion.

Chapters 5 and 6 focus on the policies of assimilation and allotment, respectively; both sought to push Indigenous people to adopt Western social customs. One of the main proponents of assimilation was Richard Pratt, whose residential schools separated Indigenous children from their families and used harsh and abusive disciplinary tactics to Westernize them. Allotment sought to teach Indigenous people to participate in a capitalist economy by breaking up communally owned tribal reservations and turning them into small parcels of private land.

In Chapter 7, King switches from Indigenous history to consider the contemporary issues confronting Indigenous people in North America. King argues that White racism against Indigenous people is not a thing of the past and that many of the racist attitudes that motivated past violence continue to exist today. Chapter 8 focuses on the concept of sovereignty, which remains a point of contention between Indigenous tribes and the US and Canadian governments. Though many Indigenous groups desire to be treated as fully sovereign nations, both the United States and Canada pursue policies that would eliminate reservations and fully integrate Indigenous tribes into their respective nations.

In Chapter 9, King argues that the single thing motivating white people throughout North American history has been their desire for land. King describes how the various treaties created by white people always resulted in Indigenous land loss and tells six different anecdotes in which the US and Canadian governments were reluctant to give up land that rightfully belonged to Indigenous tribes. In Chapter 10, King discusses the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, two deals between Indigenous people and white America that he feels were settled positively. Though each deal has its flaws, King asserts that both represent a fairer compromise between Indigenous people and white people than the historical norm.