In 2011 I felt so tired of the Thanksgiving narrative and normalization of this day that celebrates invasion and genocide that I started an intentional practice of celebrating Indigenous resistance and resilience.
So every year, wherever I am at, I take time to remember that despite all of the horrors of colonialism and imperialism that indigenous peoples are still here. Still living, still breathing and still loving. I offer these images as a way to fight against erasure, invisibility and the violence of forgetting.
Despite 521 years of colonialism, capitalism and imperialism we are still here. We have survived because we have resisted through our struggle with deep wells of love for our people. I give thanks to the ongoing resistance and today I particularly thank all the women whose names may never be elevated or recorded in books but who have made so much possible!
A young person wearing a feathered headdress and a blue and brown poncho with an image of the Aztec calendar printed on it stands in front of a large, dark red circular shape patterned with icons of corn, or maize. Like a sun, rays of red and gray radiate out from it. Above, text states, “Giving Thanks for over 521 years of Indigenous Resistance.” Below, there are two hashtags, “#Decolonize. #Indigenize.”
