Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012, pp. I-‐XIII
Towards the ‘tangible unknown’: Decolonization and the Indigenous future
Aman Sium Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada
Chandni Desai Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada
Eric Ritskes Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada
Abstract On the occasion of the inaugural issue of Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, we examine the many contradictions, contestations and possible pathways to decolonization. In working to explore the many themes that the articles in this issue bring forth, we recognize that, despite our certainty that decolonization centers Indigenous methods, peoples, and lands, the future is a ‘tangible unknown’, a constant (re)negotiating of power, place, identity and sovereignty. In these contestations, decolonization and Indigeneity are not merely reactionary nor in a binary relationship with colonial power. Decolonization is indeed oppositional to colonial ways of thinking and acting but demands an Indigenous starting point and an articulation of what decolonization means for Indigenous peoples around the globe. This editorial works towards the possibility of a global Indigenous movement that strengthens and supports local moments for decolonization, and does so by exploring some of the many layers and questions that this necessarily entails. Keywords: decolonization, Indigeneity, sovereignty, Indigenous knowledges, Indigenous futurity, anti-colonialism, resurgence
2012 A. Sium, C. Desai & E. Ritskes This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0), permitting all noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.