This book investigates how the imposition of heteronormative structures by the United States government functioned as a mechanism to undermine Native American sovereignty and governance. Mark Rifkin, a scholar of Native American and queer studies, utilizes a diverse archive of historical and literary documents to demonstrate how the categorization of Indigenous kinship as 'deviant' served colonial interests. He argues that the enforcement of specific sexual and familial norms was a deliberate strategy to assimilate Native peoples and dismantle traditional forms of political organization.

Scholars in the fields of Indigenous studies and queer theory frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the intersection of settler colonialism and the regulation of sexuality. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which requires a strong background in critical theory to fully navigate the author's arguments.