Embedded Files
Missing & murdered Indigenous women's march.
We were stolen from our bodies
We were stolen from our bodies
We were stolen from our bodies
We were stolen from our bodies
QWO-LI DRISKILL, "Stolen From Our Bodies: First Nations Two-Spirits/Queers and the Journey to a Sovereign Erotic"
Patriarchy Invasion
Patriarchy Invasion
In their essay “Stolen from Our Bodies,” Qwo-Li Driskill discusses the way indigenous people were stolen from the homes and bodies through the terror that is European colonization. Colonization in the United States was in the form of settling, defined in the podcast “All My Relations” as a foreign body coming into a country by force with the intention of destroying the existing civilization in order to move in and use the area and resources for themselves. In congruence with this interpretation is the technique the Europeans employed to procure the land we call America today. According to Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s book “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States,” when raging war against the people they came across didn’t work, the colonists “continuously [raided] Indigenous villages and fields with the goal of starving the people out of the area,” (pg. 61). Dunbar-Ortiz continues to talk about subsequent methods the descendants of these initial colonists used to drive people out and advance their stake on this land. An example is the Trail of Tears carried out during the presidency of Andrew Jackson in the nineteenth century, where “the US Army removed the last of the Cherokees by force . . . Half of the sixteen thousand Cherokee men, women, and children who were rounded up and force-marched in the dead of winter out of their country perished on the journey,” (pgs. 112-113). This process of overtaking and eradicating a people from the land they resided on for centuries is the notion of stealing a home that Driskill communicates. It is crucial to note that the indigenous people resided on this land; it was not something to possess or control, a key difference in the way the two parties saw what is now called the United States.
European colonization is synonymous for robbing indigenous women of their bodies. In All My Relations, another topic discussed by the hosts in their first episode, is this idea that by moving to the West and establishing their own communities, the Europeans thus forced their ideals and systems of oppression upon the indigenous people who were unused to patriarchy in particular. This parallels the argument Driskill makes in their essay that “abuse was rare in Lakota lifeways before white supremacist patriarchy enforced violence against women and children . . . Sexual abuse must be seen with an understanding of the history of colonization, which uses sexuality as a tool to gain power over others and to control women’s bodies,” (pg. 53). Driskill also describes in their essay the dismantling of Indigenous views of sexuality and gender in order to implement the European directive that heterosexuality and a gender binary are the only forms of expression that should be accepted, respected, and legally supported. Altogether, colonization did not stop at the physical territory that was appropriated from the Indigenous; it forced itself into the framework of their communities like a disease, stripping women and two-spirit people from their bodies.
Rhiannon Bennett, the first aboriginal person elected to Delta public office, giving a speech at a Women's march.
Modern Consequences
Modern Consequences
Colonization continues to impact indigenous communities today in multiple facets. Dunbar-Ortiz recognizes these existing effects, relaying from Vine Deloria Jr. that “Some of the Holy Men [in the Black Hills] will say that a lot of the social problems with the Sioux are the result of losing the Black Hills, so you couldn’t perform your duties and become contributor to the ongoing creation. And consequently, people began to fall away and they started to suffer and they started to fight among themselves,” which Dunbar-Ortiz indicates is connected to the consequential disproportionately high rates of alcoholism and poverty in indigenous communities from patriarchy and assimilation (pg. 211). The land Europeans stole was never seen exclusively as a ground to walk on or something to profit from; rather, it played important, often religious roles within indigenous communities. Not having access to these important landmarks or ancestral spaces deeply wounded the people connected to them, and pains such as these reveal themselves in pernicious ways. These examples of the everlasting repercussions of colonization and how generations can suffer from the countless effects that stem from the genocide and subjugation furthers the concept of theft of a people.
