Got Land? Thank an Indian: Settler Colonialism and the White Settler in the Karuk Ancestral Territory

Abstract

F rom the time of European invasion of what now constitutes the United States, the settler colonial system has aimed to exterminate Indigenous Peoples and replace them with settlers on the land. While settler colonialism benefits the settler at the cost of the Indigenous, all life on Earth suffers from the continuation of this system. This research examines how white settlers living in the Karuk Ancestral Territory, located in Humboldt County, California, understand our role in the settler colonial system. The goal of this study is to begin a collective pursuit of a white settler ethic of accountability, which is a difficult task even in preliminary stages, as it requires the admission of being a beneficiary of and accomplice to the vicious system of settler colonialism. This could bring about the loss of an already fragile identity and an insecure settler future. Yet settler society has a responsibility to face our role in the settler colonial system. Introduction This article is written from the perspective of a white settler. For nearly two decades, I have lived in the Karuk Ancestral Territory, situated on the Klamath River in Humboldt County, California (see Figure 1, next page). Many of the people currently living in this place, both Indigenous and settler alike, are interested in living a sustainable lifestyle and surviving amongst the environmental, social, political, and economic uncertainty of the times. Here some bridges have been built between Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents and a somewhat cordial coexistence exists; nevertheless, tensions do stem from a settler colonial system that benefits one group of people at the expense of another. The acute awareness among members of the Karuk tribe of displacement from their ancestral territory can be read on the T-shirt of one Karuk elder: “Got Land? Thank an Indian!” I came to live in the Karuk Ancestral Territory in search of a better life, one that was not destructive to, but rather more connected with land and life. I did not realize I was moving to a place where Indigenous Peoples had remained in their aboriginal territory and retained connection to their traditional way of life, in spite of European invasion. Neither had I considered that the neighborhood in which I grew up was also occupied Indigenous land. In GOT LAND? THANK AN INDIAN HUMBOLDT JOURNAL OF SOCIAL RELATIONS—ISSUE 36, 2014 60 fact, growing up, I largely thought about Native Americans as a “thing” of the past. I learned in school, on television, in movies, through the media, and from accepted social discourse that the original people of North America no longer existed. As a child, I had a thick cardboard book that depicted a ball, a book, and an “Indian” together on the “things” page. My indoctrination to view Indigenous Peoples as less than human began quite early. This is no accident, but rather part of the justification of the settler colonial system. In the first section of this paper, I carry out a review of existing literature regarding settler colonialism, the settler, white privilege, and white supremacism. Next I discuss the methods used to conduct this research. Thirdly, I unpack white settler identity and how settlers comprehend their position within the settler colonial system, which manifests itself as a complicit settler subject in the Karuk Ancestral Territory. In the concluding segment, I outline some unsettling ideas and situate the white settler in the complicated conundrum within movements for decolonization. Figure 1. Karuk Ancestral Territory (map by Scott Quinn). GOT LAND? THANK AN INDIAN HUMBOLDT JOURNAL OF SOCIAL RELATIONS—ISSUE 36, 2014 61 This research seeks to find a starting place from which to collectively pursue a white settler ethic of accountability—a difficult task, even in preliminary stages, as it requires the admission of being a beneficiary of and an accomplice to the vicious system of settler colonialism, and could bring about the loss of an already fragile identity and an insecure settler future. Settler society has a responsibility to acknowledge our role in the settler colonial system. Methods Because I am conducting research that seeks to create a more just world and believe that the knowledge necessary for societal transformation is best collectively produced, I have chosen what is called a “convivial” research approach. Convivial research understands that every community is best suited to analyze its own issues and to strategize direct action for positive change. When I was introduced to the idea of convivial research, a friend explained to me that “we are all researchers.” People on the Klamath River, as people everywhere, are the experts about their own lives. “Similar to participatory action or militant research, the convivial research approach presented here insists that a successful research project specifies an object of study, research agenda, direct action(s), and