Indigenous cultural narratives have appeared in many forms throughout history, from visual art to oral storytelling. The literary tradition of the West has historically prioritised the written narrative to tell its cultural history, and inferiorized other cultures for lack of written histories. It is a product of colonialism and cultural syncretism that some indigenous cultures even established a literary tradition, though others had been ongoing for centuries.
Literature has often been a mode of resistance; it serves to examine the culture in which it exists. By allowing uncertainty and mystery, it provides a setting nuanced enough to reflect on the social and moral structures of a society without subjecting them to the Western ideological framework of logic and reason. Unlike more scientific forms of social critique, literature relaxes its grip around the logical to allow us a glimpse of the eternal. With this in mind, indigenous literature is a vital force in challenging imperial Western narratives, helping us to decolonize our minds and shed biases ingrained in us by colonialism.
Books such as Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Kimmerer, and God is Red, by Vine Deloria, bestow upon their readers indigenous knowledge and spiritual insights alternative to a Western worldview. The topics of these insights range from our planet and ecosystem to our interconnectedness and spiritual reality. These books reveal deep understandings of the world, cultivated by cultures over centuries, that provide avenues for greater connection and flourishing for ourselves and our environment. We live in a world tortured by climate, social, and mental health crises that seem impossible to solve with Western tools – perhaps because Western tools caused these crises in the first place. Indigenous literature supplies hope in its alternative tools.
In a postcolonial Western world, most of us exist within Western ideological boundaries that still prioritise Enlightenment values such as progress, science, and individual liberty. This ideology has justified brutality and cultural erasure, making decolonisation in the form of emphasising indigenous narratives critical in restoring social justice. Furthermore, the limited perspective that Western biases entail impairs our ability to understand and cope with our reality. Consuming indigenous literature is vital in helping us dismantle the set of illusions that are perpetuating the power structures that lead to suffering, giving us the tools we need to heal our world.
“La Roya indigenous community” by CIFOR is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0