What even is decolonization and why is this word so controversial?

Decolonization. One of the most widely debated, emotionally charged words that often leaves people feeling either confused, triggered, intrigued or all of the above. 

So what exactly does decolonization even mean and why is this word such a hot topic?

Let me start by saying that a lot of people have a lot of varying definitions and mine is just one opinion. I’ll share how I view decolonization specifically in my work as a communicator, writer, speaker, and mentor and cite the educators I’ve learned from as appropriate. 

I’ll be honest… I wonder every single day if ‘decolonization’ is truly the right word for the work that I do.

I’m well aware of the critics that warn “decolonization is not a metaphor” especially highlighted by the article of the same name by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. Perhaps it’s reconciliation and relationship building that I am doing, not ‘decolonization’. 

But until I have a better way to succinctly describe my mission, I’ll do my best to honour the weight and responsibility this word comes with. As a communicator, I understand that words are powerful and language is always changing. Who knows, a few years or even months from now I could be completely eliminating this word from my vocabulary and replacing it with something more appropriate. I’ve learned not to get attached to words. 

Context and disclaimer:

For context if you’re new here: I am a Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, with mixed Algonquin First Nation and European ancestry. I grew up on the reserve and like many First Nations and Indigenous peoples I felt the pressure to assimilate to white Canadian culture upon leaving the reserve for high school and post secondary education. My culture was colonized (stolen, stripped and shamed away) from my family and I did not have the privilege of growing up immersed in it other than the bits and pieces of the language, lessons and legends I received at school. I didn’t realize how precious this access to culture and language was until I left the reserve and later in life felt the call to reclaim my roots. 

For this reason, I have a very personal view on decolonization and indigenization and what it means to me and my direct line of wise and well ancestors who guide my work daily. I also have a broader definition that I believe all settlers and Indigenous folks of Turtle Island (currently colonized as North America) can work with. A lot of the decolonization work I do personally and with clients happens on a spiritual level which I would argue is the ultimate form of indigenization. 

On a personal level, decolonizing my own life has meant embracing my indigeneity, specifically my identity as a Mohawk woman. It has meant connecting with my ancestors in spirit every day and receiving the wisdom and gifts I carry in my blood, bones and cells as well as witnessing what needs healing. It has been an extremely emotional journey to work on un-colonizing myself and un-assimilating. I think this is one of the reasons many Indigenous folks get emotional and protective of this word; the experience is deeply personal for us and often stirs up a lot of trauma. Residential schools, the 60s scoop, Indian hospitals, Indian day schools and overall land and cultural theft has left us with immense amounts of personal and intergenerational pain. Not to mention the ongoing anti-Indigenous racism that aims to tear us down and divide us on a daily basis. 

Before I get into the broader view of decolonization and the framework I offer for the coaches and leaders I work with, we need to better understand what colonization really is. 

First of all, what is colonization?

Colonization was and is an ongoing process of brutal land and cultural theft wherein settlers from Europe disrupted and continue to disrupt the lands, lives and sovereignty of the First Peoples who did them no harm. It is the exploitation and subjugation of one group of people over another. It was an is a cultural and literal genocide of an entire group of people - First Nations, Inuit and Métis in the land currently colonized as Canada. 

The rationale for this brutal land and cultural theft as well as genocide was the idealogy that Europeans were morally, physically, intellectually, religiously, culturally and in every way superior. Indigenous Peoples and all people who are not of European descent were dehumanized in order to justify these cruel actions, processes, behaviours and attitudes which continue today. 

We can’t put our finger on a specific date in history and say “this is when colonization happened” because the truth is colonialism is an ongoing process. This is always the biggest takeaway I want folks to leave my educational sessions with. Where habitation began with Indigenous peoples and continues now with European settlers who arrived with intent to claim the land as their own, a Eurocentric way of life dominates. This means that European ways of being, knowing and doing are presented as the norm, the standard, the default - and other ways of being, knowing and doing are deemed inferior and unworthy. So much so that Indigenous practices such as ceremonies, smoke medicine (smudging), singing and dancing and wearing sacred regalia were literally outlawed in Canada until as recently as 1951 when the Indian Act was amended to lift bans on the potlatch and sun dance, for example. 

Colonization versus colonialism:

Where colonization describes the settling and dominance of one group of people onto another group of peoples’ geographical area, colonialism describes the ongoing policies and practices that uphold the settler’s dominance (and Eurocentric ways of being), control and exploitation over an Indigenous population and their land. 

Colonialism of course deeply and tragically impacts Black, Brown and all folks who are considered “ethnic minorities” (a term we are replacing with ‘global majority’ coined by Rosemary Campbell-Stephens). The idealogy behind colonialism is the same idealogy that was used to dehumanize and enslave folks of African descent, for over 200 years in the land currently colonized as Canada and even longer in the land currently colonized as the United States of America. We have so much to learn about antiracism from those who are in Black bodies and therefore at the bottom of the caste system that is here in North America. Suggested read: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson.

But settler-colonialism is specific to Indigenous peoples and it always baffles me how often ‘decolonization’ is talked about without the inclusion of Indigenous voices. Decolonization is similar to antiracism, equity and inclusion work but it is not the same thing. Indigenous peoples do not want to necessarily be “included” in our own land, into a colonial society or parts of society. We want our original ways of being restored, the land restored, the cultures and languages restored, mutual respect restored, and we want our sovereignty back.

