When I read An Indigenous People’s History, one of the things that really struck me was the re-periodization of history from an Indigenous perspective—the ways wars and battles and movement and daily life is framed and organized in a way that tells a coherent narrative about indigenous life, rather than centering settler experiences and stories and meanings—it was such a illuminating example of how a shift in perspective, a different lens, de-“normalizes” so much of what we take for granted.
I’m grateful to you for laying this all out in such a clear and compelling way. I’m very eager to think for myself and to hear from you more thoughts about the “how”—what this project of decolonizing that you nod to at the end of your essay looks like in the day-to-day, what it looks like in our kitchens and in our families and in our neighborhoods. I’m always seeking—almost as a religious quest—the “quotidian mysteries” at the somatic level that move us away from what you so accurately name as “sin.”
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on An Indigenous People’s History. It’s important to shift perspectives and decolonize our thinking. Looking forward to hearing more from you on this topic.
This is an awesome piece- and a timely companion for the book I'm reading at the moment, Kehinde Andrews's "The New Age of Empire", which charts all the strands of racial supremacism upon which the post-Enlightenment West is founded, and how they are all very much alive and well. Thanks Devon!
just discovered this book this past weekend, looking forward to reading it!
GUN RIGHTS - I really resonate with your observation regarding the 'need' to bear arms as inspired by the BPP etc. This background on gun rights is illuminating (and feels like a stellar infographic awaiting birth). I appreciate your acknowledgement of the pause this revelation has given you, and do not expect a resolution from you or a perspective as an authority on this next point - but ultimately this recognition does not change what I see, and what you have written, as an inevitable fact – "that any revolutionary party in the United States would need access to munitions, because the military would attempt to suppress them with violent force" as you have written.
The oppressed have always had to violently fight back for their freedom - and despite moral qualms with the nature or history of bearing arms, I think holding this duality that two things can be true is really key. I don't see unarmed oppressed civilians taking control and creating safety in a nation of armed government and private militia. At this point, its far too chicken egg to undo, and, to me, idealistic to postulate otherwise, regardless of how much more preferable that alternate albeit fictional alternate reality appeals. I think its important to acknowledge this complexity as it is equally to acknowledge the reality of what it will take to address this violent nation-state we dwell in.
Just as an add-on, while I also learned a lot from reading this book a few months ago, I was disappointed to learn that there has been quite some controversy around her claim to Indigenous ancestry and that she might be a so-called "pretendian". Which doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't learn from her writing, but means that she might be speaking from a different position than the one she's claiming.
When I read An Indigenous People’s History, one of the things that really struck me was the re-periodization of history from an Indigenous perspective—the ways wars and battles and movement and daily life is framed and organized in a way that tells a coherent narrative about indigenous life, rather than centering settler experiences and stories and meanings—it was such a illuminating example of how a shift in perspective, a different lens, de-“normalizes” so much of what we take for granted.
I’m grateful to you for laying this all out in such a clear and compelling way. I’m very eager to think for myself and to hear from you more thoughts about the “how”—what this project of decolonizing that you nod to at the end of your essay looks like in the day-to-day, what it looks like in our kitchens and in our families and in our neighborhoods. I’m always seeking—almost as a religious quest—the “quotidian mysteries” at the somatic level that move us away from what you so accurately name as “sin.”
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on An Indigenous People’s History. It’s important to shift perspectives and decolonize our thinking. Looking forward to hearing more from you on this topic.
This is an awesome piece- and a timely companion for the book I'm reading at the moment, Kehinde Andrews's "The New Age of Empire", which charts all the strands of racial supremacism upon which the post-Enlightenment West is founded, and how they are all very much alive and well. Thanks Devon!
I need to check that book out!
I would appreciate a follow up post with a deeper comparison/contrast of the USA and Israel. Thanks for this! Eye opening.
just discovered this book this past weekend, looking forward to reading it!
GUN RIGHTS - I really resonate with your observation regarding the 'need' to bear arms as inspired by the BPP etc. This background on gun rights is illuminating (and feels like a stellar infographic awaiting birth). I appreciate your acknowledgement of the pause this revelation has given you, and do not expect a resolution from you or a perspective as an authority on this next point - but ultimately this recognition does not change what I see, and what you have written, as an inevitable fact – "that any revolutionary party in the United States would need access to munitions, because the military would attempt to suppress them with violent force" as you have written.
The oppressed have always had to violently fight back for their freedom - and despite moral qualms with the nature or history of bearing arms, I think holding this duality that two things can be true is really key. I don't see unarmed oppressed civilians taking control and creating safety in a nation of armed government and private militia. At this point, its far too chicken egg to undo, and, to me, idealistic to postulate otherwise, regardless of how much more preferable that alternate albeit fictional alternate reality appeals. I think its important to acknowledge this complexity as it is equally to acknowledge the reality of what it will take to address this violent nation-state we dwell in.
Just as an add-on, while I also learned a lot from reading this book a few months ago, I was disappointed to learn that there has been quite some controversy around her claim to Indigenous ancestry and that she might be a so-called "pretendian". Which doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't learn from her writing, but means that she might be speaking from a different position than the one she's claiming.
I think she is pretty clear in the introduction to her book what the extent of her ancestral ties are and their limitations.