HOW This ‘Indian’ Discovered He Wasn’t an Indian at All. Author Gets a Big Jolt Over His Ancestry

Thomas King, the acclaimed Canadian author long known for identifying as part-Cherokee, revealed on Monday that he has no Indigenous ancestry, contrary to what he believed his entire life.

In an essay for The Globe and Mail, King explained that his mother had always told him his biological father was part-Cherokee. Growing up, King also heard similar claims from relatives he met later in life. But recent research has overturned those assumptions.

King consulted the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds, an organization in Cherokee, North Carolina, dedicated to exposing false claims of Indigenous heritage. Working with a genealogist and a professor of Indigenous studies, the group traced both sides of King’s family. The findings, shared with King earlier this month, revealed there was no Cherokee ancestry—or Indigenous ancestry of any kind—on either the King or Hunt sides of his family.

“It’s been a couple of weeks since that video call, and I’m still reeling,” King wrote. “At 82, I feel as though I’ve been ripped in half, a one-legged man in a two-legged story. Not the Indian I had in mind. Not an Indian at all.”

King emphasized that he never intentionally misled anyone about his heritage. “I lived my life believing I was mixed-blood Cherokee,” he said. While he plans to return his National Aboriginal Achievement Award, he noted that most of his honors, including being a Companion of the Order of Canada, were awarded for his writing rather than his claimed ethnicity.

This revelation adds to a growing list of prominent figures in Canada and the United States whose Indigenous ancestry has been questioned in recent years. Cases such as award-winning folk singer Buffy Sainte-Marie, politician Randy Boissonnault, and several academics have sparked national discussions about Indigenous identity and the need to prevent fraudulent claims.

Born in 1943 in the United States and raised in Roseville, California, King became one of the most influential voices on Indigenous issues in literature. His work, including The Inconvenient Indian, has shaped conversations about history, culture, and identity.

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