The Inconvenient Indian
{{Short description|2012 nonfiction book by Thomas King}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}{{Use Canadian English|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox book
| image = The Inconvenient Indian.jpg
| author = Thomas King
| caption = First edition cover
| isbn = 978-0-385-66421-9
| pub_date = November 13, 2012
| publisher = Doubleday Canada
| awards = {{plainlist|
}}
}}
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
- {{Cite book |last=King |first=Thomas |url= |title=The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America |date=November 13, 2012 |publisher=Doubleday Canada |isbn=978-0-385-66421-9 |location=Toronto |oclc=791164629}}
- {{Cite book |last=King |first=Thomas |title=L'Indien malcommode : un portrait inattendu des Autochtones d'Amérique du Nord |date=February 17, 2014 |publisher=Boréal |others=Translated by Daniel Poliquin |isbn=978-2-764-62259-9}}
- {{Cite book |last=King |first=Thomas |title=The Inconvenient Indian Illustrated: A Curious Account of Native People in North America |date=October 17, 2017 |publisher=Doubleday Canada |isbn=978-0-385-69017-1}}
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".{{Cite web |date=2013-07-15 |title=The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780816689767 |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=Publishers Weekly |archive-date=July 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710131547/https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780816689767 |url-status=live }}
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".{{Cite web |date=2013-07-14 |title=The Inconvenient Indian |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/thomas-king/the-inconvenient-indian/ |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=Kirkus Reviews |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021190015/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/thomas-king/the-inconvenient-indian/ |url-status=live }} 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".
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".
= Awards and honours =
In 2015, The Inconvenient Indian was nominated for the Canada Reads competition,{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=Canada Reads 2015: The Inconvenient Indian |url=https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/1.2981971 |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=CBC Books |archive-date=July 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710131548/https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/1.2981971 |url-status=live }} where it was defended by Craig Kielburger.{{Cite web |date=2017-02-08 |title=The Inconvenient Indian |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-inconvenient-indian-1.3972080 |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=CBC Books |archive-date=July 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710131508/https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-inconvenient-indian-1.3972080 |url-status=live }} It won the Canada Reads foreshadowing event from the Lennoxville Library, defended by Tim Belford.{{Cite web |date=2015 |title="The Inconvenient Indian" wins Lennoxville's Canada Reads |url=https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/1.2991297 |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=CBC Books |archive-date=July 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710131547/https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/1.2991297 |url-status=live }}
Adaptations
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.{{Cite web |title=Inconvenient Indian |url=https://tiff.net/events/inconvenient-indian |access-date=2020-10-20 |website=TIFF |language=en |archive-date=July 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240710131510/https://tiff.net/events/inconvenient-indian |url-status=live }} The film won Best Canadian Feature Film at the festival.{{Cite web |date=20 September 2020 |title=Toronto: Chloe Zhao's 'Nomadland' Wins Audience Award {{!}} Hollywood Reporter |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/toronto-chloe-zhaos-nomadland-wins-audience-award |access-date=2020-10-20 |website=www.hollywoodreporter.com |archive-date=November 13, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113171016/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/toronto-chloe-zhaos-nomadland-wins-audience-award |url-status=live }}
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:2012 non-fiction books
Category:Books about indigenous rights
Category:Non-fiction books about Native Americans