On Christine Elsey's "The Poetics of Land & Identity Among British Columbia Indigenous Peoples," Ch. 1
Reflection #1: On Christine Elsey’s The Poetics of Land & Identity Among British Columbia Indigenous Peoples, Ch. 1 As is the case with so many progressive minded Canadians, I have always claimed a commitment to the enshrinement and upholding of Indigenous land rights, as well as Indigenous sovereignty. In reading Elsey’s text, I have come to understand, however, that I have heretofore lacked a holistic understanding of the intricacies of what those concepts realistically mean, in the context of Indigenous identity and sense of self. While I have and continue to espouse these concepts of Indigenous rights, I must admit that I have been viewing them under the narrow colonial framework that is inherent in growing up as a settler in a Eurocentric system. The colonial viewpoint, at this point inseparably interwoven with capitalist ideals, relies on the self as a monolith existing independently of community, spirituality, environment, or experience. One’s “self” might be described