Decolonization Is for Everyone | Nikki Sanchez | TEDxSFU

Summary

The speaker addresses the audience on the topic of decolonization, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and respecting Indigenous territories. They discuss the historical trauma of colonization in Canada, including residential schools and biological warfare, and call for collective responsibility in healing and justice. The talk also highlights the ongoing issues faced by Indigenous communities and encourages everyone to take steps towards decolonization, fostering a future of equity and sustainability.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The speaker emphasizes the importance of recognizing the territories of indigenous peoples, acknowledging that many are unceded and occupied, which sets the stage for a discussion on decolonization.
• 📚 The script highlights the historical amnesia regarding colonization, pointing out that it's not just indigenous peoples who have suffered intergenerational trauma, but settlers have too, due to their complicity in a violent history.
• 🏫 The residential schools in Canada are mentioned as a significant part of the colonial legacy, with the last one closing as recently as 1996, and their impact including high mortality rates and human rights abuses.
• 🛡 The script discusses other forms of colonization, such as biological warfare and the intentional extinction of keystone species, to force indigenous peoples into submission and capitalism.
• 👥 The speaker asserts that decolonization is not just the work of indigenous peoples but a collective responsibility that involves everyone, regardless of their ancestry.
• 🌱 The current forms of colonization in Canada are outlined, including land occupation without treaties, the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, and the ongoing issues of child apprehension and lack of access to clean water.
• 🛑 The speaker calls for action, urging the audience to recognize that the history of colonization is not their fault but is their responsibility to address, advocating for collective healing and justice.
• 🔍 The importance of understanding one's own history and the impact of colonization on personal and societal levels is stressed, as a first step towards decolonization.
• 🌐 The script makes a connection between colonization, capitalism, and the current global crises, such as climate change and mass migrations, suggesting that decolonization is necessary for a sustainable future.
• 🎓 The speaker differentiates between indigenous resurgence and decolonization, stating that while the former is the work of indigenous peoples, the latter is a shared responsibility that can contribute to social and environmental balance.
• 💬 The final takeaway encourages the audience to start their decolonization journey by learning about their own heritage, the land they live on, and how they can contribute to dismantling oppressive systems.

Q & A

What is the primary theme discussed in the transcript?

The primary theme discussed in the transcript is decolonization, its history, and its implications on both indigenous and settler populations in Canada.

Why is acknowledging the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations important in the context of the speech?

Acknowledging these territories is important because it recognizes the indigenous peoples whose lands are being occupied and highlights the fact that these lands are unceded and occupied territories.

What is the significance of the residential schools in the Canadian colonial history mentioned in the transcript?

Residential schools are significant as they represent a long history of forced assimilation.

Outlines

00:00

🌎 Acknowledging Territories and the Impact of Colonization

The speaker begins by acknowledging the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations, emphasizing that they are 'unser and 'red, and occupied'. They invite the audience to consider the implications of being on someone else's land and introduce the concept of decolonization. The speaker, a decolonial educator, discusses the difficulty many settler Canadians face in identifying their ancestral lands and the associated pain. They highlight the need to understand the history of colonization, including residential schools, biological warfare, and the intentional extinction of keystone species, to recognize the intergenerational trauma experienced by both indigenous and settler communities.

05:01

🤝 Collective Responsibility in Decolonization

The speaker dispels the myth that decolonization is solely the work of indigenous people, asserting that it is a collective responsibility that involves everyone, regardless of their ancestral background. They outline ongoing forms of colonization in Canada, such as unceded territories, the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, child apprehension practices, lack of access to clean water, and the impact of resource extraction on indigenous lands. The speaker encourages settler individuals to confront their guilt and shame about history and to take responsibility for current and future actions, emphasizing that decolonization is about collective healing and justice.

10:02

🛠 Steps Towards Decolonization and Its Significance

The speaker provides actionable steps for individuals to begin their journey of decolonization, starting with understanding one's own ancestry and the history of the land they inhabit. They encourage learning about the oppressive systems that have shaped history and identifying ways to dismantle them. The speaker also stresses the importance of sharing knowledge and having conversations about decolonization in everyday life. They explain that decolonization is about living without guilt and shame, giving up unjust power and privilege, and working towards a more sustainable and equitable future. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of each person's unique contributions to solving the problems of the past and present, for the benefit of future generations.

Keywords

💡Decolonization

Decolonization refers to the process of undoing the effects of colonization, particularly in areas such as politics, economics, and culture. In the video, it is the central theme, emphasizing the collective responsibility to dismantle systems of oppression and create a more equitable future. The speaker discusses decolonization as a necessary step for all people, regardless of their ancestral ties to colonization, to heal and move forward.