system of information and that these be the result of collective efforts to solve local problems and advance the shared interests of a community of struggle” (Mitotedigital, n.d.). Of interviews conducted with 10 white settlers living on the Klamath River, five were women and five men. Their ages ranged from the late 20s to late 70s. One was born outside of the United States and two were born in the Klamath River region. Almost all of the subjects were chosen because of their engagement with settler colonialism and a desire for a better world. Two informants define themselves as anarchist activists. Seven of the participants moved to the Karuk Ancestral Territory because they were dissatisfied with living in mainstream America and most came to the mountains in search of a closer connection to the natural world. The settlers interviewed represent an elevated and unusual level of consciousness regarding these issues, and yet the archaic mentality of settler society is clearly evident in their testimonies. Research was culminated with two “coyuntura” gatherings, each three hours in length. Coyuntura is a popular education tool designed to help communities engage in praxis around collectively named contradictions: As a space of epistemological rupture, coyuntura refers to a gathering convened for the purpose of producing new knowledges by exposing the epistemological obstacles or the taken for granted views, attitudes, values, and concepts present in the group that undermine an agreed plan of action. (Mitotedigital, n.d.) People attending the first coyuntura on the Klamath River were able to self-identify as settlers, shared lived experiences as non-Indigenous people living in a settler colonial state, and begin a process of collectivizing our understandings in order to create new knowledge. The second meeting was culminated with a commitment to continue to meet monthly as a group and engage in the coyuntural analysis process. One settler testifies to the value of having a vocabulary with which to dialogue about settler colonialism: “Finding the words for settler colonialism, calling myself a settler, all this process of finding language to express it, puts words to vague feelings and emotions that makes you better able to sort things out and get to somewhere with it.” GOT LAND? THANK AN INDIAN HUMBOLDT JOURNAL OF SOCIAL RELATIONS—ISSUE 36, 2014 62 Settler Colonialism Although many people were brought, not necessarily of their own will, to settler colonial situations as slaves, indentured servants, or refugees, anyone not Indigenous living in a settler colonial state is a settler on stolen land. Race, class, gender, and ability affect the level of benefits received, but all settlers profit from the settler colonial system. Patrick Wolfe (1999, p. 2) succinctly explains that “invasion is a structure and not an event.” This system of oppression is ongoing and is articulated clearly by the conditions present in both Indigenous and settler societies in the Karuk Ancestral Territory. Wolfe (1999, p. 1) writes that “settler colonies were not primarily established to extract surplus value from Indigenous labor. Rather, they are premised on displacing indigenes from (or replacing them on) the land.” In this area, as in other settler colonial situations around the world, nonIndigenous residents indisputably benefit from this system of land dispossession. Historical violence against Indigenous people is well documented. Of the estimated 125 million Indigenous Peoples in North and South America before contact, 90% of the population was lost (Churchill, 1997, p. 1). To give one example from the Klamath River, an attack on an Indian village in 1855 left 26 men killed, 23 women taken “prisoner,” and children not mentioned, possibly sold as virtual slaves to whites as “servants” (Raphael & House, 2007, p. 159). As one witness described the event, [the volunteers] called the Indians from their homes, shook hands with them, and immediately after-words, each white picking his man, numbers of Indians were shot. They then took away with them some squaws, “under the name of prisoners,” whom they “outrageously abused... This is the battle which has been de scribed heretofore in the newspaper in such glowing colors.” (Captain Judah, quoted in Raphael & House, 2007, p. 159) This is the foundation of settler society on the Klamath River today and the legacy of conquest inflicted on the relatives of Karuk people, not so long ago. Also well documented is how settler colonialism continues to affect Karuk people today, negatively impacting health, economics, religion, and culture (Salter, 2003; Norgard, 2004; Stercho, 2005; Holmlund, Alkon, & Norgard, 2009; Norgaard, Reid, & Van Horn, 2011). Leaf Hillman, a Karuk ceremonial leader, explains: In order to maintain a traditional Karuk Lifestyle today, you need to be an outlaw, a criminal, and you had better be a good one or you’ll likely end up spending a great portion of your life in prison. The fact of the matter is that it is a criminal act to pract