I don't know if it's possible to "decolonize thanksgiving"...how do you decolonize a genocide? But I do think we can practice repair and reparations on the level of self and collective. Here are some resources to support your journey:
Practice Decolonization: “These are Questions About Home” is an exercise for non-native people to learn and reflect on the history and current struggles of Indigenous people, and to begin thinking about our role in colonization and decolonization. Also check out The Decolonial & Spiritual Journey Teachings with Dr Rosales Meza
Learn about the land and its people: Learn whose land you live on. Then, go deeper: More than just the names of the original peoples of the land, what do you know of their lives and culture? What is the history of this land? How was the land used? Kanyon Sayers-Roods, a Mutsun Ohlone activist in Northern California, says ”the acknowledgement process is about asking, What does it mean to live in a post-colonial world? What did it take for us to get here? And how can we be accountable to our part in history?”
Listen to the land stewards: Rematriation is to restore a people to their rightful place in sacred relationship with their ancestral lands. That means finding out what local Indigenous organizers are calling for and following their lead. For example, Sogorea Te Land Trust, an urban Indigenous land trust, invites non-Native locals on Ohlone land in the San Francisco Bay Area to reimagine their relationship to the land and help return Indigenous land to Indigenous Peoples by building many paths of radical reciprocity that are part of repatriation and land return. They also invite non-Native residents to pay a land tax as a way to show support and gratitude for the Native people hosting them on their ancestral lands. What are Indigenous people in your community calling for? How can you answer the call from your particular social location?
Protect the sacred: If you have access to land, wealth and resources, consider your place in the lineage of theft and colonization and how you might contribute to its healing. Listen to Indigenous people’s stories and knowledge. Amplify their voices. Recognize them as leaders of the climate change discussion (because they’re at the forefront of climate change). And follow their lead as we work together to protect the sacred, repair the past and engage in ecological restoration.
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