The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America - Thomas King Audiobook

Written by Thomas King
Read by Lorne Cardinal
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Novel Audio
Release date: May 7, 2018
Duration: 09:56:16

The Inconvenient Indian is at once a “history” and the complete subversion of a history—in short, a critical and personal meditation that the remarkable Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be “Indian” in North America. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other. In the process, King refashions old stories about historical events and figures, takes a sideways look at film and pop culture, relates his own complex experiences with activism, and articulates a deep and revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands. This is a book both timeless and timely, burnished with anger but tempered by wit, and ultimately a hard-won offering of hope—a sometimes inconvenient, but nonetheless indispensable account for all of us, Indian and non-Indian alike, seeking to understand how we might tell a new story for the future.

With a critical yet darkly amusing approach, King explores the Native American experience with Europeans and their North American descendants over the last five centuries. Narrator Lorne Cardinal, who is a highly regarded person of Cree heritage, nails the audiobook’s delivery with a deep pitch and a slightly raspy timbre. King delves into popular culture, treaties and law, cultural practices, and Native American resistance, in particular noting historical tensions and confrontations with emphasis on the exploitation of native peoples by whites. But the playful King never misses an opportunity to make a joke or an amusing observation. This is where Cardinal demonstrates his acting chops, adjusting his voice to the perfect level of bemusement, irony, or snark to elicit smiles and chuckles of understanding from listeners. L.E. � AudioFile 2018