Many people fail to realize that the land they live on belonged to indigenous people. Some even believe that they were extinct, as briefly discussed in a podcast by Adrienne titled “All my Relations”, where Adrienne explains that one of her classmates during her graduate school orientation held this ideal of Indigenous extinction. All though not completely wiped from existence, the extinction they speak of is not far from the truth, as the Europeans brought this mentality of genocide with them as they conquered and colonized the Americas, having practiced it all the way from the eleventh century and the times of the Crusades (Ortiz 32, 33). This was one factor that allowed the Europeans to conquer and explore the Americas was their desire for wealth, willing to do anything in order to gain land and achieve that prosperity. Their will allowed them to enact brutal and violent warfare on the Natives, killing unarmed innocent women and children, attacking food supplies and burning homes and fields so that they can take it for themselves, even making a program which encouraged the killing of Indians and the retrieval of scalps for bounty (Ortiz 58, 59, 60, 64, 96). These harsh actions forced the Indigenous people out of their lands, as the Europeans used any means necessary to amass riches. This is what Driskill mentions when he says that Indigenous people were stolen from their homes, as he mentions his experiences with the Trail of Tears. Driskill says that he is obsessed with the notion of “home” (Driskill 53), an idea that all Indigenous people can agree on. The homes they had left, all of the roadways and crops they had cultivated were stolen by the Europeans, using them to their advantage in order to capture the land that was destined to be theirs. Adrienne later discusses in the podcast about settler and extractive colonialism. Settler Colonialism as defined by Adrienne in her own words describes settler colonialism as “Yall never left and Y’all came violently, and extractive colonialism as “yall left and left a big mess.” Foreign powers such as Britain and Spain would do exactly what Adrienne said. The Europeans stole the land for themselves to colonize and live on, while the Spanish and U.S would extract all the gold in the land, only to leave the surrounding areas inhabitable (Ortiz 129). From the first hand experience of Driskill paired with the definition of colonialism by Adrienne along with historical background provided by Ortiz, one can see how devastating colonialism was to the Indigenous people.

While the land was stolen and colonized, the Europeans desire for wealth was not the only idea they brought to the Americas, but also a sense of patriarchy. Ideas of patriarchy and sexism were brought to the Americas during European colonization. As the land was being taken away, missions were held and their ideals were forced upon the Natives in boarding schools as they were forced to forget their native traditions and adopt both their patriarchal and religious beliefs, (Ortiz 151). Failure to do so often led to punishment, such as physical torture (Ortiz 128, 129). As a result, modern day society has two main genders, the superior male and submissive female. If one did not align with this binary social construct, they were exiled and ignored. Contrary to modern beliefs Native American communities embrace these genders, where all sexual alignments hold equal power and contribute equally. Matika discusses with Adrienne in their podcast that in some native cultures there were a total of 5 genders or roles that did not conform to a gender binary. All these roles and sexualities were treated fairly, whether they were hunting, cooking, or caring for the family. They were a balanced nation, and not oppressive of which gender filled a role, since they were all equivalent (36:20- 37:25). This is what Driskill discusses in his essay “Stolen from our Bodies” when he says that not only was their land stolen, their sexualities were taken away from them as well. Driskill classifies himself as a Two-Spirit, a gender that defies colonial expectations. Instead of being labeled one of the gender identities of the LGBT community, a concept born of European colonial actions, he chooses to be a Two-Spirit, a term that escapes colonial values since it is inherently Native. Even though his culture does not have a defined word for it, they simply are a spectrum of genders, not just male and female(Driskill 51). Through the historical telling's of Ortiz along with the personal testimonies of Adrienne and Matika in her podcast, one can visualize Driskill’s argument of how the land and sexualities' of Indigenous natives were stolen from them.

