Is resistance enough? Reflections of identity, politics, and relations in the “in-between” spaces of Indigeneity and settlerhood

Abstract

This article explores the intersectional identities of Indigenous peoples who may walk the path “in-between” Indigenous and settler nationhood, and the implications that reside in that ethically ambiguous space. Employing the use of personal narrative, poetry,1 and decolonizing perspectives, this work positions identity as a politicized construct that continues to surveil Indigenous bodies, marking them as threats to settler advancement. This article asks questions around what it means to be Indigenous in a time of social unrest, when your life is marked by colonial interference but your skin is not; is resisting colonialism enough to create spaces for all Indigenous peoples to thrive?

Asserting Naga cultural identity and challenging colonialism in Easterine Kire’s Sky is My Father: A Naga Village Remembered

“…It is for the first time that an author like Kire has represented the unique culture and cultural identity of the Nagas. But the trajectory of their identity development has been “fractured through cultural genocide, land dispossession and ongoing cultural assimilation” (Ineese-Nash, 2020, p. 2). The colonial expedition of the British Government and cultural imposition of Christianity affected their otherness or uniqueness, the core of their Indigenous identity.…”

“…Mulcock (2007), too, defines Indigenous identity in terms of land: “To be [I]ndigenous, is after all to be autochthonous, to be born of the land” (p. 63). Indigenous identity is also constructed in terms of place and tradition as “[I]ndigeneity is often defined as a genealogical connection to the original inhabitants of place, or to those who were inhabiting land when colonizers arrived” (Ineese-Nash, 2020, p. 2). However, the Indigenous identity of Naga people is attached to their cultural attributes and also extends to their relationship with lands “where those cultural attributes are formed, exercised and given meaning” (Samson & Gigoux, 2016, p. 63).…”

“…So, land was there in their cultural consciousness which reflects their Indigenous identity. Considering land as a tool of cultural identity, Nicole Ineese-Nash (2020) says:Land serves as a nurturer to all, and asks only for us to practice gratitude and respect in exchange . .…”

Diversity among health care leaders in Canada: a cross-sectional study of perceived gender and race

“…Self-identified and observed characteristics can differ, 29,37 and misclassification is particularly harmful to Indigenous communities in Canada. [55][56][57] Self-identification is a central concept for Indigenous people, rather than having Indigeneity determined by others who are not Indigenous and who may uphold colonial constructions of Indigenous Peoples. Systemic and interpersonal misclassification of Indigenous people as white continues, 58,59 and this process denies Indigenous Peoples their identity, culture and history.…”

A Journey of Learning: Relations With the Land, Environmental Violence and Dispossession and Decolonizing Social Work

“…I attempt to carry and hold myself accountable to the unique ways in which I see my responsibilities, and roles as someone who accesses privileges because I am white-coded within [a settler colonialist, white supremacist, patriarchal and capitalist] society. Ineese-Nash (2019) speaks to some of the unique roles' Indigenous folks of mixed ancestry may have in the following quote: "We must be careful to respect traditional knowledge as something to be shared but not commodified or appropriated. And we must also seek ways to make colonial structures less harmful to Indigenous people to come" (p. 6).…”