Decolonizing Solidarity: Dilemmas and Directions for Supporters of Indigenous Struggles

Decolonizing Solidarity: Dilemmas and Directions for Supporters of Indigenous Struggles by Clare Land London: Zed Books, 2015, 324 pages ISBN: 978-1-78360-173-8 (paperback) Decolonization, it can be argued, is the most important ethical challenge within Canadian education today. This book by Clare Land is a highly applicable and welcome resource that has been wanting in Canadian settings and decolonization discourse more generally. From the context of Australian Indigenous activism in which Land has been a long-time non-Indigenous supporter, Decolonizing Solidarity covers the relatively unexplored and important territory of interaction between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people struggling against both (neo)colonial societal structure and their own interpersonal expressions. Here, Land usefully draws together a broad literature from decolonization and critical whiteness studies with personal reflection and interviews of long-time activists, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. Land seeks support non-Indigenous people wishing work in solidarity with Indigenous people, and ease the burden of education from Indigenous activists for whom, as Gary Foley of the Gumbaynggirr Nation articulates in his foreword the book, some of the most difficult conversations are with people who have insisted they are supporters of the Aboriginal struggle, not opponents (p. ix). Central the integrity of her work, Land clearly situates herself as a non-Indigenous supporter and subjective participant-researcher, and includes self-reflection showing personal learning. Her research benefits from personal and trusted relationships with key Aboriginal leaders. For me as a non-Indigenous educator and academic with a focus on unsettling colonialism within myself and the world around me, this book is instructive but also changing; reading it challenged my sense of self and understanding of privilege, moving me a new place of being. Following from the premise that the state exists within the self--that the personal is political and political is personal--Land challenges non-Indigenous people to undertake critical self-reflection, commit public political action, and do personal-material work, [that is] change the shape of our lives (p. 233). Some particular tasks that Land puts forward throughout the book for non-Indigenous people interested in solidarity include: * Learn the history of struggles of Indigenous people, particularly those of the area in which you have interest engage (Chapter 2 is offered as example of this history in the context of southeast Australia). * Ask yourself (difficult) questions develop self-understanding of yourself culturally and in relation colonization and privilege, and clarify your motivations work in support of Aboriginal people. * Recognize that the place where you live and work is Aboriginal land. * Be approachable challenge (allowing your perceptions and actions be changed), adopting a stance of active reflection and humility of the learner. * Consider material changes you might make in your life lessen imbalances that are part of your privilege. Helpful and problematic approaches and actions that non-Indigenous supporters can take are well articulated in Chapter 4 Collaboration dialogue and friendship, Chapter 5 Acting politically (and with self reflection), Chapter 6 A moral and political framework for non-Indigenous people's solidarity, and Chapter 7 Reckoning with Complicity. …

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