In the late 1500s, European settlers first started to colonize what is now known as the United States. During their mission to take over land, the settlers faced many indigenous people already occupying it. Because settlers were set in their ways of taking over the land completely, many wars were started against indigenous people. These wars were won by the European settlers, not because of their advanced technology or their high population, but because they were willing to kill for land. In 2004, Qwo-Li Driskill, a Cherokee and Two-Spirit writer and activist, wrote an essay called “Stolen From Our Bodies” that talks about how the indigenous tribes were unmistakably stolen from their homes, and also from their bodies.

In the book Bad Indians by Deborah Miranda, she talks about how she visited a mission where her family was enslaved. When she was there she saw a little girl and her mom intensely looking at the model of the mission. Miranda realizes that the little girl was researching for her Mission Project at school. She then goes up to the woman and her child to explain how this place is very important to learn about in school, but from the perspective of someone who lived here. Miranda states, “ ‘Mission Projects’ glorifies the era and glosses over both Spanish and Mexican exploitation of Indians, as well as American Enslavement of those same Indians during American rule”(p. xvii). The missions were a horrible place for indigenous people where their families got split, women were raped, and people were killed. Teaching kids in elementary school to build a mission with a sense of pride only promotes racism, colorism, and discrimination. The mother and her daughter were shocked to know that someone whose family came from this mission was still alive and intrigued to hear her story. People often think that our discriminatory and racist history in America was a long time ago when in reality, it was not long ago at all and many people from both sides of history are still alive today. Miranda resisted colonization that day by telling her own story and not from the perspective of the settlers. By telling her story, her voice was heard by the woman and her daughter and that little girl had a different story to tell when giving her presentation at school- the real version. Deborah Miranda took back what was stolen from her, her body, and her story because she refuses to be anyone but her authentic self.

Qwo-Li Driskill argues that the Indigenous tribes, who were tortured and killed during the colonization of the Americas, were not only stolen from their land but their bodies. Adrienne Keene and Deborah Miranda prove that they find it difficult to fit into today's society because indigenous people were stripped from their land and culture many years ago. According to Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy, there are no more excuses for returning land because it is already happening today. Eureka city council legally gave back the largest island of Humboldt Bay to the Wiyot tribe in 2019. This was the first time our nation formally gave back land to its native people. Dr. Baldy says that the first step in decolonization is realizing what you did and in this case it is genocide. To undo the colonization that took place several years ago, we need to acknowledge what we did first and how we went about it. Because the settlers forced California Indians into missions, families were separated making it hard for indigenous people today to trace their ancestors. Knowing where you came from is a part of finding out who you are and because we took that away from them, indigenous people have struggled with finding their voice and identities since we stole it from them years ago.