Co-Decolonization Honoring International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples: A Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPoC) Perspective

By Lorri J. Santamaría, Ph.D.

Mindful observation of Indigenous Peoples of the World Day offers us time to contemplate, esteem, and celebrate contributions of Indigenous scholars and the sacred knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence held and practiced by Indigenous tribes, clans, and groups. This celebration includes demonstrating appreciation and value for some of the most ancient languages and cultures in the world represented locally, nationally, and globally. As a Black woman of Louisiana Creole and Native American cultural ancestry, who over the last 20 years has had the privilege of working in academe and in the non-profit sector alongside, with, for, and on behalf of Tohono O’ odham, Dine, Luiseño, Māori, Mixtec, Tongva, Chumash, and Lakota peoples in the Western United States, Mexico, and Aotearoa New Zealand; I would be remiss to acknowledge that among the honoring and celebration of such a significant day, a myriad of complex struggles and disproportionate inequities adversely impacting Indigenous peoples and their ways of life persist. Despite the historical scarring of colonization and genocide, today many Indigenous people continue to thrive, passing down knowledge, language, culture, and ways of being and living to their children and communities, often while walking among and navigating at least two very different worlds: Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

Let’s begin to honor this day by moving beyond curiosity that ‘others’, exotifies, and misplaces Indigenous peoples as foreign or removed from common aspects of everyday life. To start, all of us, on every continent of the world, is standing, sitting, or working on Indigenous land. In my work and proximity to Indigeneity, I have come to realize that understanding work among Indigenous peoples has been a conscious choice. In each instance, I have chosen to engage in co-decolonizing research efforts, work, leisure, and life. The 2020 racial reckoning that accompanied the pandemic, police brutality, and disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on reservations and Indigenous populations, opened the door toward a more global Indigenous-centric conscientization that is still taking place in higher education.

Being a part of this movement is liberating even in the face of news like an Australian nationalist walking out of an Aboriginal ceremony stating that she would “never” pay respects to Aboriginal custodians to the land or Native American survivors of school sex abuse. Working to the benefit of Indigenous peoples means moving beyond curricular decolonization and land acknowledgment, which have become regular features in colleges and universities. While I am relieved institutions of higher education are becoming more responsive to the educational needs of Indigenous students, we can do better.

For example, Aotearoa New Zealand has an active Treaty (of Waitangi) in place, with established Māoricentric Indigenous-led universities including Māori Schools of Education on many campuses. Institutions of higher learning there offer culturally sustaining Māori and Pasifika (peoples from the South Pacific Islands including Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, and Niue) curricular considerations as purposeful provisions of space and resourced platforms for Indigenous Knowledge and expertise to grow and thrive. Universities in Mexico, Canada, and South Africa are similarly working toward creating and providing student centered Indigenous spaces to support, nuture, and uplift Indigeneity as a discipline and to support students, scholars, and staff who may be Indigenous or of Indigenous descent.

My work with international Indigenous communities has come as a result of being invited or directly asked to serve a community through engagement or employment efforts. In each case, there is an agreed upon expectation of service alongside, in service to, and/or to the benefit of the community working toward ‘rewriting and rerighting’ efforts. These opportunities required me to ‘unlearn’ typical approaches to leadership and scholarly service where I was the perceived expert. Each co-decolonization effort required selfless humility and a setting aside or stepping away from my professional ego as part of my choosing to relinquish much of what had become my scholarly and professional identity.

Co-decolonization is about all of us whether we are Indigenous or not being seen, seeing, and communicating our shared humanity and willingness to partner together toward a better way for our greater community to work together to reduce our collective shared disparities and traumas. Whoever you are, and wherever these words find you, I invite you to explore working toward co-decolonization in celebration of the World’s Indigenous Peoples and in celebration of a deeper connection to humanity and as a result the essence of yourself.

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Article Details
Black, African American, and Migrant Indigenous Women in Leadership: Voices and Practices Informing Critical HRD
Lorri J. Santamaría, Liliana Manríquez, Adriana Diego, Dona Alberta Salazár, Claudia Lozano, Silvia García Aguilar
First Published May 16, 2022
DOI: 10.1177/15234223221100847
Advances in Developing Human Resources

About the Author

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Dr. Lorri J. Santamaría is the Center for Teaching and Learning’s Inaugural Director of Faculty Development and Inclusive Excellence at California Lutheran University. Over the last 20 years, Dr. Santamaría has held a wide variety of diversity, equity, inclusion and Indigenous-centered positions in Arizona, California, and Aotearoa New Zealand. Her 60+ peer-reviewed publications, international research rewards, and record of empirical research proceed her current appointment where she shares experience in leadership, teaching, research, and service in higher education to inform faculty development initiatives in service to a new generation of culturally, linguistically, gender, and ability diverse faculty and students.