💡Indigenous

Indigenous refers to the first people of a land, often displaced or marginalized by the effects of colonization. The script frequently mentions the indigenous perspective, highlighting their unique struggles and the importance of their cultural practices in the process of decolonization. The speaker acknowledges the specific work of 'indigenization' as distinct from decolonization, emphasizing the need for indigenous people to lead certain aspects of cultural revitalization.

💡Territories

Territories in this context refers to the lands traditionally inhabited by indigenous peoples, often now occupied or encroached upon by non-indigenous populations. The script opens with an acknowledgment of the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations, illustrating the importance of recognizing whose land one is on and the history of colonization that has led to the current occupation.

💡Settler Canadians

Settler Canadians are individuals of non-indigenous descent who have settled in Canada, often benefiting from the displacement of indigenous peoples. The script discusses the intergenerational trauma experienced by settler Canadians as a result of their complicity in a violent history, and the need for them to understand and take part in the process of decolonization.

💡Residential Schools

Residential schools were institutions established by the Canadian government and religious entities to forcibly assimilate indigenous children into Euro-Canadian culture. The script mentions these schools as a significant part of Canada's colonial legacy, highlighting the lasting impact on indigenous communities, including high mortality rates and the use of the schools for inhumane experiments.

💡Biological Warfare

Biological warfare in the script refers to the intentional spread of diseases among indigenous populations, such as smallpox, as a means of control and subjugation. The speaker cites the example of smallpox vaccines being withheld from First Nations communities, leading to devastating population declines.

💡Keystone Species

Keystone species are species that have a disproportionately large effect on their environment relative to their abundance. In the script, the speaker discusses the intentional extinction of keystone species like the buffalo as a strategy of colonization, forcing indigenous communities to rely on the colonizers and assimilate into capitalist systems.

💡Intergenerational Trauma

Intergenerational trauma refers to the emotional and psychological effects of historical trauma that are passed down through generations. The script speaks about the trauma experienced by both indigenous and settler communities, emphasizing the need for understanding and healing as part of the decolonization process.

💡Historical Amnesia

Historical amnesia is the collective forgetting or ignorance of a society's past, particularly its violent or oppressive history. The script discusses how this phenomenon has allowed for the continuation of colonial practices and the need for individuals to confront and acknowledge this history to work towards decolonization.

💡Oppression

Oppression in this context refers to the unjust treatment or control exerted over people or groups, often based on factors like race, class, or gender. The script calls for the dismantling of oppressive systems, such as those that have led to missing and murdered indigenous women, children being apprehended from indigenous families, and the lack of access to clean water for First Nations communities.

💡Social Identity

Social identity is the part of an individual's self-concept derived from their perceived membership in social groups. The script discusses the need for individuals to understand and confront their social identity in relation to colonization, in order to break free from the guilt and shame associated with it and work towards a more equitable society.

Highlights

The speaker emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the territories of indigenous peoples and the reality of being on 'uninvited and occupied territories'.

The concept of decolonization is introduced as a collective responsibility, not just the work of indigenous people.

The difficulty for many to name the territories and nations of their ancestors highlights the issue of historical amnesia related to colonization.

The speaker discusses the intergenerational trauma experienced by both indigenous and settler peoples due to colonization.

A brief history of colonization in Canada is provided, including the long-lasting impact of residential schools and their mortality rates.

The Canadian government's use of residential schools for testing the impacts of starvation and electric chairs is revealed.

The role of the RCMP in removing children from their homes and policing indigenous people is mentioned.

Biological warfare and the intentional extinction of keystone species as a colonial strategy are discussed.

The speaker calls for an understanding of the historical bystander trauma experienced by descendants of settlers.

Decolonization is presented as a necessary step towards healing and justice, involving all members of society.

The current forms of colonization in Canada, such as land occupation without treaties and the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women, are highlighted.

The speaker addresses the challenges faced by settler people who want to address colonization but feel paralyzed by guilt and shame.

A message is shared that while the history is not the fault of the current generation, it is their responsibility to address it.

The distinction between indigenous resurgence and decolonization is made, with the former being the work of indigenous people.

The importance of acknowledging indigenous people's contributions to the world and the need for their autonomy in cultural revitalization is stressed.

The speaker discusses the global implications of colonialism and capitalism, and their effects on climate and societal structures.

The Mayan prophecy is referenced as a call to collective consciousness and action for the betterment of society.

The speaker encourages individuals to take practical steps towards decolonization, such as learning about their heritage and engaging in conversations about history and privilege.

Decolonization is framed as a path to living without guilt and shame, and as a means to build a more sustainable and equitable future.

The importance of celebrating diversity and connecting with unique knowledge to solve global problems is emphasized.

