As We Have Always Done

A book club friend finished this earlier than I did, and said she felt like she needs a re-read to fully absorb this; now having finished, I feel similarly. Now having read 2 nonfiction books and a novel by Betasamosake Simpson, I don't know that I will ever love her nonfiction as much as her fiction (If you're reading this, go read Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies right now!), which is glorious, but this is almost on par with Hospicing Modernity for me in terms of reads where you have feel your worldview experiencing growing pains (and delight!) as you go along. I'm excited to see what that pain and delight looks like in action as I continue to let Betasamosake's vision for radical resurgence sit with me, and what solidarity with that resurgence looks/feels like.

This is one of the most resonating works I've ever read, forging resistance against the entwined forces of colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, with a radical resurgence centred on living relationships with the land; engaging with stories; constellating with communities that do not replicate anti-Blackness, transphobia, anti-queerness; embracing the foundational Nishnaabeg ethics of consent, noninterference, respect for self-determination, and diversity.

“Heteropatriarchy isn't just about exclusion of certain Indigenous bodies, it is about the destruction of the intimate relationships that make up our nations, and the fundamental systems of ethics based on values of individual sovereignty and self-determination. The more destruction our intimate relationships carry, the more destruction our political systems carry, and the less we are able to defend and protect our lands, and the easier it is to dispossess.”“...the opposite of dispossession is not possession, it is deep, reciprocal, consensual attachment. Indigenous bodies don't relate to the land by possessing or owning it or having control over it. We relate to land through connection—generative, affirmative, complex, overlapping, and nonlinear relationship.”