Continuing on the topic of Indigenous peoples that I’ve been writing about, the concept of settler colonialism came up in a radio interview I did last year with Ra Wyse and Aghilah Nadaraj, also associated with the Kheprw Institute (KI).  I was talking about the work we had been doing related to the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance in Indianapolis, when Aghilah brought up settler colonialism as not just something from the past, but continuing today.  Ra, a history teacher, expanded on the topic.

The other concept that came up in the interview was that the goal of what we were doing was to follow the lead of the Native American water protectors.  This is also a core concept of the Quaker Social Change Ministry program that North Meadow Friends were involved with, in partnership with the Kheprw Institute,  i.e. that Friends should be very careful to listen, and follow the leadership of the communities they are engaging with in their social justice work.

Here is a slideshow of images from some of our Dakota Access Pipeline events in Indianapolis, including the audio from that radio interview.

Settler colonialism is a form of colonialism in which the imperial power oversees the immigration of settlers who consent to imperial authority, often driven by the desire to eliminate any indigenous presence in the territory, by a variety of means, ranging from violent depopulation of the previous inhabitants, to more subtle, legal means such as assimilation or recognition of indigenous identity within a colonial framework.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Settler_colonialism