One of King’s primary goals in Green Grass, Running Water is exploring the nature of Indigenous identity in contemporary North America. This requires navigating a history of cultural trauma and continued colonial oppression, balancing cultural traditions with modern society, and constantly being subjected to North American attitudes that are at best indifferent but often hostile toward their very existence.

That the novel is centered on the construction of a dam on what is supposed to be treaty-protected land recalls past wrongdoings and is a signal that they continue to happen. Sifton and Bursum make their feelings on treaty rights clear: They were “only made […] for convenience”, and “no one signs contracts forever” (142, 270). In the eyes of people like Sifton and Bursum (and the Canadian Government), Indigenous peoples should just take the money they’re offered and get over it. However, the (likely false) promise of financial gain is a temporary solution to a problem that the government created in the first place and comes at the cost of not just the land but the Indigenous way of life.

There are not many jobs on the reserve, which places many people in a bind: There is pressure to stay on the reserve to preserve one’s culture and way of life, while at the same time, people like Eli, Lionel, and Charlie feel they need to leave to get a university education and find better employment opportunities.