Decolonise to survive

Colonisation is described as the action or process of settling amongst and establishing control over the Indigenous people of an area.

It has happened here, it happened there and its is also happening around the world to other Indigenous societies right now.

I have started to investigate where and how colonisation has affected me personally.

How my womb, my body, my language, my land and my health has all been colonised.

I have studied at length my own culture and compared it with other Indigenous cultures around the world to get a greater understanding of how colonisation has disempowered all people.

Our society structure is continuing to colonise not only our culture but also our freedom and sovereignty.

Time to take back the power.

How did I get here? I was disconnected. Numb to my body, to others and the world around me.

Consuming large amounts due to lack of internal happiness, trying to fill the void.

I needed to re-establish my humanness One of the first simple steps for me, was reconnecting to my health.

As I began to deepen my connection to my health, I began to regain so much of my power, I started to Decolonise.

Implementing traditional ways of living and simple guidelines that if it wasn’t natural I was not going to put it on or in my body.

How did I get here? I was disconnected. Numb to my body, to others and the world around me. Consuming large amounts due to lack of internal happiness, trying to fill the void.

I started to reconnect with nature, trying to spend time everyday amongst the trees, barefoot on the grass or by the sea.

When I started to spend more time in nature, I became more invested in wanting to protect her.

As I begin to reclaim my relationship with nature, I felt a shift and a returning to my Indigeneity.

A returning to connection to culture. I started to be aware of what I was reading, listening and watching and the potential motives behind each media outlet I was consuming. I stopped watching, reading and listening to white rich men.

Here is what I did, I spent more time with my mother (elder), I started asking questions around sustainability in my life, I spent more time in nature, I eliminated heavy aspects of competition within my  environment and I stopped believing that success is linked to monetary status and that it was actually linked to my happiness.

I brought back my own rites of passage and ritual.

I re-educated on myself peaceful existence, such as movement practices, spiritual practices, community building, fighting back and helping to restore culture, tradition and language.

Decolonisation demanded that I understand who humans were before western agriculture (Indigenous people also engaged in agriculture, just a different form – ours was sustainable) and look at how I could implement holistic solutions and traditional earth-emergent ways of life.

Each mind is shaped by personal experiences, beliefs and actions.

The mind is produced by its environment and that ultimately determines your functioning and health of the mind.

A healthy mind is one that gets some down time. The overactive world we live in creates chaos in our minds and in our lives, nature is a great place to just be.

This is a direct link to regaining power of the mind and also shifting social change. In order to regain the mind, we must decolonise it.

In 2017 I started my business, Yhi (wh-ee), I wanted it to be a sustainable business that was truthful to the integrity of my culture.

I decided to stop taking my cues from the dominate society and reclaim my personal truth.

How can I create a business that doesn’t fall under the capitalist structure and that stands in its integrity as a Indigenous owned and run business?

I began to use upcycled clothing (95% recycled materials) and screen print the very message I wanted to spread to the world, about how to become more aware of our own personal footprints and our own personal responsibility to each other, the earth and ourselves.

“Decolonise to Survive” this statement could be the key to our physiological success in social change.

This is a direct link to regaining power of the mind and also shifting social change.  In order to regain the mind, we must decolonise it.

It seems clear to me that the system does not work, with the rising rates of mental health and obesity levels, with the amount of suicides our country faces each day.

Something is wrong. I needed to address this situation for the longevity for my younger sisters and brother, for my niece and for my future children.

Decolonising looks at how we can stand together with a strong message, a unified message as Indigenous pioneers to reclaim our power and to inspire others to reclaim their power for the sake of all our future children.

To stand together with a non-violent approach to a new way of revolting.

A hope that we as a community of humans can free ourselves from those who take away our independence and make us dependant and helpless.

Change starts with us.