Indigenous Solidarity An (Un)Settler's Place

Visioning Decolonization: an Analysis of the Native Youth Movement from Western Canada
By Alex Paterson

The purpose of this paper is to present native youth voices on the question of Canadian colonialism that are not represented by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). This paper utilizes content and discourse analysis of various Native Youth Movement (NYM) texts produced by chapters in North-western Turtle Island. The NYM members of Western Canada view themselves as in an existential conflict both materially and ideologically with the Canadian state. They see themselves as representing the pursuit of authentic Indigenity and as knowing the path to freedom and harmony with the earth. The conflict between the NYM and the Canadian state is rooted in different relations to the land, co-constituted by an ideological pursuit of the ideal. Firstly, the paper analyzes the identification of NYM members as warriors and collective self-understanding of what it means to be Indigenous and a social movement. Secondly, the paper critically evaluates the type of relations the NYM imagines having with its others. These others include the Canadian state, transnational corporations, the Wasáse Movement, the AFN/band councils and non-native peoples. Lastly, this paper assesses the internal debates and proposals the NYM envisions for a campaign of authentic decolonization.

this post/article explores the need for placing colonialism properly in our theory and action, and the proper place is central."

this is a draft. (please don't reproduce)

My Thoughts on Leftism: thinking unsettling.
By Alex

There is a problem with the moral verbosity of Canadian leftists and their eurocentric political dogmas imported from England and France etc. They are problematic in the respect that the calls for egalitarianism are based on a specific historical context for a specific culture.