A Shattering Revelation
In a stunning personal disclosure that has sent ripples through literary circles, renowned author Thomas King has revealed he possesses no Indigenous ancestry, despite building his life's work and identity around what he believed was his partial Cherokee heritage. The American-born, Canada-based writer made this painful admission in a candid guest essay for The Globe and Mail titled “A most inconvenient Indian,” published on Monday.
The Unraveling of a Lifelong Belief
King explained that recent whispers about his questionable ancestry prompted him to contact the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds (TAAF), an American Cherokee organization. During a mid-November video call that left him "still reeling," TAAF's director Lianna Costantino and a volunteer genealogist presented King with genealogical evidence that shattered his understanding of himself. Cherokee scholar Daniel Heath Justice from the University of British Columbia also participated in the fateful conversation.
"At 82, I feel as though I’ve been ripped in half, a one-legged man in a two-legged story," King wrote in his essay. "Not the Indian I had in mind. Not an Indian at all."
A Childhood Identity Forged in Uncertainty
Born in central California in 1943, King was the son of Kathryn Konsalas, a woman of Greek descent, and Robert Elvin King from Oklahoma. His father abandoned the family when King was just three years old, leaving his mother to raise him and his younger brother Christopher.
The author recalled that during his childhood, he and his brother had "much darker" complexions than other family members, with King noting he himself "looked somewhat Asian." The crucial moment came when neighborhood children used a derogatory term for Japanese people against him. When he told his mother, she responded: "No, she told me, you’re not Japanese. Your father is part Cherokee. That’s what the kids are seeing."
This single statement became the foundation upon which King built his identity for decades. He later pieced together what he described as "an intriguing if somewhat fractured story" suggesting his biological grandfather wasn't William King but rather a man named Elvin Hunt who was allegedly part Cherokee.
Literary Legacy and Publisher Support
Despite this revelation about his personal history, HarperCollins Canada, King's publisher for more than thirty years, has stated it continues to stand by the author. The publisher confirmed its position to The Globe and Mail, though it declined further comment when approached by National Post.
King's 2012 best-selling work "The Inconvenient Indian: A Curous Account of Native People in North America" became a landmark text in Indigenous studies, making his recent disclosure particularly significant within academic and literary communities. His announcement follows other recent controversies regarding questioned Indigenous ancestry in Canada, creating a broader conversation about identity, heritage, and representation.
