Unearthing (my) Indigenous Roots
At the beginning of 2023, I set an intention only to read works by Indigenous authors.
I’m not entirely sure why it didn’t occur to me to do this earlier. It was most likely the many years of acculturation I experienced and continue to experience as an Indigenous person– a lifetime of cumulative pain and shame I’m working to strip myself of. And it was by reading these books that I realized I have a ways to go in my self-awareness and healing journey.
By the end of 2022, I knew changing my reading (and eventual overall content intake) would lead me somewhere else entirely in my body, mind, spirit, and heart. A place I longed to be: seen, understood, grounded in who I am, and to heal with storytelling from the Native experience.
Embarking on this journey has been enlightening and liberating.
Reading words that penetrated my soul at the cellular level with so much resonance flooded me with all of the emotions, tears, and laughs too. I often had to put the content down for a minute as it was too much for my heart or re-read/watch entire parts to catch my breath and better grasp the creator's work.
My journey started with more technical mental health material and healing books such as Eduardo Duran’s ‘Healing the Soul Wound’ or Renee Linklater’s ‘Decolonizing Trauma Work,’ but then it moved into storytelling and some biographies such as Sarah Eagle Heart’s ‘Warrior Princesses Strike Back’ or Suzanne Methot’s ‘Legacy: Trauma, Story and Indigenous Healing.’
These four books provided me with critical insight and the importance for Indigenous people to have Indigenous people, through their expression of art in all its forms, support them in their individual healing process.
Having whetted my appetite, there was soon an unraveling of amazing content with more books, TV shows, movies, documentaries, podcasts, art, merchandising, and more. Some highlights to get you started (they are all amazing!) are ‘Reservation Dogs’ (Hulu), ‘Lakota Nation versus United States’ (Youtube), ‘FryBread Face and Me’ (Netflix), and ‘Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s’ (Podcast on Spotify).
So, after a year of research and work, here are some resources if you want to learn more but don’t know where to start.
Books
Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing
Healing the Soul Wound
Warrior Princesses Strike Back
Movies
Lakota Nation vs. United States
TV Shows
Reservation Dogs (boarding school scene and spirits scene)
Podcasts
Art
Robert Houle is currently at the National Museum of the American Indian in DC
Merchandise
Cheekbone Beauty (owned by my cousin Jenn Harper and the company name is after our grandmother, Emily Paul)
This list is not comprehensive, as I want to share what I have experienced this past year at this moment in time, and I will be sure to supply additional recommendations in future posts in the coming year. My own work is far from done.
I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for this period of deep reflection and healing. I wish I could convey how profound this time has been. This kind of DEEP healing takes time. There is a quote I read recently that says, "Unlearning is just as powerful as learning". I really feel that.
It’s brought great clarity to how I see the world and how the world sees me. Most of that is joyful and some of it vis very painful.
Through all this learning and processing, a light has been ignited in me, and I want to shine that light on my community as best I can.
-Jess