Pocahontas was a member of the Powhatan tribe who lived in the land surrounding England’s Jamestown settlement. Pocahontas achieved “fame and notoriety” after being kidnapped by the settlers (9), converting to Christianity, and traveling to Europe. Pocahontas is particularly well-known through the stories of John Smith, who traveled through Virginia in 1607 and later published stories claiming that she saved him from being executed by the tribe. King argues that according to the historical record, Pocahontas and Smith never actually met, and Smith was simply trying to profit from Pocahontas’s notoriety in England. Even so, the legend of Pocahontas and John Smith has continued to grow and develop over the centuries, transforming Pocahontas from a real being into a mythical figure.

Riel was a member of Canada’s Métis people, “one of Canada’s three official Aboriginal groups” who trace their genealogy to a mix of Indigenous (xiii), French, and English ancestors. In 1869 the Canadian government sought to develop Métis land after illegally purchasing the territory from the Hudson’s Bay Company. Riel initially led the “provisional government for the territory” and tried to fight for the Métis people’s right to control the land, but he was ultimately “forced to flee Canada” (16). Riel later returned to Canada, where he led an outright Métis rebellion in 1885. After the rebellion failed, Riel was executed by the Canadian government for his role in the conflict, transforming him into a martyr and a legendary figure in Canadian culture.

George Armstrong Custer was a general in the US military who fought with the Lakota people for control of the Black Hills. Custer is most famous for his role in the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn, where his troops were defeated by Lakota warriors, and Custer was killed. Though King notes that Custer’s death was largely “self-inflicted,” he describes how the Battle of Little Bighorn has since become “framed as a romantic tragedy” in American culture and is often referred to as “Custer’s Last Stand” (12).

Fraser was an American artist whose sculptures adorn numerous monuments in Washington, DC. One of Fraser’s most famous sculptures is End of the Trail (1915), which depicts “a dejected Indian holding a spear while he slumps over his equally dejected horse” (32). The sculpture has become an iconic image of Indigenous people in American culture; several versions of the image were reproduced to adorn advertisements and products. While the sculpture may seem to empathize with the Indigenous plight, King argues that the image ultimately affirms a narrative that Indigenous civilization and culture are inevitably dying out and are incompatible with modernity.

Pratt was an army captain who became well-known for founding the residential school system, which sought to assimilate Indigenous youth into white culture. Guided by his motto “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man,” Pratt advocated strict disciplinary measures to force children to adopt white social customs. King describes Pratt as being an adherent of “environmental determinism,” which holds that individual behavior is a result of cultural influence rather than genetics (108). Pratt believed that separating Indigenous children from their families and communities at a young age and raising them within a Western style of education, would lead them to behave like white people. King describes how the residential schools were characterized by violence and deplorable conditions, with the children suffering poor nutrition and physical and emotional abuse.