The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America is a book by American-Canadian author Thomas King, first published in 2012 by Doubleday Canada. It presents a history of Indigenous peoples in North America. The book has been adapted into a documentary film titled Inconvenient Indian directed by Michelle Latimer, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020.
Summary
King's work is an account of the history of indigenous rights and treaties in North America. He notes the portrayal of indigenous peoples in popular media as having contributed greatly to public knowledge of North American Indians. The book ends on the following note: "If the last five hundred years are any indication, what the Native people of North America do with the future should be very curious indeed."
Publication history
King, Thomas (November 13, 2012). The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America. Toronto: Doubleday Canada. ISBN978-0-385-66421-9. OCLC791164629.
King, Thomas (February 17, 2014). L'Indien malcommode : un portrait inattendu des Autochtones d'Amérique du Nord. Translated by Daniel Poliquin. Boréal. ISBN978-2-764-62259-9.
King, Thomas (October 17, 2017). The Inconvenient Indian Illustrated: A Curious Account of Native People in North America. Doubleday Canada. ISBN978-0-385-69017-1.
Reception
Reviews
Publishers Weekly referred to The Inconvenient Indian as "intelligent and eye-opening". They highlighted how "King demonstrates with sharp and swift strokes how the U.S. and Canada have repeatedly treated Natives as an inconvenience, an obstacle to be rid of, moved, or carefully rounded up, then reimagined altogether. It’s also a book that charts how such injustices are often replaced by kinder, more audience-friendly historical narratives".[1]
According to Kirkus Reviews, King's "wit and storytelling talent make the book easy to read; more importantly, his humor may keep readers from wanting to scream at the injustices".[2]Publishers Weekly similarly noted how King "scathes, chides, and often pokes fun" throughout the book, which "suffers from a unilaterally sardonic tone that seethes with understandable indignation but leaves too little space for hope or progress".[1]
Kirkus Reviews concluded that, despite having "way too many lists", The Inconvenient Indian is "a solid book and a good look at what can be done in the future of Indian-white relations".[2]
Awards and honours
In 2015, The Inconvenient Indian was nominated for the Canada Reads competition,[3] where it was defended by Craig Kielburger.[4] It won the Canada Reads foreshadowing event from the Lennoxville Library, defended by Tim Belford.[5]
The Inconvenient Indian was adapted into a documentary film titled Inconvenient Indian directed by Michelle Latimer, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020.[12] The film won Best Canadian Feature Film at the festival.[13]
