"The journey of Native communities across Turtle Island-like my community-is a story of resilience, resistance, and survival in the face of relentless colonization. It is also a story deeply tied to the land, its spiritual significance, and the intricate governance, stewardship, and cultural systems that sustained our ancestors for millennia. The land is where our ancestors walked...is the foundation of our identity, community, and ways of knowing."
"There are many Native peoples, but one common thread is that for us land is not merely a resource but a sacred entity-a living, breathing relative imbued with spiritual, cultural, and practical meaning. The land is where our ancestors walked, our ceremonies were performed, and the wisdom of countless generations is inscribed. It is the foundation of our identity, community, and ways of knowing."
"When White settler-colonizers arrived, they disrupted and dismantled our way of life. They failed or refused to see the sophisticated governance structures, sustainable stewardship practices, and rich cultures that flourished here long before their arrival. Instead, they imposed their worldview, treating the land as a commodity to be owned, divided, and exploited-with little regard for the people who lived in harmony with it."
Native communities across Turtle Island maintain deep, ancestral relationships with land as a sacred, living relative imbued with spiritual, cultural, and practical meaning. These relationships shaped ceremonies, governance, stewardship, and knowledge systems sustained for millennia. White settler-colonizers disrupted and dismantled those systems, imposing a worldview that treated land as commodity to be owned, divided, and exploited. Public schooling propagated a victor-centered history that glorifies conquest and erases Indigenous experiences and perspectives. Reclaiming space involves excavating histories, returning to the land, honoring ancestral governance and stewardship practices, and resisting erasure through cultural and spiritual renewal.
Read at Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
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