Ever see t-shirts or hats that say “You're on native land?”
I always smile and nod. Oftentimes it’s like acknowledging a fact.
"Yes, I am on native land," my thoughts respond.
Sometimes though, I pause to feel into it.
This land didn't just "used to be native land" and now "is colonized land," with native people still living here under discrimination.
Some say this was native land for over 8,000 thousand years… and colonized for 200. Others say 25,000 and 500. The ratio is staggering, especially what colonization changed through genocide.
The National Park Service (https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/archeology-this-month-native-american-heritage.htm) says, “Archeological and genetic evidence show that people have been here at least 23,000 years and as long as 30,000 years, underscoring American Indians' oral history that their ancestors lived on these lands from time immemorial.”
This week I read an application to a BIPOC-centered therapist community, and paused at the question,
What does #LandBack mean to you?
I know that #landback is a decentralized movement that advocates for honoring treaties that were violated by the US government, returning some land back to tribal nations- especially sacred sites and national parks- and by some standards, include a shift away from private property towards communal. There have been small steps toward this, such as
current piloting of tribal co-management of certain federal lands (https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-bears-ears-what-indigenous-leaders-think-about-co-managing-bears-ears-with-the-feds).
#LandBack can have slightly different meanings to different people, and what it means to me is less important than what it means to indigenous people. So I started reading more about the #landback movement and contemplated the points I hadn't really considered, such as changing private real estate.
You could google it or see perspectives I read from
High Country News (https://www.hcn.org/issues/54-9/indigenous-affairs-social-justice-questions-about-the-landback-movement-answered/) , ARCGIS and this great 9 min. TEDTALK (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2840fa16dcf9486cb309649a60de0ae0) , and this on NPR (https://www.kqed.org/education/535779/land-back-the-indigenous-fight-to-reclaim-stolen-lands) .
But how many of the nuances do I really get?
And, when do I get nervous about them?
Let’s be honest. Like most human beings, unknown amounts of change can cause me to balk, especially when it means the possibility of losing something. A big part of me WANTS equity, and a small part of me is nervous about my… livelihood? wellbeing? What is it we fear? Losing privilege? Is it the part of me that worries about survival?
Doesn’t the wiser part of me worry about ALL our survival, and our equal right to THRIVE?
Living in Lawrence, Kansas, I’ve learned about many aspects of colonization and oppression, partly because of the local Haskell Indian Nations University and adjacent wetlands - sacred land that was stolen and paved over. I wonder a lot how we could give more sacred sites back across turtle island (North America), and I have participated in protests and such. But necessarily, the inner work to discern my direction goes beyond that.
Would it even be possible to give all the land back?
Whose land would go back, and how would we live, and how would it work?
What is my role in this movement?
To see what native land you are on, go to: Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land (https://native-land.ca/) .
There are a lot of logistics to contemplate
and our minds can love logistics,
hesitate on logistics,
or give up on logistics.
The soul has another view and another destination.
Sometimes it's hidden and deep,
…but we can start to find it through the heart.
I check in- What does my heart feel about #Landback?
What does yours?
How would it feel if our government wasn't run by republicans or democrats, but run by tribal authority?
What hope might I have for the future of our planet (in light of climate change) if indigenous peoples were in charge of regulations and laws?
How much more deeply connected might I, my child, my child's friends, and all our neighborhoods be if our relationships to the land we live with/on was advised by indigenous wisdom?
There’s much more I could say about how I regularly check in with white saviorism, white guilt, white fragility, and my personal desires and fears. I could explain the current actions I take and how nothing I’m doing is enough, because nothing one person does could ever be enough. It's not for an individual to accomplish. It needs community action and cultural mindset shift.
But as I’ve been checking in this week with myself, I want to check in with you.
Where are you at in your examination, learning, and discernment?
Do any struggles arise for you when you want to connect deeply with nature, if your ancestry isn’t native to this land?
How do you harmonize your life on earth, with the Earth and with other humans?
Feel free to Contact me and write me back.
🌷 I’d love to hear your share.
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