2 A Statement of Positionality and Language Choice
Before I continue further into the discussion of my goals of the following research and the key points I have obtained, I must first address two important topics: My decision to use the term “Indigenous Peoples,” throughout this text and its’ definition in this context, and I must address my own identity and the privilege coupled with it. I will start with the former. Because this work is specifically relevant to the peoples indigenous to the United States, I will be using the term Indigenous peoples to include only those who would be politically considered American Indian and/or Alaska Native. I recognize the generality of the term I have chosen, and will be as specific as possible when relevant and will address peoples by their specific Nation name whenever possible. Despite how broad this term is, after encountering a number of perspectives on other terms used to refer to these groups—though no term is perfect and without its issues—I have found most individuals who identify under this umbrella to be most comfortable with being referred to as Indigenous.
I would also like to address that because I am referring to those in the United States, it is important to make clear that Indigenous Peoples are not simply a racial category—each Indigenous Nation is a sovereign, distinct political entity. Indigenous peoples are largely members of these distinct Nations, though this does not diminish the large presence of Indigenous peoples who are not enrolled as a member of their nation because of various issues, among many including colonial blood quantum restrictions or lack of federal recognition. Because of this political distinction, I will largely favor terms such as “discrimination” over “racism” in order to reflect the complexity of the barriers Indigenous peoples face.
I must now address my own whiteness and privilege before diving further into this writing. I am a white woman, and I must recognize that this identity has granted me privileges throughout my entire life, privileges which have contributed to my ability to be in a position to be writing this paper now. I have never and will never be able to fully comprehend the complexity of the issues facing Indigenous peoples that I will later attempt to explain, and I do not have the same level of knowledge on these issues as those who have lived experiences. I have the privilege to write about these issues that do not directly impact me or my loved ones. While I may be partially writing this and doing this work in order to assure my young sister has a more well-rounded education, she as a young white girl will not have to suffer any real consequences should the conditions of education on these issues not improve.
While I could abandon this research and continue to live a life of privilege, there are many Indigenous writers and scholars who do this work in order to diminish the trauma of colonialism themselves and their future generations will face. They do this work because they have lived a life clouded by ever-present structural discrimination, and must fight for decolonization for themselves and their relatives’ wellbeing. I know as I am writing this that my perspectives have been formed with a bias of privilege, and as McCaslin and Breton recognize, ”my social conditioning and the socially constructed sense of who I am—all the mental, emotional, and material habits that I have been raised to accept—support oppression in a thousand subtle and blatant ways. These dynamics of oppression have been rendered invisible to me, however painfully visible they are to others,” (McCaslin & Breton, 2008, p. 519). I must address that I and my fellow colonizers benefit from the discrimination embedded in our institutions, and that maintaining hegemony would be in my best interest. In order to truly begin the work of decolonization, myself and others must recognize these dynamics before addressing how to disrupt this system.