We are not in the post-colonial era. Colonialism is still happening all over the world. I’ve made this statement more often than not. When I have said contrary, I was often under duress.
I am an expert in Native American Studies and Native American Philosophy. I began my expertise in 2004 with my undergraduate thesis. True, I am also a Revolutionary War descendant, and my ancestors likely killed Native Americans way back then.
I was a teen mom. I met and fell in love with a Choctaw man named Jason.
I did not grow up racist or xenophobic. I was shocked at how much there is of that in the world and navigated it the best I could having child who was a victim of it–and a partner who bore the brunt of it, too. I discuss that and more in a short book I wrote.
Let me lay it out for you: Currently, colonization is illegal according to international law, and where it exists, nations are supposed to decolonize. This is enshrined in The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was adopted in 2007 when I was a graduate student. Although I am aware of issues concerning Indigenous people all over the world, my focus is on the area known as The United States of America where we’d be incredibly mind-numb to not know that Native Americans have suffered grossly and do indeed want their lands back–and more.
In The United States, treaties are “the supreme law of the land.” Native American treaties are still in effect. They have never been dissolved. The United States violates them every day. Just so we’re clear, The United States attacked, for example, Iran for breaking a treaty. That’s the consequence, sometimes, of breaking treaties these days.
Given all this, the geopolitical map ought to look much like this with the United States’ land in white:
There are movements, such as LandBack, at this very moment trying to do what it takes to get the United States to cease and desist colonizing. As a Revolutionary War descendant, it want my country to keep its word–starting now. I do not want to placate Native Americans with anything less than what they deserve–and I beg that I may continue to reside in the locale I currently do simply because I, too, love Turtle Island, and I love my Native family.
Jennifer Lee Lawson, MA
