The Inconvenient Indian
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Prologue: Warm Toast and Porcupines Chapter 1. Forget Columbus Chapter 2. The End of the Trail Chapter 3. Too Heavy to Lift Chapter 4. One Name to Rule Them All Chapter 5. We Are Sorry Chapter 6. Like Cowboys and Indians Chapter 7. Forget about It Chapter 8. What Indians Want Chapter 9. As Long as the Grass is Green Chapter 10. Happy Ever After
Themes
All Themes History and Mythology  Racism and Systemic Oppression Land Sovereignty
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Thomas King General George Armstrong Custer Louis Riel James Earle Fraser Richard Pratt Jay Silverheels Buffalo Bill Cody Will Rogers Theodore Roosevelt Andrew Jackson Franklin Delano Roosevelt Zig Jackson John Collier Lewis Meriam Duncan Campbell Scott
Terms
All Terms Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) American Indian Movement (AIM) Bill C-31 Blood Quantum Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Cherokee Freedmen General Allotment Act House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 108 Indian Act of 1876 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) Métis Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Removal Act Termination Trail of Tears
Symbols
All Symbols Dead Indians, Live Indians, and Legal Indians The End of the Trail
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The Inconvenient Indian

by

Thomas King
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General George Armstrong Custer Character Analysis

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 to the Lakota with the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. However, after Custer led an army expedition into the Hills in 1874 and found gold there, non-Natives began to arrive in droves to mine, and the U.S. government did little to stop them. The U.S. lost to the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, and Custer died in battle. Over time, history has “framed [Custer’s death] as a romantic tragedy,” and his fateful final battle is known as “Custer’s Last Stand.” In The Inconvenient Indian, King reframes this narrative, arguing that Custer’s death was a consequence of his hubris, tactical miscalculations, and the ultimately flawed decision to take on the Lakota, who were much stronger than the U.S. Army.

General George Armstrong Custer Quotes in The Inconvenient Indian

The The Inconvenient Indian quotes below are all either spoken by General George Armstrong Custer or refer to General George Armstrong Custer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
History and Mythology  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1. Forget Columbus Quotes

Almost immediately after word reached the world that Custer had got his ass kicked in Montana, America’s artistic class went to work. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Walt Whitman, Frederick Whittaker, and the like lifted Custer out of the Montana dirt, hoisted him high on their metered shoulders, and rhymed him around the country in free verse and heroic couplets. At the same time, artists began recreating and reimagining the story with paint and canvas.

Related Characters: Thomas King (speaker), General George Armstrong Custer
Page Number: 13
Explanation and Analysis:
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General George Armstrong Custer Quotes in The Inconvenient Indian

The The Inconvenient Indian quotes below are all either spoken by General George Armstrong Custer or refer to General George Armstrong Custer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
History and Mythology  Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1. Forget Columbus Quotes

Almost immediately after word reached the world that Custer had got his ass kicked in Montana, America’s artistic class went to work. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Walt Whitman, Frederick Whittaker, and the like lifted Custer out of the Montana dirt, hoisted him high on their metered shoulders, and rhymed him around the country in free verse and heroic couplets. At the same time, artists began recreating and reimagining the story with paint and canvas.

Related Characters: Thomas King (speaker), General George Armstrong Custer
Page Number: 13
Explanation and Analysis:
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