Te Wahine Atamai

Glen S. Coulthard

Firstly, this is a very dense read because of the way Coulthard is speaking to and criticizing multiple different writers/theorists – such as Hegel, Taylor and Fanon. One of the main points Coulthard highlights in this reading is the idea that ‘recognition’ as a form of Indigenous resistance to colonial power, is only furthering “the very configurations of colonial power that Indigenous peoples’ demands for recognition have historically sought to transcend” (p. 439).

Initially I did not really understand what he meant by this because at the outset, the concept of ‘recognition’ to me sounded like a good thing in the sense of Indigenous people being recognized as humans. It reminded me of what I read in Whaea Linda’s book, Decolonizing Methodologies, about The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the recognition of Indigenous people as human, entitled to self-determination, access to culture and language and freedom from assimilation (Tuhiwai Smith, 2021, p. 119). Upon my first reading I thought that, of course, recognition would be a good thing politically because then it would give us ‘rights,’ like Te Tiriti o Waitangi is supposed to be doing here in Aotearoa – however, I guess our political state here in Aotearoa is a good example of Coulthard’s critique of how recognition is not only not enough, but actually perpetuates the colonial rule through the handing over of the power to recognize to those in power. Coulthard goes on to discuss Fanon’s observation that colonized people groups, over time, internalize the story they have been told of themselves, and it is this internalization that needs to be addressed in order to gain true ‘freedom’ from colonial rule. This makes a lot of sense to me, especially when I think of writers like Brayboy who honestly and explicitly revealed the colonized voice within himself, perpetuating the negative impacts of colonization by being judgmental and prescriptive of what it means to be a “real Indian.”

Coulthard inspires me to look inwards and critically be aware of how I, myself, allow the impacts of colonization to live on through my worldview, opinions, and ultimately through my research. It highlights the need to do a deep dive on my own sense of self, where that identity has come from and how I might begin to understand what it looks like to restore things – as Fanon writes – “their proper places.”