3 Thanks-taking Day Decolonization Actions You Can Take

For the past two years, we’ve shared a Thanks-taking day statement from About Face member Krystal Two Bulls, in which she generously shared her personal story and offered insights on how we can all deepen our commitment to decolonization and counteract the ahistorical, harmful narratives about this day.

This year, we had the opportunity to visit with a newer Indigenous About Face member, Danny Grassrope, as he shared his reflections:

Thanks-taking, we have to know the true history of what it was. It’s a time of mourning to remember those people who were trusting these settlers — they showed them how to garden here, how to use the resources here, and then they just slaughtered them. I’m thankful that my ancestors stood their ground so that we can have a future, that we are still here. I’m thankful that there are people in my community that are good mentors, that continue to empower us younger folks to learn our language, to learn our ways.

All we ask is that you acknowledge who we are and what happened. Know our side of history.

I’m not asking you for pity, I’m asking you to acknowledge who I am. To give me the time and space and help us get our land back, so we can protect our sacred sites and who we are and our herbal roots that we use for medicine, our plants.

Our Land is not just a physical form or entity, the land is who we are, the land is where we practice our ceremonies, and that’s true for Indigenous folks around the world, not just here on Turtle Island.

We’re grateful for the chances we’ve had to grow our collective commitment to decolonization over the past two years, and we continue to dedicate ourselves to the unlearning, relationship-building, and solidarity practices that our values require of us. As part of that commitment, we’re highlighting three things you can do to deepen your knowledge and act in solidarity with Indigenous movements alongside us. If you’ve already done all three, consider sharing with a friend!

1. Support the Cheyenne River Grassroots Collective

Danny is also a member of this collective, and he shared his powerful story and call to action with us:

I’m from the Kul Wicasa Oyate, but I stay on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. About two years ago, Cheyenne River wanted to call veterans to train folks in Cheyenne River. The specific training was veterans training veterans, but it opened up for the community to join as well. So then when we went to this training that About Face was actually putting on, it was very interesting. Krystal Two Bulls talked about Indigenous folks in the military. She talked about her story, and it was very similar to mine.

Back then, I was embarrassed to say that I was a veteran in the military because of this movement and Standing Rock, where the National Guard was a present military force. But it was crazy, because when they started doing the blockade, I was like, “hey, I know that person — I know some of these people in uniform.” The people I was rolling with asked, “how do you know these people?” and I’m like, “uh… I might have joined the National Guard and that was the unit that I was in.” But I asked them not to tell anybody because there was a part of me that didn’t want people to know. I was a little embarrassed.

But when About Face hosted this training in Cheyenne River, I was like, “hey, I like what About Face is and what it stands for.” I thought, “Ooh, I want to be a part of this group.” The following day, I decided to join, and I brought in with me the fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline and what it will do to our people and the land.

So it’s very empowering that there are groups like About Face out there and people that share knowledge on the reservations on and off. Because now it’s not just an Indigenous fight, it’s everybody’s fight.

The connection between the pipeline fight here on Turtle Island and the wars abroad is colonialism. The KXL Pipeline comes from a fossil fuel industry. The US military goes into the Middle East, extracting their resources for the same industry. It’s just this long cycle that we need to break and dismantle, and we want to encourage other people to find their roots. So I think that’s where About Face and this movement to dismantle the military industrial complex of big oil and greedy people comes in. This movement isn’t just our movement, it’s everyone’s movement. We do this for everybody.

Danny asks that folks support the collective as they help lead the fight against the pipeline by:

• Following the Cheyenne River Grassroots collective for updates on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter and sharing their content to spread the word.
• Donating to their crowdfund.
• Demanding your elected officials say no to KXL and pressure Biden to shut it down.

2. Follow and Support the #LandBack Campaign

We’re proud to join with our own Krystal Two Bulls as she spearheads the #LANDBACK Campaign at NDN Collective. Make sure to read the manifesto to familiarize yourself with the principles and vision, including their most immediate demands to close Mt. Rushmore and return those and all public lands in the Black Hills to Indigenous hands.

Take a few moments today to watch their inspiring 5-minute mini-documentary about their recent actions.

3. Complete the DecolonizeU Self-Study Course

We created a new “resources” section of our website, where you can find all the materials for our pilot DecolonizeU course, “Militarism On Turtle Island.” Together, we explore the historic and ongoing relationship between Indigenous resistance and militarization in so-called North America. Learn from three weeks of readings, reflection questions, and recordings of talks from Indigenous movement leaders at your own pace! (If you already took this course as part of the live cohort when we launched it, stay tuned — we’ve got more planned for the future.)

As we take these actions, we also want to remind ourselves that decolonization goes far (far) beyond a single day or a single list of ways to show up and to learn. This Thanks-taking, we re-commit to deepening our solidarity with Indigenous resistance — today, every day, and for the long-haul.

Thank you for choosing to join in this commitment with us.