Synopsis:
The video “Land as Body” (2019) by Erynne Gilpin is a research reel from the University of Victoria that is relative to the themes concerning Indigenous self-determination, decolonial, and transnational movements. Gilpin’s short film beautifully captures Indigenous health and wellness research and its relationship to Indigenous political leadership, governance, and ultimately, the land. The following passage highlights the essence of the video itself as spoken from Gilpin’s perspective within the film:
“The wellness of our peoples cannot be divorced from the wellness of the land and waters. For Indigenous women from coast to coast, pathways toward a balanced mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing requires a meaningful and culturally grounded relationship to land and waters.”
Rationale:
I learned from reading Harsha Walia’s work that throughout the journeys toward decolonizing our world – specifically, to decolonize structural colonialism – it is vital to begin such a process from an Indigenous perspective of self-determination. Walia’s idea of Indigenous self-determination is the relevant connection I made when I viewed Gilpin’s “Land as Body” video. Walia emphasized the need to re-center Indigenous worldviews and knowledge in order to fight settler colonialism and ultimately reclaim Indigenous rights to the land. Told from Gilpin’s perspective, the video “Land as Body” expresses to viewers that reclaiming the land and waters is the same as reclaiming Indigenous political governance and above all, wellness. This video is helpful for non-native individuals to see and understand Harsha Walia’s ideas in action – self-determined, Indigenous action.
Keywords: Indigenous, self-determination, land as body, leadership
Author: Garry Baldwin
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