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A review by jdintr
The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King
4.0
With a mix of humor and rage, King retells the history of the United States and Canada from the perspective of those nations aboriginal inhabitants, called Native Americans or First Nations, respectively.
North Americans on both sides of the 49th Parallel will recognize many of the historic events King discusses in his book: the welcome given by natives to the first European settlers on the continent, the series of Indian wars and resettlements, and the broken treaties that sought peaceful compromise.
There are new perspectives King adds and new horrors glossed over by the history books. I, for example, was unaware of the savage and murderous brutality of the Indian boarding schools that existed for 100 years from the 1870s through to the end of the 1960s.
Even moving into the present day, King points out continuing flaws in Indian policy. Starting at an arbitrary date, 1983 (within my lifetime at least), he shows egregious actions that harmed native populations and reneged on treaties.
I'm so grateful for this book and King's strong voice. I highly recommend it for those interested in aboriginal voices and re-examining American history through the perspective of its true "founding fathers."
North Americans on both sides of the 49th Parallel will recognize many of the historic events King discusses in his book: the welcome given by natives to the first European settlers on the continent, the series of Indian wars and resettlements, and the broken treaties that sought peaceful compromise.
There are new perspectives King adds and new horrors glossed over by the history books. I, for example, was unaware of the savage and murderous brutality of the Indian boarding schools that existed for 100 years from the 1870s through to the end of the 1960s.
Even moving into the present day, King points out continuing flaws in Indian policy. Starting at an arbitrary date, 1983 (within my lifetime at least), he shows egregious actions that harmed native populations and reneged on treaties.
I'm so grateful for this book and King's strong voice. I highly recommend it for those interested in aboriginal voices and re-examining American history through the perspective of its true "founding fathers."