Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Image: Light pink background with slightly opaque image of pink, purple flowers with green foliage in the center. On top of the image is black text that reads, “Indigenous Peoples’ Day,” and subtext at the bottom of the image that reads, “A few resources for learning, reflecting, and celebrating.” We Here logo underneath.
It’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day and we are reflecting on colonial legacies in the U.S. as well as around the world, how we play a part in it, and what we can do to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ not just today, but everyday. Below are some of the resources we’re using for our journey.
Whose Land Are We Inhabiting?
If you don’t yet know whose land you’re inhabiting, use this map to find out and learn more. “Native Land Digital is a Canadian not-for-profit organization, incorporated in December 2018. Native Land Digital is Indigenous-led, with an Indigenous Executive Director and Board of Directors who oversee and direct the organization. Numerous non-Indigenous people also contribute as members of our Advisory Council.”
How the Pandemic Has Impacted Native American Tribes
We’ve read and shared articles on how devastating the pandemic has been for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx folks in particular, but this article is more recent and illustrates what is happening within tribal nations. From the article, “‘A Devastating Blow’: Virus Kills 81 Members of Native American Tribe,” by Mark Walker (October 8, 2020), The New York Times: “While communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the virus, it appears to be especially deadly in some tribal nations, where poverty, multigenerational housing and underlying health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease have been contributing factors.”
Don’t Accept “Decolonize” as a Metaphor
From the abstract of the article,“Decolonization is not a metaphor,” by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang in Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, Vol. 1, No.1, 2021, pp. 1-40: “Decolonization brings about the repatriation of Indigenous land and life; it is not a metaphor for other things we want to do to improve our societies and schools. The easy adoption of decolonizing discourse by educational advocacy and scholarship, evidenced by the increasing number of calls to “decolonize our schools,” or use “decolonizing methods,” or, “decolonize student thinking”, turns decolonization into a metaphor. As important as their goals may be, social justice, critical methodologies, or approaches that decenter settler perspectives have objectives that may be incommensurable with decolonization.”
Join a Virtual Gathering
From the website: “This year’s Convergence offers workshops on Indigenous sovereignty, land and water rights, education, economic development, cultural and language maintenance and promotion, religious freedom, and resistance movements.”
Is Your State, City, Town, or School on the Abolish Columbus Day Map?
From the website: “It is time to stop celebrating the crimes of Columbus and stand in solidarity with the Indigenous people who demand an end to Columbus Day. Instead of glorifying a person who enslaved and murdered people, destroyed cultures, and terrorized those who challenged his rule, we seek to honor these communities demanding sovereignty, recognition, and rights. We encourage schools to petition their administration and for communities to introduce legislation to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
Read Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by Linda Tuhiwai Smith
As library and information science workers, or people who are interested in this type of work, we encourage you to interrogate traditional methods of research. From Smith’s book, “From the vantage point of the colonized… the term ‘research’ is inextricably linked to European imperialism and colonialism. The word itself, ‘research,’ is probably one of the dirtiest words in the Indigenous world’s vocabulary.”