(By the way, I learned this language “the land currently colonized as…” as a form of radical dreaming and visioning for the future, from someone on Instagram and can no longer find the source. Please comment if you know!) 

What is decolonization?

For many Indigenous folks, decolonization means Land Back - an often misunderstood, Indigenous-led movement often feared by European settlers who ask “but where will we go if we give the land back?” when in fact the movement isn’t about kicking settlers out of native land. As First Nations arts journalist Jesse Wente explains “Land Back is really about the decision-making power. It’s about self-determination for our Peoples here that should include some access to the territories and resources in a more equitable fashion, and for us to have control over how that actually looks.” You can read more about the Land Back and what happened to the treaties on the David Suzuki Foundation website.

For others, including myself, decolonization can be applied to specific disciplines and areas of work and can have different meanings or applications depending on the context. Colonialism includes so much because colonization is not just a moment in history but an entire way of life that has been imposed on all who live on colonized lands. And it is harming us all, and our mother the Earth.

Decolonization, to me, is the radical dismantling (questioning, challenging, unlearning, re-indigenizing) of colonialism and the ideology behind it which is white supremacy and supremacy of all forms - ableism, sexism, classism, ageism, homophobia, etc. 

While some will argue that decolonization is specific only to repatriation of land, I wonder where that leaves the everyday teacher, nurse practitioner, communicator or small business person who doesn’t necessarily have the power to hand land back over to Indigenous folks but still wants to partake in reconciliation. I look at the Truth and Reconciliation commission’s 94 calls to action which calls upon specific sectors to implement reconciliation into their area. For example, call to action 27 “We call upon the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to ensure that lawyers receive appropriate cultural competency training, which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal– Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.” 

I also can’t help but see the connection between colonialism, which imposed a patriarchal and capitalist society that hyper focuses on productivity and individualism, and how that trickles down into all the “isms” and systemic disadvantages experienced by Indigenous folks and so many others. This is why I strongly believe that decolonizing (but label it something else if you’d like) benefits us all (except maybe cisgender, straight, white, rich, Christian, able-bodied men). 

What does decolonization look like in practice?

I learned from Squamish decolonial creative and educator Ta7talíya Nahanee that decolonizing practices means “actions we can take, words we can say, ideas that we can learn or unlearn to undo colonial impacts.” I’m incredibly grateful to Ta7talíya for this three piece guidepost because it helps us to understand how we can apply it to any of our own specific areas of work or life. It shows us that decolonization is not in fact a metaphor when we learn and unlearn and take it beyond that and into meaningful words and actions.  

What does decolonizing coaching and personal development look like?

Well my friend, I’m glad you asked. With so much respect and gratitude for Ta7talíya Nahanee (whose work can be found at indigenousinclusion.com) I’ve adapted those three pieces into a simple framework of “mindset, words, actions” for the coaches and healers that I work with. 

At my signature class The Round Table: Decolonize Your Coaching Business, I give a few examples of mindset shifts and colonial coaching and therapy concepts to unlearn as well as words to say/not say and actions to take/not take to begin transforming your practice into one that supports the dismantling rather than the upholding of colonialism. 

Inside my signature course and community The Decolonized Coach Community, we dive deeply into each piece - mindset, words, and actions specific to coaching and space holding, which are each covered by two hour-long modules each and followed up with live calls twice a month. The program was designed to help you sustainably implement small tweaks that make a big difference to your clients and the industry as a whole, without burning out and while practicing what I affectionately call “turtle medicine” (slow and steady) and self compassion. 

There’s a lot more that I could say on why the personal development industry needs to be decolonized, which I touched upon in my free e-book but quickly realized could be an entire book so I’m thrilled to say that is currently in the works! In the meantime, I’ll follow up here with a blog post on that topic so watch this space. I also speak to specific elements such as cultural appropriation versus appreciation, examples of coaching phrases to unlearn and stop saying, and so much more over on my Instagram @emilyannebrant.

A Final Note:

It is important that the word ‘decolonization’ is not weaponized or abused. I have experienced this word being weaponized by a fellow Indigenous person who did not want to follow any sort of process or procedure and labeled it “colonial” when in fact it was simply practical and necessary to understand responsibilities and roles. Even in pre-colonial times, while we may not have used written documents, we still had structure and order as well as respect for roles, responsibilities and protocols. We have guidelines and protocols around clans, Chief and council and their roles, hierarchies that are followed as well as democratic practices that were and are honoured. 

When we as Indigenous peoples weaponize or misapply the word ‘decolonization’ it diminishes its power. When settlers use this word performatively, vaguely and metaphorically, it also diminishes its power. 

Some people believe that I am misapplying or disrespectfully capitalizing on ‘decolonization’ by implementing it in the personal development space and building my business around educating coaches and leaders on this subject. I receive comments on my Meta ads like “our Elders warned us people would try to profit on decolonization”. 

I respect that we all have our unique perspectives and teachings that we were raised with and understand why this word invokes such a strong emotional reaction for people. Still, I follow the call of my ancestors to continue to work towards decolonization in the coaching industry and am proud of the perspective I bring. My work, powered by my ancestors, has helped hundreds of clients create a more inclusive and culturally safe space for their clients including Indigenous and disabled clients like myself. 

Again, label it something else if you’d like - it’s possible I’ll be doing the same at some point.

Words are powerful but language can always change. What’s most important is that we are humble enough to change right along with it. 

Nyá:wen/thank you for reading,

Emily