How to Decolonize and Indigenize with Sikowis Nobiss

What is the connection between capitalism, colonialism, consumerism, and Christianity? How do these systems and ideologies uphold and support one another? How do we work to dismantle them and cultivate in their place a decolonized culture and politics that supports Indigenous sovereignty, human health and wellbeing, and flourishing ecosystems? These are some of the questions that we’ll explore today on this special Indigenous People’s Day conversation with Sikowis Nobiss.

Sikowis is Plains Cree/Saulteaux of the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada At 19 she began her life's work of uplifting Indigenous rights and voices when she got her first job at the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council in Fredericton, Canada, during the Burnt Church Rebellion. Between 2010 and 2015, Sikowis attempted to work with various Indigenous folks in Iowa City to build a climate and environment organization but was unsuccessful. However, her goal to found such an organization became a reality in 2016 when she joined the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. This led her to co-found Little Creek Camp in February 2017, which has since transformed into Great Plains Action Society, a fully Indigenous-led organization where Sikowis works at a grassroots level to dismantle corrupt colonial-capitalist systems and rebuild them with a decolonized worldview.

Thank you to Soni López-Chávez for this episode’s cover art and to Black Belt Eagle Scout for the intermission music. Upstream theme music was composed by Robert Raymond/Lanterns.

Further Resources:

• Great Plains Action Society
• The Righteous Gemstones
• Upstream Podcast documentary: Our Struggles are Your Struggles: Stories of Indigenous Resistance and Regeneration

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