8 Northern Pueblos:

Kha'P'O (Santa Clara) “People of the Round Earth”

Nanbé Owingeh (Nambe) “The Place of the Rounded Earth”

Ohkay Ohwingeh (San Juan)

Pinguiltha (Picurus) 

Po-Who-Ge-Oweenge (San Ildelfonso)

P'o Suwae Geh (Pojoaque)

Te-Tsu-Geh (Tesuque)

Tau-Tah (Taos)

Land-Back Glossary

Ally/Accomplice/Comrade/Co-conspirator:

This collection of terms represents different levels of engagement and relationship on a particular issue or project, such as reparations and Land Back for Indigenous communities.

• Ally: in general agreement about the issue, has some knowledge about it, and occasionally heeds calls to action from core organizers

• Accomplice: shows up to events such as rallies or marches; doesn’t hold strong relationships with the core organizers on the project but takes action when possible that targets systems at the root of the issue, not just individuals

• Comrade: has relationships with the core organizers of a project or who are working on a particular issue; shows up consistently at actions and events; actively works to dismantle the systems that are at the root cause of an issue (like settler colonialism)

• Co-conspirator: deeply involved in the project or issue; core organizers; the ones planning actions, events, and leading on demands and strategy; often directly impacted by the issue they are organizing around

Anti-Imperialism

Anti-imperialism is a political stance that advocates power with instead of power over others. This perspective prioritizes deep connection and deep listening, living by values and explicit agreements rather than top-down hierarchical rules or implicit assumptions about what is right. In recognition that the river in one place is fed by the rain that falls in another and our breath depends on the health of forests far away, anti-imperialists engage in grassroots community organizing to cultivate interdependent networks that act as responsive alternatives to the abusive, divisive and dehumanizing actions of imperial institutions.

Elective tax:

A voluntary, proportional contribution of income to finance a collective good. 

Elective means you choose to participate. A tax is a contribution to shared revenue. Taxpayers contribute a portion of their income and wealth to finance the collective’s well-being. Taxes are not charity, gifts, or donations.

As successive waves of colonizers forcibly displaced Native people from their traditional territories, Native communities lost access to resources essential for their survival and well-being. In our current capitalist economic framework, this translates into lost monetary wealth. An elective tax facilitates wealth transfer from settlers back to the Indigenous people from whom it was appropriated, recognizing the prior authority that Native people have in this land. 

Taxpayers typically don’t have control over how the money they contribute is used. Unlike other taxes in our society, with the OPLT taxpayers can actually trust that the money is going to fund people, organizations, and/or communities who do know what they need to thrive.

Environmental racism: 

Dr. Robert Bullard defines environmental racism, in his book Dumping in Dixie, as “any policy, practice or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (where intended or unintended) individuals, groups or communities based on race.” 

In other words, environmental racism refers to the reality that minority communities, including Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, are often closer and more exposed to environmental pollution like toxic runoff from production facilities, waste dump sites, and traffic pollution. 

Environmental Violence:

The International Indian Treaty Council defines environmental violence as the “disproportionate and often devastating impacts that the conscious and deliberate proliferation of environmental toxins and industrial development (including extraction, production, export, and release) have on Indigenous women, children and future generations, without regard from States or corporations for their severe and ongoing harm.”

Extractive colonialism: 

Extractive colonialism is where resources are taken by colonial power structures away from Indigenous or marginalized communities and redistributed with the aim of benefiting settlers. Extractive colonialism is the attempted disruption of Indigenous caretaking of the land. It is based on the idea of the land as a commodity and only a commodity. Often, agents of extractive colonialism purposefully obscure the processes and relationships by which settler communities benefit from Indigenous labor and resources.

Intersectional/ Intersectionality:

“The concept of intersectionality describes the ways in which systems of inequality based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class, and other forms of discrimination “intersect” to create unique dynamics and effects. For example, when a Muslim woman wearing the Hijab is being discriminated against, it would be impossible to dissociate her female identity from her Muslim identity and to isolate the dimension(s) causing her discrimination.”  - Center for Intersectional Justice

Land Back:

No strings attached - return! Return stolen land and resources back to their original stewards. Center Indigenous sovereignty and decision-making. Land Back is right relationship with Mother Earth and each other. Land Back calls for collective action and community-oriented repair and healing.

O’ga P’ogeh:

O’ga P’ogeh Owingeh is a Tewa name that translates to White Shell Water Place, the original place name of Santa Fe, NM. This name comes from a sacred spring located downtown where the cathedral now sits. Calling the land by its Indigenous name is a practice of Rematriation. 

Performative Allyship

Activism without real relationship; doing actions that make it seem like one is involved in an issue, but doesn’t have relationships or trust built with organizers; is motivated more by looking good and feeling good rather than deep belief in collective freedom and solidarity

Reconciliation: 

Reconciliation is the process of coming to an understanding and putting an end to hostility. Reconciliation is a key principle of restorative justice, where conflict and harm are addressed in a way that emphasizes community healing and understanding. Restorative justice originates from the practices of many Indigenous communities. Reconciliation is often paired with truth-telling, as those involved must first know the truth of what happened before a repair process can begin.

Rematriation:

Rematriation is the woman-led returning to and reclamation of land, lifeways, language, seeds, and cultural artifacts supporting the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples and places. Rematriation invests in a future based on reciprocal relations to the land and all beings, and in opposition to patriarchal systems, moving from a society focused on individual ownership to one of collective care, safety, and liberation.

Settler colonialism:

Settler colonialism is an ongoing process where settlers take Indigenous lands and claim them and their resources as their own. In taking Native lands, settlers seek to remove or erase Indigenous people and their relationship with the land. Settler colonialism is rooted in violence against both the land and Native peoples, including warfare, incarceration, destruction of Indigenous wisdom, and extractive industries. Settler colonialism in O’ga P’ogeh is not the event of Spanish conquistadors and settlers arriving here, but the ongoing process which their arrival put into motion and which is reenacted on a daily basis.

Additional Resources:

• Teves, Stephanie Nohelani et al. Native Studies Keywords. 

• Tuck, Eve and K. Wayne Yang. 2012. “Decolonization is Not a Metaphor.” Decolonization 1, no. 1: 1-40.

• Wolfe, Patrick. 2006. “Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native.” Journal of Genocide Research 8, no. 4.

• Coulthard, Glen Sean. 2014. Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition. University of Minnesota Press.

• Nichols, Robert. 2020. Theft Is Property!: Dispossession and Critical Theory. Duke University Press.

• Theobald, Brianna. 2019. Reproduction on the Reservation: Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Colonialism in the Long Twentieth Century. University of North Carolina Press