Status, Mixedbloods, and Community in Thomas King’s Medicine River
Keywords:
Thomas King, Medicine River, Mixedblood, Status, Community, BelongingAbstract
This article investigates the treatment of social status, intermarriage, and community in Thomas King's novel, Medicine River. The author focuses on the character Will, a non-status Indian due to his mother marrying a white man, and examines how this affects his identity and role within the indigenous community. The article also compares Will's experiences with those of mixedblood characters in other novels, such as Jim Loney from James Welch's The Death of Jim Loney. Furthermore, it discusses the importance of community and belonging in Medicine River, where the concept of family extends beyond the nuclear family and is deeply rooted in the land and its people.
(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)
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