When humanity fails

A hopeful reminder

Authors

  • Elizabeth Sumida Huaman University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Keywords:

nature, Indigenous peoples, decoloniality

Abstract

This essay offers a reflection on the cultural significance of breath for Indigenous peoples and the ways in which breath serves not only as a biophysical process but as an Indigenous metaphor for the power of life. The link between humanity and breath of life imbued in all living creatures—animal, plant, and other species—reconfigures notions of hierarchy that threaten interspecies harmony and sustainability. Drawing from cultural stories, scholarly research, and poetry, the essay challenges readers to consider institutional and policy failures in relation to Indigenous struggles and triumphs and in order to reclaim decolonial notions of individual and collective agency.

References

Benyshek, D.C., Martin, J.F. & Johnston, C.S. (2001). A reconsideration of the origins of type 2 diabetes epidemic among Native Americans and the implications for intervention policy. Medical Anthropology, Vol. 20(1), 25-64. doi: 10.1080/01459740.2001.9966186

Corntassel, J. (2012). Re-envisioning resurgence: Indigenous pathways to decolonization and sustainable self-determination. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 86-101. https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/18627

Diaz, S., Pascual, U., Stenseke, M., Martín-López, B., Watson, R., Molnár, Z., Hill, R., Chan, K., Baste, I., Brauman, K., Polasky, S., Church, A., Lonsdale, M., Larigauderie, A., Leadley, P., van Oudenhoven, A., Plaat, F., Schröter, M., Lavorel, S.,…& Shirayama, Yoshihisa. (2018). Assessing nature's contributions to people. Science, 359(6373), 270-272. https://doi.10.1126/science.aap8826

Fanon, F. (2005). The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press.Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2020). Seguridad alimentaria bajo la pandemia de Covid-19. [Food security under the Covid-19 pandemic]

http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/rlc/docs/covid19/Boletin-FAO-CELAC.pdf

Garlick, S. Matthews, J. & Carter, J. (2011). Countering brutality to wildlife, relationism, and ethics: Conservation, welfare and the ‘Ecoversity.’ Animals, 1(1), 161-175. https://doi. 10.3390/ani1010161

Hinchliff, S. (2015). More than one world, more than one health: Reconfiguring interspecies health. Social Science & Medicine, 129, 28-35. https://doi.10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.07.007.

Kawagley, A.O. (1997). Active Reality Research, Part I. Sharing Our Pathways, 2(3), 6-7.

Kawagley, A.O. (1998). An Alliance between humans and creatures, Part I. Sharing Our Pathways, 3(5), 4-5.

Kawagley, A.O. (1999). An Alliance between humans and creatures, Part II. Sharing Our Pathways, 4(1), 6.

Maldonado-Torres, N. (2007). On the coloniality of being. Cultural Studies, 21(2-3), 240-270. https://doi.org/10.1080/09502380601162548

Native Nations Institute. (2008). David Wilkins: Indigenous Governance Systems: Diversity, Colonization, Adaptation, and Resurgence [Video]. https://nnigovernance.arizona.edu/david-wilkins-indigenous-governance-systems-diversity-colonization-adaptation-and-resurgence

Norton-Smith, K., Lynn, K., Chief, K., Cozzetto, K., Donatuto, J., Redsteer, M., Kruger, L., Maldonado, J., Viles, C. & Whyte, Kyle. (2016). Climate change and indigenous peoples: a synthesis of current impacts and experiences. United States Department of Agriculture. https://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr944.pdf

Okazawa-Rey, M. (2020). The most lethal virus is not Covid-19. Agitate! Unsettling Knowledges. Retrieved October 19, 2020, from, https://agitatejournal.org/the-most-lethal-virus-is-not-covid-19/

Quijano, A. (2007). Coloniality and modernity/rationality. Cultural Studies, 21(2-3), 168-178.

Rivera Cusicanqui, S. (2010). Ch’ixinakax utxiwa: Una reflexión sobre prácticas y discursos descolonizadores [Ch’ixinakax utxiwa: A reflection on decolonizing practices and discourses]. Buenos Aires: Tinta Limón Ediciones.

Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000). Linguistic genocide in education or worldwide diversity and human rights? Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Tlostanova, M.V. & Mignolo, W.D. (2009). Global coloniality and the decolonial option. Kult 6, Special Issue, 130-147.

Weerasekara, P.C., Withanachchi, C.R., Ginigaddara, G.A.S. & Ploeger, A. (2018). Nutrition transition and traditional food cultural changes in Sri Lanka during colonization and post-colonization. Foods, 7(7), 1-18. https:// doi: 10.3390/foods7070111

Wilkins, D.E. & Stark, H.K. (2017). American Indian politics and the American political system, Fourth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.

Downloads

Published

2020-11-01