The speaker concludes by urging the audience to consider their role in dismantling a history of colonization for the benefit of future generations.

Transcripts

P Ali qualitynet seek Nia toka

Nicola halika Sanchez hood knee my

appeal Thank You Scotland I'm so happy

to be with all of you here today what a

special thing to come together to learn

thank you so much to than a handy family

for their beautiful welcome toward their

territories because I'm speaking to you

about decolonization today I couldn't

begin without once again recognizing

that not only are we on the territories

of this beautiful family but we're also

on the Musqueam cyber tooth and Squamish

nation's territory and although that's

become a really common thing to

acknowledge in Canada that you're on

someone else's territory what often goes

unsaid is that those are unser and 'red

and occupied territories so some of us

might be here today as guests and some

of us have found our way here in other

ways but ultimately we're on someone

else's territory and so I really invite

you to think about what that means as we

discus explore this idea of

decolonization and as a decolonial

educator I get to have a lot of really

interesting conversations with people

often really difficult conversations but

to my surprise one of the most difficult

conversations I have one of the most

difficult questions that I ask is if

people can name the territories and

nation on whose lands their grandmothers

were born and for a lot of settler

Canadians this is a really difficult

question to answer and it's also one

that brings up a lot of pain and that's

where I want to start this conversation

today is around this notion of

colonization in relation to historical

amnesia because although it's become a

common theme in Canada we talk about

intergenerational trauma for indigenous

people one thing that's not talked about

is the intergenerational trauma that

also had to happen for settler people to

be complicit in such a violent history

and in order for us to know where we

want to go together we need to know

where we are and for us to know that we

need to know where we've been so I'm

just going to speak briefly about the

history of colonization in Canada but I

really want to emphasize this is a

global phenomenon

there's not a single corner of the world

that colonization hasn't been enacted

upon so whether you're a settler

Canadian whether you're a visitor

whether you're a newly landed immigrant

this applies to you and if you want to

learn more about your own particular

history just go home and google

colonization and your nation and you'll

see a long and violent history but for

today's purposes we're just going to

talk about colonisation in Canada and so

one of the most common things that

people are really aware of in terms of

our colonial legacy in Canada is that of

residential schools however what's often

left out of that conversation is the

fact that those residential schools were

in effect for over 150 years that the

last residential school did not close

until 1996 that the mortality rate and

those residential schools was often

around 50% that the Canadian government

intentionally used the subjects of those

schools to test the impacts of

starvation on human bodies as well as

the impacts of electric chairs the

creation of the RCMP was in fact to

remove children from their homes in

order to bring them to these schools as

well as to police indigenous people to

remain on the lands that were designated

to them as a reserve lands in their own

home territories and finally this legacy

resulted in the kidnapping of over a

hundred and fifty thousand children and

that's just the children themselves that

were removed and that's not even talking

about all of the generations that were

implicated because of the horrible abuse

that went on in these schools so the

other forms that colonization took in

this country were that of biological

warfare intentional systematic

biological warfare ninety percent of

some of the first nations in British

Columbia were wiped out at a time when a

vaccine for smallpox was available and

and well used among settler Canadians

this is I think one of the most powerful

pictures that depicts the history of

colonization in this country another

strategy that was used to clear people

from the land and forced people into

submission into capitalism into living

on reserves was the intentional

extinction of keystone species like the

Buffalo in the prairies

but this happened in the north with sled

dogs it happened in the East Coast with

different fisheries and so this strategy

of extinction to force people into

submission is part of our colonial

history in Canada so this means that if

you're more than a 1st generation

Canadian this is historical bystander

trauma that your parents and

grandparents have lived through and that

in fact also lives in you and I really

want to dispel this myth today that

decolonization is the work of indigenous

people whether you have ancestors that

were colonizers or colonized we are all

colonized people and so this work of

decolonization has really work that we

need to come together to do with one

another

equally accepting our roles our

locations our privileges and ways in

which we can start to move towards a

future that looks like healing that

looks like justice that looks like

dismantling systems of oppression so I'd

be very happy if I could say that this

historic colonization is where it ends

but unfortunately that's not the case

today colonisation in Canada looks like

the fact that we're here occupying

someone else's territory well there's

never been treaties made or honoured at

least on these territories it looks like

over 4,000 missing and murdered

indigenous women and girls in this

country a number that keeps on rising

despite government promises of an

inquiry or an intervention

it looks like common practices such as

the operation apprehension of indigenous

babies when they're born by child and

family services if their families are

deemed unfit by the state it looks like

over 200 First Nations who live without

access to clean drinking water and other

forms of infrastructure that almost

every other Canadian feels entitled to

and finally it looks like the ongoing

poisoning and removal of indigenous

people from their traditional lands and

territories for resource extraction

