The Inconvenient Indian Characters

Thomas King is the author of The Inconvenient Indian. King conveys the history of Indian-White relations in North America in a conversational, personable tone that blends elements of fiction and nonfiction. This technique reinforces… read analysis of Thomas King

General George Armstrong Custer led U.S. troops into the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn against the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne for control of the Black Hills. The U.S. government had already promised the Black Hills… read analysis of General George Armstrong Custer

Louis Riel was a Métis who fought to protect Métis homeland after the Canadian government illegally purchased it from the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1869. Riel formed a provisional government for the purchased territory, a… read analysis of Louis Riel

James Earle Fraser was the American artist who created The End of the Trail, a 1915 sculpture that King describes as “the twentieth century’s most famous Indian image.” Fraser’s sculpture was itself inspired by… read analysis of James Earle Fraser

Jay Silverheels was a Canadian Mohawk actor known for playing Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s Indian sidekick on the television series The Lone Ranger, which first aired in 1949. Silverheels is one of two Indian… read analysis of Jay Silverheels

Buffalo Bill Cody established his Wild West Show in 1883. The show featured White actors in redface playing Indians, but Cody later employed Indian actors, including Sitting Bull, to fill these roles. King credits… read analysis of Buffalo Bill Cody

Will Rogers was a Cherokee actor and social commentator who got his start performing in vaudeville shows across the country, including Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. He was one of the highest-paid actors… read analysis of Will Rogers

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States and was in office from 1901 to 1909. He founded the Carson National Forest in New Mexico in 1906, despite the fact that its land… read analysis of Theodore Roosevelt

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He signed into law the Removal Act of 1830, which authorized the removal of Indian tribes living in the eastern United States from their… read analysis of Andrew Jackson

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the United States and was in office from 1933 to 1945. He appointed John Collier as the Commissioner for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and approved the… read analysis of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Zig Jackson is a Mandan photographer from the Fort Berthold reservation in South Dakota. King references Jackson’s photographic series “Entering Zig’s Indian Reservation,” which features photos of Jackson walking around San Francisco in a feathered… read analysis of Zig Jackson

John Collier was the Commissioner for the Bureau of Indian Affairs during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency. Unlike many U.S. politicians, Collier rejected the forced assimilation of Indians. He helped pass the 1934 Indian Reorganization… read analysis of John Collier

Lewis Meriam was the lawyer who led the 1926 investigation into the condition of Indians living in the United States. Meriam’s final report, The Problem of Indian Administration, was published in 1928 and revealed… read analysis of Lewis Meriam

Duncan Campbell Scott was head of Canada’ s Department of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932. He advocated for the elimination of legally recognized Indians in Canada, and for their assimilation into the larger Canadian… read analysis of Duncan Campbell Scott