The bioregional vision here in Cascadia has been a beacon of hope for many years now, standing in sharp contrast to the domination and exploitation we see around us everywhere in our daily lives. The promise of a bioregionalism to guide a wandering humanity back home to the places where we are no longer separate has never been more important that now. However, undoing this separation desperately needs to be done without making mistakes, without erasing any of our stories as unique individuals, communities, and Peoples. - [Cathasaigh Ó Corcráin - notes on a bioregional decolonization - milegaiscioch.wordpress/2013/12/29/notes-on-a-bioregional-decolonization/] Cascadians have long been working to build settler/Indigenous alliances to defend the land, with Indigenous folks supporting and literally helping to define bioregionalism as a theory and practice. This doesn’t mean that there is no Indigenous resentment towards settlers and our(sic) Governments. There is plenty. It is legitimate. So the question is not without merit. Some of my favorite Native hip-hop waxes eloquently about doing away with settlers. And if a Cascadian independence movement takes a turn away from bioregionalism into any form of statist settler nationalism, this sentiment will only grow, mark my words. It is for this reason I advocate “bioregional decolonization” instead on mere secessionism. - [Cathasaigh Ó Corcráin - on cascadian independence and fourth world decolonization (sketch #1) - https://milegaiscioch.wordpress/tag/bioregional-decolonization/] So, what are the terms of engagement? They depend on the Indigenous land and culture that you are co-existing and co-resisting with. This is not a benign, universalizing “We are all one” project that is devoid of power relations. There must be a conscious engagement with the domination of colonialism and the active resurgence of alternative, Indigenous ways of thinking and acting in the world. Resistance is lived out, through everyday acts of resurgence. We must actively apply the theories of decolonization to our daily acts of creation and resurgence. As Taiaiake Alfred calls it in his book Wasase, we must engage in “creative contention.” - [Eric Ritskes - The Terms of Engagement with Indigenous Nationhood - decolonization.wordpress/2013/01/17/the-terms-of-engagement-with-indigenous-nationhood/] If white people who practice Indigenous solidarity miss, or never consider these nuances when invoking “settler” status, I am concerned that we then leave its whiteness normalized and unchallenged within our theories and activism. - [Scott L. Morgensen - White Settlers and Indigenous Solidarity: Confronting White Supremacy, Answering Decolonial Alliances - decolonization.wordpress/2014/05/26/white-settlers-and-indigenous-solidarity-confronting-white-supremacy-answering-decolonial-alliances/] We have to be cautious not to replicate the Canadian state’s assimilationist model of liberal pluralism, forcing Indigenous identities to fit within our existing groups and narratives. The inherent right to traditional lands and to self-determination is expressed collectively and should not be subsumed within the discourse of individual or human rights. Furthermore, it is imperative to understand that being Indigenous is not just an identity but a way of life, which is intricately connected to Indigenous peoples’ relationship to the land and all its inhabitants. Indigenous struggle cannot simply be accommodated within other struggles; it demands solidarity on its own terms. - [Harsha Walia - Decolonizing together Moving beyond a politics of solidarity toward a practice of decolonization - briarpatchmagazine/articles/view/decolonizing-together]
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 22:37:58 +0000
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