By exploring Driskill’s argument of the various stolen attributes of indigenous people, decolonization is a method that can be used to undo these effects. Many indigenous feminists such as Baldy, and Matika, are at the forefront of this endeavor. From Adrienne’s encounter with her classmate, it is seen that native culture is unknown to the majority. In order to combat this, Matika devoted her passion for photography to documenting the stories of tribes and Native American communities across the U.S. Through Matika’s efforts in the documentation, better known as Project 562, this helps to enlighten the oblivious notion to many about Native American tribes through education and exposure. Matika would use her work in educating her students, while Baldy herself uses her native Hupa, Yurok and Karuk heritage in teaching Native American Studies to college level students at Humboldt State University. Even Adrienne taught a couple classes regarding settler colonialism, so that she can arm her students with ideas that everywhere they went was a colonial space (32:12 -32:50). Various educational curriculums employed by Matika, Adrienne and Baldy are used to help decolonize the Americas, by teaching the youth what exactly colonialism is supplemented with the traditions they practiced, allowing them to continue this process across several generations to heal the damage colonization has done.

Through the exploration of Driskill’s statement of the stolen land and sexualities of Indigenous people, one can see how severely affected the Native Americans are. From being forced to adopt foreign beliefs to leaving the homes their ancestors lived in, they have gone through so much as a result of European colonization as retold by Ortiz. With input and explanations from Adrienne, Matika, Guild and Baldy, one can see how deep the wounds caused by colonization are. These indigenous feminists each tell their own story and fight their own battle, whether its by leaving records of historical events for future generations to learn from, or by actively protesting and making physical change, each action they do preserves who they are as Indigenous people as they continue to heal. The intertwining of both the many stories of these women and Driskill’s argument shows that colonization has rippling effects, but it can soon be mended and restored as their stories continue to be told and efforts such as protesting and reclaiming land continue to be done.

I was not aware until now, that the very land that I live and study on belongs to the Kumeyaay people. Nor was I aware of the series of events that has led up to this moment, such as the Treaty of San Ysabel which was not properly upheld by the United States. The land rights that were promised to your people were not rightfully upheld, and as a result of the American greed for wealth and power and the missions from the Spanish, your nation took a large toll as 90% of your population was taken away. I know that your tribe has a special and irreplaceable connection to the land, which spans from parts of northern California, spanning from Ensenada Mexico all the way down to what is now Imperial Valley. It is because of the indecision and greed of our ancestors that has led up to this moment. Instead of cooperating and communicating with one another, we were the ones that caused the pain in the first place, the loss of land, people and culture as a result of the ambivalence and ignorance from those before us. Even with the recent events happening now, your people have been facing genocide, extinction and intense discrimination long before we foreigners have came into the land.

Although I can not undo the after effects of history, nor do I know the full entire story of Kumeyaay people, what I can do is to learn more about your people. To learn cultural practices, to see the places that you see as sacred and possible restore them back to their rightful owners. To listen to the various stories of those that are willing to share, so that I can learn first-hand the experiences your people have gone through as I empathize, acknowledge and pay my respects. It is important to learn about, and preserve as much as we can the culture and stories of those in whom we have invaded, to move on from the past and forge new bonds. So as we step into the future we shall use these newly created connections to create new history, one that will benefit both the Kumeyaay and anyone who is involved.

Works Cited:

“Ep #1: All My Relations & Indigenous Feminism.” All My Relations, 26 Feb. 2019, www.allmyrelationspodcast.com/podcast/episode/32b0bd95/ep-1-all-my-relations-and-indigenous-feminism.

Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States. Beacon Press, 2015.

Two Feathers NAF. Resilient Histories for Resilient Futures: CA Indian History & Community Empowerment. Youtube, 27 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=andi7-CKN7U.

“Beyond Recognition.” Natural Heroes TV, KRCB Public Media, 13 Nov. 2015, naturalheroes.org/videos/beyond-recognition/.

Michael Connolly Miskwish. “Pre-Contact, Post-Contact, Modern Era.” Campo Kumeyaay Nation, 2013, www.campo-nsn.gov/postcontact.html.

“History: 1852 - Negotiating Treaties With California Indians.” San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, 2018, www.sanpasqualbandofmissionindians.org/about/history.

Image Sources:

https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-two-native-americans-playing-woodwind-instruments-2539269/

https://www.pexels.com/photo/adventure-alberta-alpine-amazing-533769/

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2spiritflag.jpg