Why I Consider Myself an Anti-Colonialist
Truth and Reconciliation reflections: pre-colonial values, the landback movement, and what human survival requires.
A few days late, but as part of #truthandreconciliation I want to share why I consider myself anti-colonialist and why I believe in ideas like the #landback movement.
Colonial systems didn’t just take land and resources, they forced a worldview built on binaries: superior versus inferior, civilized versus primitive, powerful versus powerless. They convinced us that domination is human nature, when in reality cooperation is how we survived for thousands of years.
If you ask me, the future of human survival and happiness requires a return to many pre-colonial values... Balance instead of extraction. Land shared instead of owned. Communities and councils (or non profits) instead of top-down rulers. Value measured in relationships and reciprocity, not in greed and how much you could stockpile for yourself.
The Indigenous peoples of Canada knew this, and built systems on the commons where land and waters were held collectively and managed with respect for balance. Decisions were made in councils and circles, where every voice mattered and consensus held more power than force or being the loudest. Survival and prosperity came through cooperation, knowledge sharing, and reciprocity: taking what you needed, giving back what you could, and protecting a future for generations to come.
Colonialism over a few hundred years has convinced us that domination is human nature, or that we wouldn’t have what we have today without the destruction and extraction. And yet, the greatest innovations of our species (like the light bulb, the internet, or the computer chip) were born out of passion and curiosity, before being milked for capital.
Over the years I've learned that my views are less of a 'leftist' and more about rejecting colonial thinking on all sides. I believe in a future built on the same core values humanity held for tens of thousands of years before colonialism (and late capitalism) broke us, and our planet, down both inside and out.
I believe our future (both planet and species) depends on our ability to care for and learn from the people who cooperatively inhabited this land for thousands of years before we arrived 🧡
📸@kw.curated
