The White Indian series, originally the Colonization of America series, was a series of 28 novels covering the life of a white man adopted by an Indian chief when he was just a newborn, and then his descendants.
It was originally written by Noel Gerson under the pen name of Daniel Clayton Porter, but after his death the series continued by a different author but with the same pen name.
Published from 1979-1996, the setting time periods ranged from the 1670s to 1815.
The White Indian book series:
- White Indian
- The Renegade
- War Chief
- The Sachem
- Renno
- Tomahawk
- War Cry
- Ambush
- Seneca
- Cherokee
- Choctaw
- Seminole
- War Drums
- Apache
- Spirit Knife
- Manitou
- Seneca Warrior
- Father of Waters
- Fallen Timbers
- Sachem's Son
- Sachem's Daughter
- Seneca Patriots
- Hawk's Journey
- Father and Son
- War Clouds
- Red Stick
- Creek Thunder
- Medicine Shield
The White Indian book series:
- Arrows on Fire: Inflicted upon the Seneca village in Renno, but was said to be done to light buildings on fire, and not against the villagers directly.
- Artistic License – History: Quite a few
- In 1785 an Indian refers to the US Constitution, but the Constitution was made in 1787. Two novels later the heroes visit Philadelphia as it was being written, so may be a retroactive continuity error.
- In Seneca Patriots, while speaking to James Madison, President Jefferson refers to himself as writing the Constitution. In real life, Madison was the principle writer of the document; Jefferson instead wrote the Declaration of Independence and was in Europe while the Constitution was written.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: A typical tactic of the two Rennos when they are outnumbered. They are relying on their ally to avoid a back attack while doing his part in trying to win the battle.
- Badass Family: The original Renno, his adoptive father and brother, and his various descendants.
- The Beastmaster: The original Renno had a pet bear in the first novel, and eventually names his son after the bear.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Dalnia is clearly one of these, especially in what she plans to do with other Seneca women her age when she marries the second Renno.
- The Cavalry: In Renno the Seneca return just in time to save their main village from the Huron attack.
- The Chief's Daughter: Quite a few in-series get some limelight, and especially so in Sachem's Daughter.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: The second Renno should be tied down to the Seneca village as he is their chief, but throughout the various novels he ends up going to the Yucatan, England, the Caribbean, and even Africa just to right wrongs.
- Damsel in Distress: A favorite trope of the authors. Every single girlfriend and future wife of one of the "White Indians" was captured by an enemy and the current hero of the series had to go rescue them.
- Economy Cast: Most couples only had one or two children, although there was an attempt to explain this in-universe: whites have far more children than Indians for some reason. The second Renno's last wife never had children was a stretch of credibility, especially since her brother in England was said to have lots of children. Of course, they didn't have to be individually depicted due to being far away from where action took place in the series.
- Evil Counterpart: The Huron are portrayed as such to the Seneca.
- Flaying Alive: Enemy Indians occasionally did this, and of course scalping was frequently done by both good and enemy Indians.
- Happily Adopted: The original Renno, although he did not learn this until later in life.
- Historical Domain Character: Several, with the most notable being King Louis XV, King George III, and five of the first six Presidents of the United States, but especially George Washington.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: The French were portrayed as extremely evil and anti-freedom in the early novels
- Horrible Judge of Character: Everyone can see that Dalnia would be a bad person for the second Renno to marry, except Renno himself.
- Immigrant Patriotism: Several individuals who just came from Mother England become enthralled with the colonies rather quickly.
- Incest Standards Are Relative: The second El-i-chi is considered by the village matrons to want an incestuous marriage with the daughter of the man his mother married after El-i-chi's father was murdered.
- Injun Country: Inevitable in a novel series centered on an Indian tribe. The early novels are all set in the Seneca-held region of what is now modern New York state. In later novels the homebase is always the Cherokee lands in the Smokies.
- Little Stowaway: happens in at least two books, but in Tomahawk the stowaway was helped by everyone who could help her do so except her husband.
- Loincloth: Typical wear for male Indians, especially the Seneca.
- Magical Native American: "Manitous" were often mentioned in the early novels, and as the series went on the supernatural elements increased.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: All the times hawks appear just before a major event happens.
- Meal Ticket: Dalnia definitely sees the second Renno as this.
- Noble Savage: The Seneca are often portrayed as such. The original Renno especially displayed this trope when he visited London.
- Not Blood Siblings: The relationship and later marriage of the second El-i-chi and Ah-wa-o is considered problematic by the elder matrons of the Seneca tribe due to the marriage of El-i-chi's mother Toshabe and Ah-wa-o's father Ha-ace.
- Rape as Drama: Father of Waters for most of the entire novel. Early on, a few women who survived an attack are on a raft with their captors, who liberally rape each of the women over and over again, all the way from the Tennessee River to the Yucatan Penisula.
- Refuge in the West: In the last 2-3 pages of the last book in the series, Medicine Shield, the sons of the second Renno and a band of sympathizers head west to escape Tennessee and any further issues with the government there.
- Snipe Hunt: In Sachem's Daughter, Renna's fiance is subjected to one by Little Hawk and El-i-chi, only for the tables to be turned on the pranksters.
- Spoiler Opening: If you look at the family chart at the beginning of Sachem's Daughter, you will learn that one of the characters that was never married before suddenly has two spouses and in which order they were. The next novel Seneca Patriots had a similar problem with a marriage and a birth spoiler.
- Stuffed into the Fridge: A rare male example in Sachem's Daughter, when Renna's current man is killed just to give her agency in the rest of the novel.
- The Savage Indian: Enemies of the Seneca are usually portrayed as such.
- This Means Warpaint: Indians are often mentioned wearing warpaint, and sometimes using another tribe's color to misrepresent who they were
- Villainous Mother-Son Duo: The witch Melisande and her adopted son Othon Hugues.
