Historically, Indigenous and Black folks have been turned against each other by colonizers and enslavers. Now, communities are learning from one another and finding solidarity in efforts to reclaim stolen lands.
Colonization, through genocide, land theft, and the imposition of private property, has dispossessed Indigenous and Black peoples of their homelands across the continents for generations.
“Once we collectively feel this connection, this relationship, we can then begin to understand the responsibility we have—the responsibility that I feel, and that my ancestors felt.”
Verbena Fields in Northern California is an emerging model of what decolonizing land via Traditional Ecological Knowledge can look like, supported by partnerships between Native and non-Native communities.
Indigenous communities and partners are combining ancient knowledge with modern technology to revitalize food systems and self-determined economies in the face of ever-increasing climate pressures.
“Wild Coast communities are using the courts to fight for the right to determine what happens in their territory and strengthening their hand in a country heavily marred by colonialism.”
“For 16 disquieting days, Sassia and I felt like we were chasing liberty—but whose, was the daily question. It never seemed like it was ours, or that of others obstructed from the American Dream. Not the Nez Perce’s, for sure.”