Here is a list of resources curated by Chihiro. We hope that these recommendations guide you through the themes discussed in this project.

Indigenous Dreams 2022 Edition

In the Indigenous Dreams 2022 edition, we focused on what Indigenous women in particular had to say about their questions and experiences around being Indigenous. To dive deeper in the complexity and lived experience of Indigenous identity from the standpoint of womxn, you may want to consider any of the resources below.

Where to start?

If you yourself have roots in a particular place that will probably be the first point to unravel learning in person or through books or film or music or podcasts. But if you want some help to start from scratch these our suggested points of entry:

1: ‘Real’ Indians and Others, Mixed-Blood Urban Native Peoples and Indigenous Nationhood by Bonita Lawrence (Mi’kmaw). Bonita Lawrence also wrote Strong Women Stories: Native Vision and Community Survival.

You might want to start here if you yourself are mixed-blood like many of us are and wrestle with different issues of belonging. The book offers research based on qualitative interviews with Indigenous mixed-blood people in the land that today is known as Canada. It will put into historical context the regulation and policing of Indigenous identity by colonial nation states. It also talks about the real dilemma’s community struggles with what qualifiers to use for Indigeneity in urban context as so many Indigenous identity has been stolen, banned, oppressed that it is logical that many of us have lost the language, the land and a lot of community. But when is somebody no longer Indigenous or a pretendian? By being very honest about these processes of loss and exploring possibilities for community revitalization it offers a great (academic) first step into Indigenous identity in today’s urban settings.

2: Nîtisânak by Lindsay Nixon (Cree, Saulteaux, Métis). Lindsay Nixon is a great place to start if you are looking for a biostory sharing great vulnerability and strength. ‘How do you honour blood and chosen kin with equal care?’ it reads on the blurb on the back of the book. In this story we learn about the personal queer identity journey of the author. If you want to start with a real classic Indigenous biostory consider starting with the book I am Woman by the revolutionary author and poet Lee Maracle (Stó꞉lō nation). Other classic biostories from Indigenous women include I Rigoberta Menchu by Rigoberta Menchú(Maya), edited by Elisabeth Burgos-Debray and Let me Speak by Domitila Barrios de Chungara (Quechua Aymara Bolivia).

Or maybe you start by watching a movie. Consider Sami Blood(2016) about the coming of age story of a Sami girl in Sweden. Or Top end Wedding(2019) about a Tiwi woman whose wedding sets off a journey into her estranged aboriginal culture and family.

3: Iep Jāltok poems from a Marshallese daughter by Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner is a beautiful place to start if your interest in Indigenous identity mixes with landdefending and climate justice. Also consider All our Relations by Winona Laduke (White Earth Nation) as a book that weaves histories of genocide and ecocide and community responses of healing identity through landrestoration organizing.

4: LEGACY, Trauma, Story, And Indigenous Healing by Suzanne Methot (Asiniwachi Nehiyaw) if healing is your first Indigenous identity need.

Indigenous Dreams 2023 Edition

In the Indigenous Dreams 2023 edition the running theme was an exploration of how sovereignty can be understood in the context of Indigenous struggle. There is much literature on sovereignty struggles by Indigenous peoples. Below we curated some possible points of entry.

Where to start?

If you yourself have roots in a particular place that will probably be the first point to unravel learning in person or through books or film or music or podcasts. But if your interest in Indigenous sovereignty is general

1: Restructuring Relations; Indigenous Self-Determination, Governance, and Gender by Rauna Kuokkanen(Sami). In this she argues from an Indigenous feminist perspective for relational system change that generates both sovereignty of the female body (systemic targeting of Indigenous women to undermine Indigenous survival) and land body (systemic land theft to undermine Indigenous survival). If you want to dip your toe into Kuokkanen’s work you may want to start of with reading “Indigenous Westphalian Sovereignty? Decolonization, Secession and Indigenous Rights in Greenland.” The Inuit World, pp. 307-320. ed. Pamela Stern. Routledge, 2021.

2. Making Love with the Land by Joshua Whitehead (Cree)

This is a great place of raw honesty to start in particular when you are interested in sovereignty of language. This book breaks the categories and hierarchies of genre and ‘literature’ expectations through its use of storytelling and flipping the English language to serve native logic and relational flow.

3. Whose Country is it anyway? by Gladson Dungdung (Adivasi from Jharkhand).

Many of us in Europe learn very little about the Indigenous peoples of India. While it may be hard to get your hands on a copy, another place to start is with reading the Adivasi poem I am not your Data by Abhay Xaxa. Or you may want to check the writing of Nolina Minj on the independent news platform Scroll in.

A quick google search also renders many hits on reading materials on Indigenous sovereignty. These are some of the hits we stumbled upon:

Book: Reclaiming Two Spirits, Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America

https://www.bol.com/nl/nl/p/queer-ideas-queer-action-reclaiming-two-spirits/9300000047407451/?bltgh=svgl1oTIkJF-gbwpL0dDGg.2_6.10.ProductPage

Article: No Borders, Indigenous Sovereignty