As a fiction writer, of course, you need to take some leeway with certain aspects of history to make the story work.

America seems to celebrate its more violent past, but Canada doesn't like to recognize those things. The willingness to accept the existence of violence separates our two countries.

The history needs to serve the story, not the story the history. But at the same time you can't stray too far.

The beliefs of Native people are no less powerful or important just because they focus on a different "form of magic."

I'm intrigued by the classic Greek tragedies, as well as by the idea of the Greek chorus.

I'm a writer. I should be allowed to speak about my writing at times. And I'm really excited to speak about that. There's nothing I am shameful of or anything else in my novels. They are my children and I'm happy to speak about my children.

Fascinating, often hilarious, always devastatingly truthful, The Inconvenient Indian is destined to become a classic of historical narrative. For those who wish to better understand Native peoples, it is a must read. For those who don't wish to understand, it is even more so.