As the United States prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving, a tribute to our origin story, we can’t ignore the story of those who were already here. What does it mean to be in true solidarity with Indigenous people?
Anna Soole is a Métis person of mixed Indigenous and settler heritage who has facilitated workshops on liberation and intersectional social justice issues in Canada and internationally. They are a feminist, communicator, community organizer, assertiveness and empowerment coach, and theatre of the oppressed/forum theatre practitioner.
“My life and political practice is an ongoing process of unlearning colonial ways, and Indigenizing my relationships, my activism, my spirituality, and my life. It was only when I started my own decolonial and Indigenizing processes, reclaiming our Indigenous ways, learning my Indigenous histories and cultures, reconnecting to the land, and healing from intergenerational trauma that I found a sense of peace and wholeness within myself.
For nearly two decades, I have been invited to facilitate deep, decolonial and anti-oppressive processes. My elders have taught me that when I am invited to share knowledge, it is my responsibility to provide it.”