Refusing the Settler Society of the Spectacle

This chapter examines the relationship between Guy Debord’s notion of spectacle and settler colonialism, exploring the role that spectacle plays in the solidification of the settler state and the consolidation of whiteness. In so doing, it examines contemporary depictions of Native peoples in the mainstream media, with a particular focus on coverage of Indigenous peoples at Standing Rock and the #NoDAPL prayer camps. Ultimately, I argue that the ongoing production of spectacularized “Indians” functions to erase the lived experience of Indigenous peoples and, in so doing, serves as a transit for settler colonial relations.