Resurgent Education as Decolonial Feminist Praxis

Abstract:In this paper, we describe and analyze the ways in which we center the importance of kinship and relationality in an Indigenous education seminar. Throughout the seminar, we invite Indigenous teacher candidates to turn inward to see, learn from, and teach about the brilliance of their own lands, languages, and communities. We view our work as thinking with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's beautiful vision of resurgent education. We do this work in collaboration with Tuxámshish Dr. Virginia Beavert, Yakama Tribal Elder, who serves as a mentor in our program. We focus on three key points that advance our vision of resurgent education as decolonial feminist praxis: 1) Relationality is power; 2) Land is a nurturing teacher who constantly extends power to us; 3) Creating space for resurgence requires challenging colonial relations of power. We conclude that our project is a form of decolonial feminist praxis and invite our feminist colleagues to see themselves as part of and responsible for this vital work.