The Inconvenient Indian
A Curious Account of Native People in North America
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4.3 • 152 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Winner of the RBC Taylor Prize
Finalist for Canada Reads
Finalist for Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction
Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, The Inconvenient Indian distills the insights gleaned from Thomas King’s critical examination of the history and experience of Native peoples in North America, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other. In the process, King refashions old stories about historical events and figures, takes a sideways look at film and pop culture, relates his own complex experiences with activism, and articulates a deep and revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands.
This is a book both timeless and timely, burnished with anger but tempered by wit, and ultimately a hard-won offering of hope—a sometimes inconvenient but nonetheless indispensable account for all of us, Indian and non-Indian alike, seeking to understand how we might tell a new story for the future.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
“When we look at Native-non-Native relations, there is no great difference between the past and the present,” writes Thomas King in the prologue to The Inconvenient Indian—a finalist for the 2013 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. The Native activist, academic, and author of the acclaimed novel Green Grass, Running Water backs up this incisive claim with solid research, crackling anecdotes, and sharp insight about the shameful experiences of indigenous people in North America. This powerful, daring book pulses with both righteous fury and self-aware humour.
Customer Reviews
Good
This book was equal parts sassy and informative. I really enjoyed the narrating style and learnt a lot from this book.
Subversive, brilliant
I couldn't agree less with the previous reviewer. I too read the book in two days, and was completely absorbed and fascinated. King peels back the layers of deception and broken treaties and reveals an ugly, indisputable truth: Indian history has never been about Indians. It's always been about Whites.
This isn't a "history" in the academic sense--it's a gathering and juxtaposition of facts, a revealing look at the underlying attitudes that have shaped the "Indian question" since the earliest days of European contact. If you're looking for footnotes, look elsewhere. If you're looking for reality, come on in.
Great read
Very informative and interesting. I learned much more than I knew before.
Thomas King is a great writer and I am appreciative of his enlightening me.