Indigenous Resilience and Pedagogies of Resistance: Responding to the Crisis of Our Age

Abstract

Historically, Indigenous peoples have displayed remarkable resilience in the face of adversity, notably, in the face of colonization. Over several decades, Indigenous peoples have sought through legal and other means to regain and retain cultural and traditional rights, including traditional practices, languages and identities, as well as the right to culturally appropriate forms of economic development. This resilience by Indigenous peoples has been described as grounded in culture, place and in Indigenous forms of spirituality. In the 21st century, faced with new modes of colonization, this same resilience is giving rise to new modes of both engagement and disengagement on the part of multiple Indigenous communities around the globe. Positioned in the context of profound environmental and global crisis, this article considers Indigenous strategies of renewal and resistance against the background of the changing role and function of the nation-state, drawing on specific legislative changes in Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand.