Hey if you’re of European descent and live in the US or Canada, like I do, and call yourself decolonialist, a reminder – or perhaps, revelation – that we should be giving heed to what Indigenous people say, and materially supporting them whenever we’re able to.
It’s performative to believe in #LandBack, but not make efforts to help materially support Indigenous peoples to whom we want to see land and governance returned.
My family have chosen to support the work of Sungmanitu Bluebird, who is from Pine Ridge Reservation and is part of the Chunka Luta Network, a collective of Anti-Imperialist activists and organizers. They do fundraising and mutual aid work to help many people there survive. We send something when able and will continue to as long as we’re able.
Winters are rough and there are many in need. Indigenous Peoples in the US have endured genocide for generations. The lies that we are told in the US, from our high school history textbooks, to national cartoon specials, to blockbuster movies, to political speeches are white supremacist settler colonial mythology, designed to uphold an ever-evolving plantation and reservation system that practices apartheid.
If you told me 15 years ago that I’d ever write those words, my jaw would’ve dislocated. I had voted Libertarian since 2004, my second time voting in a presidential since escaping the JW doomsday cult in late 1996. I could see the Duopoly was corrupt, but the only viable 3rd option seemed like Libertarianism. But I wrongly thought it would afford more control to ordinary people, and therefore be more democratic. Over time I realized that they were actually advocating for Neo-Feudalism. The last time I voted Libertarian was in 2012.
My point is that, if you’re reading this coming from a very different place than me politically, know this: if you’re in the US and “white”, I’ve probably explored similar spaces to yours in my past.
I’m neurodivergent and my brain is never quiet, always parsing multiple things in the background. I have a deep thirst for accurate knowledge and to understand why things are the way they are. So I’ve been reading a lot of primary source US history, particularly told from Indigenous, Black, marginalized, and working class voices.
People are suffering because the ruling/owning class of the US (0.1% of the population) is trying to hold humanity under Capitalism – a long outdated and harmful system – as long as they can to fill up their dragon hoards. The system is collapsing on itself and the livable spectrum of Earth’s ecosystem. But the owners don’t care, they have survival bunkers and yachts!
The thing is, we outnumber them, the rest of us. They’re keenly aware of it, which is why they divide us with artificial, arbitrary things like class, racism, bigotries, sexism, jingoism, ageism, and more. Keeping us at one another’s throats is vital to their efforts of keeping us all away from theirs.
Many of us are trying to help teach others what we’ve learned about real US history and that includes the atrocities of residential schools and the reservation system. I hope if you read this, it will plant a seed for you to feel the duty to learn more about what’s been hidden to us and why. If the seed is already planted in you before this, may what I’ve written help it to grow so you will pursue this knowledge, then do what YOU can to help Indigenous people survive, until Landback is a reality.
Thank you for reading. If you would like some book recommendations you can check out the Reading Recommendations section here, and/or my book threads on Twitter at @BirbBookThreads.
