Indigeneity is such a huge topic to look at so I was not really sure what direction this class was going to take became there is so much to explore. The books we read were really interesting and often quite different from a lot of the books I am used to reading. Learning about these other beliefs, lifestyles, cultures, and traditions was quite mind opening because it often made me pause and think and look at the world in a different way then I usually do. We all live on the same world but we don’t live in the same world. Different people see and exist in different ways and the lack of understanding and acceptance for these differences has led to a lot of abuse and suffering for indigenous peoples throughout Latin America as well as the rest of the world. But at the end of the day people are not even that different fundamentally and they are all connected. Kopenawa said in his book that everyone, even white people, were created by Omama and have connections with the xiapari. We are all connected.
We talked a lot about voice and it made me think about what an authentic voice is and if it actually exists. In the case of the indigenous voice what makes a person indigenous enough to be authentic? Is just being born from an indigenous family enough or do you have to speak the native language, grow up in the community, know and practice the culture, dress traditionally? Or can you be somewhere in between? Also who gets the right to speak and for who? Everything gets so complicated and there are no easy answers. Also no one will ever all agree on an answer either so that just leaves different, unsettled arguments that cannot be closed. The world is not black or white but is full of grey. Answers are not easy and neither are the actions necessary to fix the problems faced by indigenous communities and societies at large. For me I think what is important is telling stories respectfully and accurately. Stories are meant to be told, especially ones that pull back the curtain on things like corrupt governments and massacres. Not speaking out and sharing stories is worse because they are forgotten and ignored, erased and invisible.Even after 13 weeks there are still lots of questions. In a way I think I have more questions now than I did at the beginning.
I agree that what we have learned about authenticity and voice in this course is very grey, but I guess that does not have to be bad thing either. Like you said, I feel too that the a crucial point of resistance is to tell and share stories to ensure their survival. Like we were mentioning in class about defining ‘Indigenous,’ perhaps it does not matter whether the person themselves are ‘authentically’ indigenous, kind of in the Menchu was seen, but that the words and stories they speak are Indigenous, far away from Western words.