"Our children are still taught to respect the violence which reduced a red-skinned people of an earlier culture into a few fragmented groups herded into impoverished reservations.” –Malcolm X
"Our children are still taught to respect the violence which reduced a red-skinned people of an earlier culture into a few fragmented groups herded into impoverished reservations.” –Malcolm X
Corrina Gould at Annual Bay Street Mall Protest Emeryville 2012
Ohlone Humaya (Hummingbird) Dancers performing at 2012 Presidio Bear Dance
Despite the contemporary manifestations of colonization, indigenous women continue to resist. In the documentary “Beyond Recognition,” Corrina Gould discusses how she and her assembled Indian People Organizing for Change are in the process of buying a land trust in order to create a safe space for her people, the Ohlone, to come together to celebrate their culture through practice of ancestral traditions. This is necessary due to the fact that the government refuses to recognize nations who do not have ample proof of existence, but by taking the matter of regaining their home land into their own hands, the Ohlone people are redefining the extent at which colonization influences the way they were meant to live. It is a testament to their willpower and enduring strength.
As indigenous people resist colonization, it is also the responsibility of non-indigenous people to assist in the decolonization of America because we participate in and benefit (to some degree) from this European-styled society and government that was designed to silence and suppress minorities. Indigenous issues are human-rights issues, and as Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy says in her talk “Resilient Histories for Resilient Futures: CA Indian History & Community Empowerment,” decolonization starts with giving back the land that was stolen. The “land return” she talks about promotes happiness, beauty, and unity, and we have never profited from this stolen territory in an ethical and acceptable way. It is crucial to be aware that this land is only considered “yours” because the people who were living on it before were either murdered or forcibly relocated. Even so, Dr. Baldy recognizes that this process of decolonization is not an immediate return but rather the path that we should follow now going forward to heal the trauma inflicted.
Land Acknowledgement of the Onondaga people
Land Acknowledgement of the Onondaga people
For 7 years of my life, I have had the privilege and honor of existing on land that was stolen from the Onondaga people of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. While limited in my knowledge and understanding of their intricate and beautiful culture, I recognize and revere the Onondaga as a people who were forgiving, equal, and grateful. For the Onondaga people, it is of the utmost importance to be thankful towards Mother Earth and the Creator for molding this land to be abundant with everything we see, from the animals, plants, and even the celestial bodies. The “keepers of the Central Fire” have a history of acting as champions of peace and fraternity that will not be ignored.
As a former resident of the town entitled “Fort Drum,” I wish to be an agent of decolonization by first acknowledging the Onondaga people as the original heritors of this territory. In doing so, I renounce hate, oppression, and animosity in favor of assisting in the rehabilitation of the relationship between the persisting Onondaga people and their beloved land. As a woman and ethnic minority, I deeply empathize with the notion that one's homeland, ancestral traditions and language, and beloved environment could be destroyed and built over, and going forward I will not only acknowledge the legacy of this land, but support the Haudenosaunee in their efforts towards reclamation. May we all strive to educate ourselves on the past, present, and future injustices imposed on the Onondaga.
Works Cited
Works Cited
Blue, Fibonacci. "Missing & murdered Indigenous women's march," Flikr, February 14, 2017.
Buck, Sally T. "Women's March on Washington - Vancouver, Canada," Flikr, January 21, 2017.
“Culture,” Onondaga Nation.” https://www.onondaganation.org/.
Driskill, Qwo-Li. “Stolen From Our Bodies: First Nations Two-Spirits/Queers and the Journey to a Sovereign Erotic.” Studies in
American Indian Literatures, vol. 16, no. 2, 2004, pp. 50–64.
“History,” Onondaga Nation.” https://www.onondaganation.org/.
Kenin, Wendy. “Corrina Gould Ohlone #Indigenous #SacredSites #BlackFriday Annual Bay Street Mall Protest Emeryville 2012” Flikr, November 23, 2012.
Kurtz. "#tbt - Ohlone Humaya (Hummingbird) Dancers performing at 2012 Presidio Bear Dance. The Ohlone People are the original inhabitants of what's now SF Bay from 12,000yrs ago to just over 400 (when the Conquistadors took what's now California). There were u," Flikr, October 2, 2014.
Native Land. https://native-land.ca/.
Memotrek, Yesy Belajar. "Walking the Rez Road" Flikr, September 17, 2014.
Page updated
Report abuse