Indigenous practices for sustainable futures and meaningful connections. Redefining kinship and exploring alternative perspectives. Recognizing shared humanity and breaking cycles of harm. Bundles as a representation of native people's connection to land. Understanding decolonization and indigenous displacement. Becoming kin, reflecting on roots and routes. The importance of reflection, sacredness, and support.
Becoming kin with the land means reclaiming reciprocal relationships for a sustainable future.
Decolonization must address indigenous displacement and recognize the wealth of the land.
Recognizing the land as a living being and restoring relationships with it is crucial for both individuals and communities.
Deep dives
Indigenous Understandings of Land and Kinship
This podcast episode explores the importance of indigenous understandings of land, decolonization, and kinship. It highlights the recognition of indigenous life ways as essential for a sustainable future in the face of ecological crisis. The episode emphasizes the need to rethink our relationship with the land and each other, focusing on right relationship and equitable connections. The speaker, Patti Krowett, discusses her personal journey of reconnecting with cultural ideas and realizing the harm caused by systems like child welfare and policing. She emphasizes the importance of confronting indigenous displacement and recognizing the wealth of the land. The episode concludes with a call for decolonization as the return of land to indigenous communities.
The Importance of Reckoning with Indigenous Displacement
The podcast addresses the destructive impact of settler colonialism on indigenous communities and emphasizes the necessity of reckoning with this history in our activism. It challenges decolonization to be more than a metaphor and insists on the return of indigenous authority over the land. Indigenous displacement and the historical trauma faced by indigenous peoples must be recognized and addressed in any meaningful anti-racist or activist endeavors. The process of decolonization goes beyond inclusion and anti-racism to confront the systemic harm caused by settler colonialism.
Becoming Kin with the Land and Indigenous Values
The episode explores the concept of becoming kin by acknowledging the living nature of the land and developing reciprocal relationships with it. It delves into indigenous conceptions of wealth rooted in shared responsibility and viewing the land as a relative. Patti Krowett's book, 'Becoming Kin,' challenges readers to examine their own histories and the stories they inherit, as well as the impact of colonialism. The episode highlights the need for people to recognize the land as a living being, to be cautious about their actions, and to work towards restoring relationships with the land and each other.
Confronting the Damage of Allotment and Assimilation Policies
The podcast addresses the damaging impact of policies like the Dawes Act and allotment, which led to displacement, poverty, and loss of land for indigenous communities. Patti Crawwick explains how these policies aimed to force indigenous peoples to be 'civilized' and to adopt western ways of land ownership. The episode emphasizes that indigenous conceptions of wealth are centered on collective responsibility and the recognition of the sacredness of all beings. It also highlights the ongoing threats to reserves and the importance of recognizing and confronting indigenous displacement in activism and advocacy.
Reimagining Decolonization and Building Relationships
The episode concludes with discussions on the true meaning of decolonization, which is the restitution of land to indigenous peoples. The speaker encourages listeners to reflect on their roots and the inheritance of oppressive systems, as well as the growing understanding of black and indigenous experiences. By doing so, people can foster a sense of responsibility and act as good relatives. The episode emphasizes the importance of relationships, shared responsibility, and the recognition that we are all related to each other and to the land.
“I want the land to know me, to claim me. I want to feel at home in it in a way that's reciprocal … When we talk about land back, we're not talking about laying claim to land the way that the U.S. might say, or the way that other countries might say, of claiming ownership, it's claiming relationship, and it's claiming a relationship that's reciprocal,” says Becoming Kin author Patty Krawec. In this episode of Movement Memos, Krawec and host Kelly Hayes discuss decolonization, and how activists and organizers can redefine their relationships with the land, and with each other.