processes like the tar sands and like

when we're all probably very familiar

with right here the trans mountain

pipeline

I've worked with a lot of settler people

who really want to do something about

this but they don't know where to begin

and they feel paralyzed with guilt and

shame about this truly ugly history that

we've all found ourselves in and so if I

could just leave you with one message

today it would be this this history is

not your fault but it absolutely is your

responsibility what happened what has

been done is not your fault but where we

find ourselves here together whether

we're indigenous people whether we're

settler people whether we're somewhere

in between this is work that we need to

pick up we need to have the courage to

look at our past we need to have the

courage to look at where we are now and

we need to work together to figure out

how we can collectively heal moving

forward I think it's really important to

make the distinction between indigenous

Asian and decolonization as Nigel

mentioned I had the incredible privilege

of working on the vice land documentary

series rise and in that role I got to

work with indigenous communities and

every continent of the world and I want

to give a shout out to all the

indigenous people on earth because the

work of indigenous Asian the work of

linguistic revitalization the work of

ceremony the work of land based practice

the work of land based defense

indigenous people are holding it down

and that is work for indigenous people

to do that is not work for anyone else

to pick up and start to appropriate and

call their own

however decolonization is work that

belongs to all of us decolonization we

are never going to go back and erase

that past it has already been done but

what we can do is we can start to put

spokes in wheels of oppression of

movements that create our our social

systems of inherent inequity and to be

totally honest if you wanted to just be

motivated to do this for selfish reasons

that would be good enough we're looking

at a state of global climate catastrophe

we're looking at mass migrations because

when people can no longer inhibit their

homelands and these are all

ramifications of a colonial and

capitalist world view that eradicated a

balance a sense of reciprocity a sense

of spiritual

connection to our homelands and so if we

continue forward without acknowledging

the indigenous people on whose lands and

territories we live we're headed for

certain certain disaster one of the

biggest gifts I've ever been given my

life is the gift of my own prophecy the

Mayan prophecy which speaks about this

time particularly on earth and it

teaches us that this is the time for the

first time in all of human history that

our consciousness have come to a level

of evolution where we can actually see

from one another's eyes the way that

it's explained is that the eyes of the

serpent can see through the eyes of the

eagle and so the eyes of the north and

the eyes of the cells can actually see

through one another's eyes and begin to

work together and understand each

other's worldviews and the secondary

part of that prophecy is that absolutely

every person who came to be alive on

earth at this time came for a specific

reason and came with specific gifts that

are needed to do this work that we have

laid out in front of us and I really

believe that and that's why I really

want each of you to pick up this work of

decolonization as your own because we

need you whether we like it or not

colonization is a messy and shameful

history that connects us all here we are

all in this room together so what do we

do moving forward when people ask me

what can I do to colonize I give them a

caveat and I tell them well that's not

going to be a one answer it's not going

to be a one-day fix however I can give

you a few first steps because if you do

your work then we can come back together

and collectively do the real work that

needs to be done so if you want to go

home today and start to enact your

journey of decolonization you can figure

out how to answer that first question I

said to you where do your people come

from how did you get here

learn whose land you live on and what

has been done to them in order for you

to occupy their lands address the

oppressive systems and history that

enable you to occupy the territory you

do now find out how you benefit from

this history and activate one strategy

where and you can use your

village to dismantle that and share this

knowledge share this conversation with

your barista with your babysitter with

your tinder date I don't care but I want

you to have these conversations and I

promise you when you start to have these

conversations of looking at a longer now

of asking the history of people your

world will suddenly become a lot more

interesting and so will your identity

finally what's it all for why should we

do this

well because decolonization looks like

living without paralyzing guilt and

shame about who you are and the social

identity you've inherited decolonization

looks like giving up social and economic

power and privilege that directly

disempowers appropriates and invisible

eyes as others do colonization looks

like smashing the patriarchy

[Laughter]

decolonization looks like doing the work

to find out who you are where you came

from and committing to build communities

that work together to collectively

create a more sustainable and equitable

future and finally decolonization looks

like celebrating

who we are and connecting with the

unique knowledge with the unique

knowledge that we each bring to this

time and that we need to solve the

problems that are laid out in front of

us so it's really easy to think about

our future ancestors because we have

such beautiful little ones in the room

good reminder thank you so much for

opening this space today but I really

invite you to look back and think about

your grandmothers that I asked you about

and take a moment to look forward and

ask yourself what you can do in your

lifetime what you can do today and in

your work and with your passions and

with your gifts to start to dismantle a

history that none of us should be proud

of so that maybe we can offer our an

inheritance for our future and ancestors

for not only a planet that's livable but

a social system and community that's

equitable and just plus commodity thank

you so much

[Applause]