Analysis Of You Re Not The Indian I Had In Mind By Thomas King

Thomas King uses an oral story-telling style of writing mingled with western narrative in his article “You’re Not the Indian I Had in Mind” to explain that Indians are not on the brink of extinction. Through this article in the Racism, Colonialism, and Indigeneity in Canada textbook, King also brings some focus to the topic of what it means to be “Indian” through the eyes of an actual Aboriginal versus how Aboriginals are viewed by other races of people. With his unique style of writing, King is able to bring the reader into the situations he describes because he writes about it like a story he is telling.
King first writes about Edward Sheriff Curtis and his search for “the literary Indian, the dying Indian, the imaginative construct” (37). King then juxtaposes this with his own goals to photograph Native peoples from all different areas of the world. Curtis would change aspects how Natives were dressed, even going so far as to dress them in clothing from other tribes in order to photograph exactly what he wanted the Natives to be seen as. King then jumps to a story of how he first realized

racism in his hometown. He explains racism as “a funny thing, dead quiet on occasion, often dangerous” (38). The author admits that he had certain prejudices against Mexican people and that he knew there were people with similar prejudices against him. King stays on the topic of racism but now writes about when he asked a girl, Karen Butler, to prom. He figures that because she has health problems she will overlook the fact that his family was less well off than hers. King states that she accepted his invitation, yet a week before prom she called and cancelled, saying her dad didn’t want her dating Mexicans.
With the fact that Karen’s father couldn’t differentiate between Mexicans and Natives, King now continues the article with a story about him and his brother visiting a Will Rogers museum. Rogers was very famous during the 1930’s and his family was prominent in the Cherokee Nation, but he didn’t look Native, not in the stereotypical way. Next, King brings Richard Throssel into the article. Throssel was an Aboriginal man who photographed Aboriginals in a more contemporary way than Curtis had. King also explains that in the 1970’s, in order to be recognized as an Indian, you would have had to dress in the stereotypical way, “and… being recognized as an Indian was critical” (39). From that realization, King took part in becoming a ‘cultural ritualist’. In order to be acknowledged as the diverse people they are, Natives took to dressing in a way to substantiate the cultural lie that so many others believe in.
When King took on work on a ship that was going to New Zealand, the captain and crew he worked with was entirely German, except for him.

King explains that when he told them his race they were interested, yet weary. After spending a year in New Zealand, King wished to apply for an immigration visa. When speaking on the phone to a British man, King had answered a few questions but once he revealed he was Indian the British man assumed he meant East Indian and told him he could not apply for the visa. King then continues his story of his experience in Australia, there was a very little Aboriginal community there so a coworker of his enjoyed telling racist jokes straight to King himself. The people King has met throughout his lifetime, the ones who say or do racist things, even if they do it unknowingly, they are the ones who have never met or even seen Native people

before.
Through his many different stories and his interesting writing in this article, King is able to bring light to many different topics in one short article. He talks about racism, about stereotypes, about being judged on how Native he is depending on full blood, status, ceremonies, etc… King is a man who wants people to recognize his race, whether he’s dressed in headdress or not. He wishes to be recognized and respected for who he is, instead of ridiculed or berated. King also explains that lower class Aboriginal people are treated far worse than middle-class Aboriginal people, and uses the police driving people out of Saskatoon as an example of this.
King is a very well educated man with lots of life experience as well. By writing the article as if it were a story, and by changing to different topics and stories within the article King is successfully able to convey the message of wanting to be recognized and respected for who he is without needing to change how he looks in order to receive the acknowledgement he desires. Even though he suddenly switches stories, or seems to leave certain aspects unfinished, he comes back to those parts later in the article. This keeps the reader interested in what he has to say. Also, King’s writing is very clear and coherent; the article is easy to read so this piece would be great for helping to educate younger people as well. This article is important in assisting proper representation of Aboriginal peoples. With his clearly defined knowledge, King is a great advocate for Aboriginal issues.