Angry, embarrassed, disgusted, horrified, nauseous, scared and so so sad, but hopeful and now informed.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started listening to this. I was told about it after I was shocked by my boss at the time. He generalized natives as he thought they just wanted more money and that’s why there where protests about the pipelines. I’m generalizing as it was a long time ago now. The statement felt weird and uninformed. Later, I was talking about this experience with my boss and was then schooled by a friend on some Canadian history I didn’t know. So in seeking more information I signed up for Audible again and started listening.
There were some things that I did already know, like the fact that reserves are held in trust and they don’t own the land. But the information I didn’t know broke my heart. I mean I’m so embarrassed that I knew so little. I am Canadian and I did learn about the fur trade and “settlers”, so I thought that was about it. We didn’t learn much more than that in school so it was a natural thing for me to assume that that was about it. Boy-was I foolish.
Throughout this book I have been all of the emotions mentioned in the subject and I have also cried and cried. I’m ashamed of the way things happened here and I’m disgusted with how the resolutions are ignored. I’m so incredibly impressed with the nations across North America and how all of the people won’t give up.
I could feel the despair, hopelessness and the depression creep upon me and there had been times I had to stop listening and process. I needed to do more research on the specific topic that came up and fill in the rest of the story (I’m listening in 2020-2021).
It’s incredible how these peoples have been able to fight through this cultural genocide makes me think there can be hope for the future. For all of our future. Now I want to see the nations rise because what the English, French and immigrants who claimed this continent, what they have done... it’s wrong. It’s wrong right now and all of the land needs to be given back. Not sold - just given - just returned. These governments are not worthy of anything from me. Not now and not ever. What our ancestors did, they claimed privileges they hadn’t earned.
So it’s too bad so sad - we need to make this right. People need to make up for their ancestors mistakes. I guess if they had been better people we wouldn’t be here with blood stained hands. But the way to was it off is to make it right. Do what is necessary and do it now.
2021 is going to be the year to learn and speak. Speak in public and speak at the political leaders. It’s time to hold them accountable to make this right.

20 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

should be required reading for all North Americans

Canada and the United States seem to have this idea that they are evolved democracies. myths abound. bulshit abound. this book helps destroy those myths and that bullshit. Rightly so. Well written, with needed dashes of humor for a dark landscape.

10 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Mandatory listening for all Canadians

Do yourself a favour and listen to this book. It's time for us as a country to educate ourselves and this is a great place to start. I haven;t heard this narrator before but he does a good job.

13 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

VERY Important Book for All North Americans

I was looking for an entry to literature by and on First Nations Peoples. It was a very good choice. Compared to the many heart-wrenching novels such as the Orenda and Indian Horse, this book was an easy read, and highly informative. The narrator was witty and satirical at the best of times, and seriously critical at important beats. Thoroughly enjoyable book.

My only criticism is that it had an unclear story structure and seemed to have ended abprupty.

Overall, this book is perfect if you want an easy-to-read yet informative history of the North American people.

4 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

A must listen!

Great writing, wonderful narrator. Thank you Thomas King for having the patience to lay it all out so clearly. Required reading / listening - likely more than once.

4 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

An important and enjoyable read

Thomas King's The Inconvenient Indian isn't your usual history book. It's a personal, often sardonic look at the history of Indigenous people in North America from colonization to now, with pitch-perfect narration by indigenous actor Lorne Cardinal. King's narrative flows outside a strict chronology, interspersing concerns about Native American representation in film with discussions of historic displacements of Native Americans and Inuit, residential schools, land claims and more. It's accessible and inspiring - a must-read for anyone who cares about Indigenous justice, or doesn't yet know why they should care.

3 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Accurate

Accurate, satirical, well-written.
Heavy themes of course, but Thomas King handles them expertly.
I'm a young Canadian and I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to go past the inadequate lessons that are taught in regards to indigenous issues in Canada,

2 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

Insight, education, truth.

A fantastic real perspective. An account set in motion by solid story telling foundations. A vast yet brief glimpse at the status of indigenous people in North America and their history up until now from an amazing author with excellent narration.

2 les gens ont trouvé cela utile

A walk through our history that is enlightening, and full of wry humour

I watched the film “Inconvenient Indian” and it clearly needed some background. This is a whole lot of amazing background! I knew some of this but learned a lot more, and thank Thomas King for his research, skills as a writer and his wonderful humour which made this topic easier to take in.

Lorne Cardinal is the perfect narrator for this book, I could hear the twinkle in his eye at times!

Well done everyone, I highly recommend reading this book, listening to this book, and now I will watch the film again!

Very thorough, conversational review

The read was very conversational and filled with well timed jokes and sarcasm to add extra oomph to a historical event. It covered a lot of context around many situations throughout history and included some personal experiences of the author. It ties history and "today" together by pointing out trends and I learned a lot. I very much enjoyed this book.