AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Catherine Chang, Jessica Do, Claire Fahlman, Colin McKay, Michelle Pyke
HONORS 230B: History of the Social Sciences
December 9, 2017
In An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz explores the

conquest of Indigenous land, the Indigenous people’s resistance against these efforts, and how the United

States extended this war strategy to gain global control. In The Age of Empire, Eric Hobsbawm traces the

development of globalization, capitalism, politics (imperialist agenda in particular), the arts, and the

social sciences between the years of 1875 and 1914. Through the American ideals of “manifest destiny,”

“sacred covenants,” and “authentic patriots” as well as the emergence of the phrase “indian country” into

the language commonly used by authoritative figures, the works of both Dunbar-Ortiz and Hobsbawm

introduce the influence of nationalistic ideologies upon the perception of American history.

Born in 1939 to a tenant farmer and a mother of Native American blood, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

is an American historian and author who is well known for her activism for international indigenous

rights. After graduating from the University of California of Los Angeles with her Ph.D. in history, she
proceeded to dedicate her time as a lecturer in the Native American Studies Program at California State

University, Hayward, and became the founder of two new departments at the university - the Departments

of Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies. One of her most notable works includes The Great Sioux Nation,

which served as an invaluable resource for the first international conference on the Indigenous peoples of

the Americas held at the United Nations’ headquarters in Geneva.

In the introduction, as well as chapters one and two, Dunbar-Ortiz illustrates the rich cultures lost

to colonialism, as well as the fallacy of the American origin myth. Throughout chapter one, the author

counters the stereotype of Native Americans as savages with rich imagery of the highly developed and

varied cultures present pre-colonization. Native Americans were such great stewards of their land, she

says, that they reshaped the forests of the East into what resembled garden plots, with attention paid even

to the spacing of trees: “the first English squatters on Indigenous lands in the mid-eighteenth century

encountered forested areas that resembled English parks, as they could drive carriages through the trees.”

Shared between these chapters is the stark contrast between history as it is taught and history as it exists

in reality. The commonly taught, problematic narrative of settlement ignores the pre-existing factors that

led to the genocide faced by indigenous peoples. Abject poverty and disparities in wealth allowed the

poor to be fooled into believing that they could be of equal stature with the wealthy and gain incredible

assets when united in conquest against Native Americans, their shared enemy. Through this twisted lens,

as Dunbar-Ortiz writes, “subjugating entire societies and civilizations, enslaving whole countries, and

slaughtering people village by village did not seem too high a price to pay, nor did it appear inhumane.”

The destruction of whole societies, it appears, was not enough to deter the spread of Europeans, filled

with nationalist zeal, across the continent.

As the title of chapter 3 suggests, Dunbar-Ortiz explores the religious themes behind the conquest

of indigenous lands, specifically the settlers’ perception that they were predestined to virtue as true

patriots of the United States. Exceptionalist thought highly influenced the actions of not only the elites

deeply involved with political circles, but also colonialists who sought land as a means to escape poverty.

Dunbar-Ortiz states that historians and legal theorists claim that US statecraft and empire belong to a
“nation of laws,” which further encourages the emergence of a devout following similar to those in

support of religious ideals. The religious connotations associated with early attempts to pursue land

become a bit more apparent as the identity of the United States breaks free from its former mother

country. For instance, the “sacred covenant” is composed of legal documents that preserve the story of

how the U.S. came to be, such as the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. It is in these

words that settlers saw an opportunity to claim their rightful place as the supreme beings of the wilderness

beyond colonial walls. The baseless assertion that it was in their “blood rights” to secure Indigenous land

would serve as justification for future exploitation. Dunbar-Ortiz’s argument in this section is tied closely

with her opinion that efforts to dominate “inferior” beings was not a novel concept. In The Age of Empire,

Hobsbawm suggests that colonization by European Nations in Africa was a matter of self-perception.

