Nikki Sanchez’s Ted Talk Decolonization is for Everyone identifies the role everyone plays in the decolonization of Canada. Sanchez discusses colonization and the historical amnesia that settlers have. She states, “If you are more than a first-generation Canadian, this is historical bystander trauma that your parents and grandparents lived through.” She dispels the myth that decolonization work is only for Indigenous people. She also highlights the difference between decolonization and indigenization.
This video relates to my research topic as it includes the role of the settler in decolonization. Sanchez identifies steps that we must take to work together. These include:
- Learn who you are and where you come from
- Address the oppressive systems and histories that enable you to occupy the territory you do
- Learn whose land you live on and what has been done to them
- Find out how you benefit from that history and activate one strategy wherein you can use your privilege from which to dismantle that.
- Share the knowledge that the work of decolonization is for everyone.
It is crucial that as settler educators who are investing in the work to decolonize, we are being socioconscious as this is a requirement for culturally responsive teaching.