DECOLONIZATION & JUSTICE
Indigenous Data Sovereignty & CARE Principles
Definition: The right of Indigenous peoples to control data about them, guided by CARE: Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics.
Why it matters: Ensures research, art, and archives respect community ownership and governance.
Useful Links
Explainer Video: “Unpacking Indigenous Data Sovereignty” tinyurl.com/Indigenous-data
Academic Article: Carroll, S.R. et al. (2020). The CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance.
Environmental Racism & Justice
Definition: The disproportionate burden of environmental harm on marginalized communities; environmental justice seeks fair treatment and meaningful involvement for all.
Why it matters: Ensures that environmental solutions benefit those most affected by environmental damage.
Useful Links
Explainer Video: “Environmental Racism Is the New Jim Crow” tinyurl.com/environment-racism
Film: “There’s Something in the Water,” directed by Elliot Page and Ian Daniel, 2019
Academic Article: Beard, S. et. al. (2024). Racism as a public health issue in environmental health disparities and environmental justice: working toward solutions.
Academic Article: Moore, B. (2011). Environmental racism: exploring suffering and healing through collective resistance.
Intersectionality
Definition: The way overlapping identities—such as race, gender, and class—shape how people experience oppression or privilege.
Why it matters: Helps ensure that sustainability and art projects address multiple forms of inequality at once.
Useful Links
Video Explainer: “The Urgency of Intersectionality – Kimberlé Crenshaw” tinyurl.com/urgent-intersectionality
Book: The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet by Leah Thomas
Academic Article: Sandilands, C., & Erickson, B. (2010). Queer Ecologies: Sex, Nature, Politics, Desire.
Academic Article: Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex.
Ethical Space of Engagement
Definition: A conceptual meeting ground where different knowledge systems interact respectfully and equally.
Why it matters: Offers a framework for bridging science, Indigenous knowledge, and the arts.
Useful Links
Key Website: Dive into Ethical Space at the IEI tinyurl.com/IEI-ethical-space
Explainer Video: “What is ethical space?” tinyurl.com/ethical-space
Book: Restoring the Kinship Worldview: Indigenous Quotes and Reflections for Healing Our World by Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows) and Darcia Narvaez
Academic Article: Ermine, W. (2007). The ethical space of engagement. Indigenous Law Journal.
Decolonization
Definition: Political and material processes of undoing colonization, including land restitution, governance change, and cultural resurgence.
Why it matters: Shapes how nations, communities, and institutions address historical and ongoing injustices; for artists, it’s a call to align practice with sovereignty, equity, and self-determination.
Useful Links
Key Website: UNDRIP: ohchr.org/en/indigenous-peoples
Video: “Art is… Decolonizing Landscape Painting” tinyurl.com/decolonize-landscape-art
Book: Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality by Bob Joseph & Robert P.C. Joseph
Book: Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance by Jesse Wente
Academic Article: Tuck, E., & Yang, K.W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor.
Decoloniality
Definition: An ongoing practice of breaking from colonial ways of knowing, being, and governing that persist even after formal colonial rule has ended.
Why it matters: Encourages diverse worldviews and knowledge systems to flourish without being filtered through colonial frameworks.
Useful Links
Explainer Video: “Anticolonial, Decolonial, and Postcolonial” tinyurl.com/decolonial-thinking
Video: “Festival of Decolonial & Anti-Racist Art – A Documentary” tinyurl.com/decolonial-art
Book: More Powerful Together: Conversations With Climate Activists and Indigenous Land Defenders by Jen Gobby
Academic Article: Mignolo, W.D., & Walsh, C.E. (2018). On Decoloniality: Concepts, Analytics, Praxis.
Just Transition
Definition: Supporting workers and communities as economies move toward low-carbon and sustainable systems.
Why it matters: Ensures that environmental change is socially fair and politically feasible.
Useful Links
Key Website: Just Transition Alliance: jtalliance.org
Explainer Video: “What is a Just Transition and How Can We Accelerate It?” tinyurl.com/what-is-just-transition
Book: This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein
Book: What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Academic Text: Ed. Phillips, A., & Kaschny, L. (2024). New Engagement Strategies for Energy Justice: Perspectives from the Next Generation.
Land Back
Definition: A movement advocating for the return of Indigenous lands and decision-making power to Indigenous peoples.
Why it matters: Puts land stewardship in the hands of Indigenous peoples, in favour of social and ecological justice.
Useful Links
Key Website: landback.org
Explainer Video: “What does ‘Land Back’ really look like in Canada?” tinyurl.com/land-back-canada
Book: Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance by Jesse Wente
Book: Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec
FPIC — Free, Prior and Informed Consent
Definition: A standard requiring that communities agree to a project before it begins, with full information and without pressure.
Why it matters: Protects communities from exploitation and ensures that participation is truly voluntary.
Useful Links
Key Website: UN – Free Prior and Informed Consent tinyurl.com/UN-FPIC
Explainer Video: “FAQ, Indigenous Peoples and the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) tinyurl.com/FAQ-FPIC
Book: We Will Not Be Saved: A memoir of hope and resistance in the Amazon rainforest by Nemonte Nenquimo
Academic Article: Rice, R. (2019). The Politics of Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Indigenous Rights and Resource Governance in Ecuador and Yukon, Canada.
Settler Colonialism
Definition: A form of colonialism where settlers permanently occupy and control Indigenous lands, aiming to erase Indigenous presence.
Why it matters: Understanding its structure reveals why decolonization is ongoing, not a historical event.
Useful Links
Explainer Video: “The Stages of Settler Colonialism – These Black Papers” tinyurl.com/settler-colonialism
Book: Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec
Book: Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality by Bob Joseph & Robert P.C. Joseph
Academic Article: Wolfe, P. (2006). Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native. Journal of Genocide Research.
Two-Eyed Seeing (Etuaptmumk)
Definition: The practice of viewing the world through both Indigenous and Western lenses, using the strengths of each.
Why it matters: Encourages integrated problem-solving and inclusive storytelling.
Useful Links
Video Explainer: “Two-Eyed Seeing: Weaving Indigenous and Western Ways of Knowing” tinyurl.com/two-eyed-seeing
Book: Restoring the Kinship Worldview: Indigenous Quotes and Reflections for Healing Our World by Wahinkpe Topa (Four Arrows) and Darcia Narvaez
Academic Article: Bartlett, C., Marshall, M., & Marshall, A. (2012). Two-eyed seeing and other lessons learned within a co-learning journey of bringing together Indigenous and mainstream knowledges.
Visual Sovereignty
Definition: The right of Indigenous peoples to control how they are visually represented and to reclaim narrative authority through images.
Why it matters: Challenges exploitative visual traditions and affirms self-representation in art and media.
Useful Links
Video: “Narrative Sovereignty Beyond Boundaries – Sundance Festival 2025” tinyurl.com/narrative-sovereignty
Academic Article: Raheja, M.H. (2010). Reservation Reelism: Redfacing, Visual Sovereignty, and Representations of Native Americans in Film.
Academic Article: Hughes, B. (2024). Redface: Race, Performance, and Indigeneity.