Is making a Native and white love interest in historical fiction automatically wrong, no matter how it’s presented?
I’ve been writing this story since I was 13 and originally finished it around 15. Now that I’m almost 19, I want to completely rewrite it. I’m already promoting another book of mine, a dystopian, and if that goes well enough, I’d like to eventually make a career out of some of the books I’ve already written, as well as new ones.
I’ve been doing research, but what I really want is a Native beta reader who can tell me if there are things I’m getting wrong or handling badly. So far, though, whenever I mention that the white character is the love interest, I either get ignored in comment sections or laughed at.
The story has changed a lot over the years. It was originally set in 1700, then I moved it to 1730, and now I’m considering moving it toward the 1850s because I realized that era fits the historical setting I was actually trying to portray better. Both boys are teenagers, and neither has complete control over their circumstances.
The white boy is American-born, though with the time period changing I’ll have to redo some of his family history. The Native boy was born and raised in the forest, living in the aftermath of the systemic genocide and forced displacement committed by colonizers, leading his tribe and neighboring tribes to make their communities there.
When I was 13, I used real Native names without specifying a tribe, and I mixed together different pieces of Native cultures that I thought fit the story. Obviously, I know better now. I also recently learned what “Pan-Indianism” actually means. When I was 13, I genuinely thought “Pan-Indian” meant a Native American who was pansexual. 🥲So yeah, I have a LOT to fix from the original version.
I’m now planning to make the Native character part of one specific tribe rather than creating a vague mixture of different cultures. But even that makes me nervous because I obviously don’t want to use a real tribe carelessly or make people from that tribe feel like I’ve misrepresented them.
One other thing I’m struggling with: my sister was initially pretty supportive of the idea, but now whenever I talk about it, she tells me people are going to see it as a “colonizer fantasy” or a white-savior story. That genuinely isn’t the story I’m trying to tell. I think my sister probably got old enough to understand why it could be perceived that way, but for me, I’m just deeply emotionally attached to these characters and want to tell their story the right way if that’s possible.
It’s gotten to the point where they feel completely real in my head, almost like actual historical people. When I'm in history class and a year is written on the board, my immediate thought is always, "Oh, they were there for that," or "They weren't born yet." Honestly, I even failed history for about two years after I started writing them because I was so completely obsessed with their lives instead of real history.
Colonization, racism, and the treatment of Native people are presented as wrong throughout the book. The white character never saves the Native character. If anything, it’s the opposite: when they first meet, the Native character is the one who saves him.
The opening of the book also criticizes the white character’s town for its religious hypocrisy, particularly how the same people who claim certain moral beliefs don’t seem to apply them consistently when it comes to Native people and queer people.
So I’m confused when people describe the premise itself as a “colonizer fantasy.” A white settler’s son falling in love with a Native boy in this historical setting isn’t exactly presented as some idealized colonial dream in the story. If anything, their relationship puts both boys in a situation that their society considers unacceptable.
I also get confused because I know the Pocahontas story is controversial among both Native and non-Native people, especially because of how the real historical person was turned into a fictional romantic story. I understand why that raises concerns. My characters are completely fictional, though, so I’m wondering how much that distinction matters when discussing a fictional Native/white relationship.
I’ve also noticed that there are plenty of movies and other fictional stories involving Native men and white women, and I don’t seem to see the same reaction every time. That made me wonder whether the criticism is specifically about a white man/Native woman pairing, about interracial relationships in general, or about the historical power dynamics involved regardless of which character is white.
I’m genuinely asking because I don’t want to assume that a different gender pairing automatically makes something acceptable. I’m trying to understand what specifically makes these relationships feel different to readers.
I’m not assuming that my intentions automatically make the story successful, either. That’s part of why I want Native readers to tell me what I’m missing or what could come across badly.
So my main question is: Is the basic premise of a Native/white teenage romance in historical fiction automatically a problem, or is it something that can be written respectfully with enough research and sensitivity?
I’m not asking anyone to write the book for me or do free labor. Once I have the geographic setting and specific tribal history narrowed down, I am absolutely looking to hire and properly pay an Indigenous cultural consultant or sensitivity reader to review my outlines and drafts. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out whether the premise itself is something I should reconsider before putting years more work into it.