Acquisition, he argues, “became a status symbol,” irrespective of the actual value of the resources

obtained. Similar to the imperialist agenda of the U.S. during the late 19th century, the post-independence

government paved the way for the rebirth of nationalism.

In chapter 4, Dunbar-Ortiz proceeds to evaluate the increasingly violent nature of the settlers

themselves, which aligns with the series of conflicts (both official and unofficial) that wreaked havoc

upon the homes of indigenous peoples; even more disheartening is how the language of warfare was

passed along for generations. With the approval to shed blood in the name of “authentic patriots,” settlers

proceeded to create a path of bloody footprints as they traveled west with the glint of greed in their eyes.

Unfortunately, this tactic of complete and utter annihilation holds true to this day. Irregular warfare

during the 18th and 19th centuries became the “first military tradition” of the United States; in fact, even

modern-day military operations reference enemy lines as “Indian country.” Native inhabitants were

merely perceived as barriers to freedom rather than human beings. As Hobsbawm mentions in his own

work, nationalism “mobilized some inhabitants,” but it also “alienated others”. Expansion westward was

no longer just a prospect for those with curious minds, but for those who were ruthless and greedy.

In chapters 5, 6, and 7, Dunbar-Ortiz follows the trend of white supremacy as an underlying

influence over American cultural development. “Manifest destiny” becomes the rationale for many white
Americans to accept the killing of Native Americans. Chapter 6 saw the rise of the term “ethnic

cleansing” and the “final solution” to justify efforts to eradicate Indigenous people. Not only did the use

of this terminology become a euphemism for genocide, it gave Nazi Germany the model upon which the

mass extermination of Jewish people would be built. Chapter 7 ties together the idea of American

exceptionalism presented in chapter 6 with the rise of social Darwinism. White supremacy is now

supported by “science”, and provided further reasoning for segregation between races, and the continued

brutality against Indigenous people, who were seen as biologically inferior. Dunbar-Ortiz relates white

supremacy back to wealth, and heavily criticizes capitalism as a system that promotes division. This

relates to Hobsbawm’s own criticisms of capitalism in his book, as well as his personal disdain towards it

as a proud Marxist. Furthermore, Dunbar-Ortiz examines the impact popular culture had on anti-

Indigenous propaganda. For example, Walt Whitman wrote what was referred to as “populist poetry”, but

what was considered “populist” only reflected the interests of white people, as white supremacy did not

allow for anyone of another race to be a part of the populace. Whitman promoted the revitalization of

American culture, which was to say, white American culture.

In chapters 8, 9, and 10, Dunbar-Ortiz investigates the atrocities inflicted upon Indigenous nations

by colonial soldiers, including the justification behind such actions and the cultural divisions that arose

due to the emergence of “the other” as a mark of nationalistic zeal in ordinary language. In addition, she

illustrates how the United States expanded the "Indian War" template of mass massacre and the

prohibition of self-determination in order to gain global military and natural resource control. This

method of counterinsurgency was implemented on the natives of Hawai'i, Alaska, and the Philippines. In

addition, Dunbar-Ortiz addresses how language and culture sustain indigenous nations. The United States

implemented boarding schools modeled after prisons in order to force assimilation. In these schools, the

Indigenous children were "beaten for speaking their own languages." This tactic of “linguistic

nationalism” is further explored in Hobsbawm's work; he asserts that it enabled a “built-in bias towards

secession”. This, of course, is important in consideration of the proceeding events in the mid-19th

century.
 Chapter 11 focuses on the “Doctrine of Discovery” under which European nations acquired title

to the lands they “discovered” and thus resulted in Indigenous inhabitants losing their natural right to that

land. Dunbar-Ortiz establishes that, far from being a principle agreed to by the majority of western

nations, the doctrine instead was created as a result of ongoing disputes between the Spanish and

Portuguese: “This doctrine on which all European states relied thus originated with the arbitrary and

unilateral establishment of the Iberian monarchies’ exclusive rights under Christian canon law to colonize

foreign peoples.” Here one can see both how the selective application of international law can become a

way for imperial nations to justify overtly racist policies, and furthermore, foreshadows the concept of

“manifest destiny”. This analysis is extended in the conclusion to examine the ways in which US

militarism and violence towards natives helped construct a truly national identity. Dunbar-Ortiz recounts

the engagement between 53 members of the Modoc tribe and 1,000 US soldiers. When surrounded, the

Modoc retreated into the long-familiar lava flows; before they were captured, the US government had

paid the equivalent of 10 million dollars and more than 400 lives over four months. From these figures it

is obvious that such a battle was not of strategic importance, but rather furthered a different project.

