Super interesting readings! I personally found the “Introduction” by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Eve Tuck, and K. Wayne Yang, quite thought provoking. 

This reading made me think about our first lecture and how we were asked about how to implement decolonization into our lives/class. There seemed to be a general theme, that we all didn’t really know how to implement it and felt confused/lost in how to answer. In fact, some thought that it was completely impossible at this point, or that many acts of decolonization could be seen as performative. This same question was also addressed in this introduction; the answer being that “decolonization is not the endgame, not the final outcome of a long process, but the next now, the now that is chasing at our heels” (Tuck 16). This really made me think about how decolonization is constantly happening and evolving. However, it needs to be seen by everyone as something that is happening constantly (as “the next now”) in order to stop thinking about it as something metaphorical, or as something that will eventually happen and have a nice outcome if we just follow a certain amount of steps. 

With that being said, I think that the acts of decolonization are still blurred for many and are still not completely understood. Many settlers question how they can begin to decolonize their spaces, themselves and where they live – in a way that can benefit Indigenous people and their communities. However, this reading really emphasizes that: expecting Indigenous people to give you all these answers, is not their responsibility either. Many Indigenous scholars are coming from the perspective of consistently being dismissed in these fields of education or constantly questioned; which can be exhausting and frustrating when you are at the fore-front of these conversations. Colonization is aggressive and that can turn into frustration when having to deal with it constantly. This can create a tough balance, since the education from Indigenous people is extremely important and valuable, however Indigenous people should not feel forced to answer what a decolonization process would look like for settlers. As Tuck mentions “decolonization is not obliged to answer questions concerned with settler futures” (15). I think it then becomes a loop of frustration for Indigenous people, as well as non-Indigenous people who are looking to help. Because I do think it is important for there to be a balance between the exchange of knowledge between the two, to come together and make some change. 

After all this rambling, I am still left with the question of how we can decolonize our course, ourselves, and our lives in a meaningful way. It’s a much more complicated conversation with many aspects that intersect, that (sadly) can’t be improved overnight. I think by starting to recognize these issues, acknowledging the structures/hierarchies + their affect on Indigenous people, and our own personal role in these structures, is at least a good place to start.