I speak from the position of an Aboriginal woman, a single parent, and an educator. My history denotes me as a colonized person. By virtue of the Canadian Indian Act of 1876, I am considered a ward of the Federal Government. The colonial encounter has been devastating to tribal peoples, and a reawakening is timely and necessary. Resistance, as part of decolonization, is as much a personal struggle as it is a group struggle.
Resistance is analogous to extricating oneself from an abusive relationship.
One must break through the denial and begin the process of recovery and healing. It means unlearning what we have been taught about ourselves and learning to value ourselves. Emancipatory projects require a critical study of the colonial structures of domination and oppression. Resisting colonialism entails a reasoned and critical analysis of the systematic and systemic practices that exclude certain groups from full and equal participation in mainstream society. The premise of this analysis is to explore how resistance is possible within colonialism.