Indeed, “beyond its sheer military utility, Americans also found a use for the first way of war in the

construction of an ‘American identity…’ The enduring appeal of the romanticized myth of the

‘settlement’,” which renders indigenous people as “stateless terrorist combatants” under the jurisdiction

of the United States. By identifying indigenous people as both an “other” and a “threat”, the US was able

to develop and fortify an identity contingent upon the oppression of native people. This aligns with

Hobsbawm’s analysis of rising nationalism in Europe during the early 20th century. Hobsbawm also

draws the same conclusions, noting that nationalism encouraged segmentation within the population

itself. Here one can see the transhistorical use of military power to increase feelings of nationalism within

the state, and as an unavoidable consequence, the destruction of people deemed to be outside said state.

One of the most important takeaways from Dunbar-Ortiz is her desire to reclaim United States

history through the eyes of Indigenous people. Dunbar-Ortiz critically analyzes the factors which made

possible the extermination of Indigenous people in the United States. From using pseudo-science to social
theories to popular culture, white supremacy was able to control the policies that dictated Indigenous

people’s fates. In writing this volume, Dunbar-Ortiz keeps to the theme of decolonization. Linda Tuhiwai

Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies is one of the most influential works written about decolonizing

epistemology. Dunbar-Ortiz’s Indigenous History follows the framework Smith provided to challenge the

research and documentation of past historians.

Critical reception of this text has been overwhelming positive, with many reviews echoing that,

“this book should be widely read, discussed, and diffused”. It won the 2015 American Book Award,

given by the Before Columbus Foundation, which is committed to spreading and recognizing

multicultural literature. The book is hailed for offering a ground up approach from the point of view of

indigenous people, running contrary to how most, if not all, historical pieces on the Unites states are

written. Therefore, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States can be thought of as a long

overdue critique of the colonial-centric perspective of this historical field. The book can also been to seen

to be influenced by A Peoples’ History of the United States by Howard Zinn. Zinn’s work has been highly

influential, and this work recounts a cynical view of the formation of America as a constant exploitation

of the majority by the hands of an elite minority. However, his worked faced criticism, with some

arguing that he focused too heavily on class conflict. Dunbar-Ortiz follows in the same critical footsteps

as Zinn, but the opus of her critique is of course on race, not on class.

Despite its general praise, there exist some criticisms of the book. John Little, PhD student at

College of St. Scholastica, notes, “Dunbar-Ortiz appears to anchor herself in this Indian identity but at the

same time raises question about Indigenous perspective. Dunbar-Ortiz must be careful not to assume that

just because her mother was ‘most likely Cherokee,’ her voice automatically resonates and serves as an

Indigenous perspective.” Though this critique may be valid, we argue Dunbar-Ortiz’s book serves as a

trigger for a more critical and honest discussion on the violent colonial founding of the United States - a

conversation that the current educational system fails to offer.

Taken in whole, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States is an incredibly valuable

work because it contributes to the ongoing conversation regarding the authentic portrayal of U.S. history
using a modern lens. By gathering information from sources outside of the academy, Dunbar-Ortiz not

only acknowledges the native perspective, but also creates a heterodoxical space within academia that

creates room for future discussion. This is history with a purpose, not to just recount the deeds of great

men, or to speak to failure of certain structures, but to give voice to people who have been silenced. In

doing so, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz has authored a piece not only of sound academic quality, but one with

liberatory potential.