An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

Dunbar-Ortiz concludes her text by referring to Giorgio Agamben’s notion of homo sacer, which she simplifies to define as people who have been “banned from society, excluded its legal protections” (Conclusion). What examples does she give from the text that might fit within this definition, and how do these examples help us to understand this term? Consider these points as you reflect on the text to answer the question:

• How does the US government treat Indigenous people? How have they characterized them?
• What spaces are there in which Indigenous people are made to matter less, in both the past and the present?

Teaching Suggestion: Agamben’s homo sacer has often been brought up within conversations about US military tactics in places like Guantanamo Bay. Dunbar-Ortiz’s use of it shows how the United States government has made Indigenous people a group that is essentially left to die out through years of different political, cultural, and social policies. It may be helpful to identify specific sections of the text for students to sort through as they search for examples to fit within Dunbar-Ortiz’s simplification of homo sacer. Students may also benefit from being broken up into groups; each group could be assigned a specific section of the book to search through, and then they could share their findings with the rest of the class.