In Solidarity With Indigenous Youth and Families: From Spaces of Resistance to Schools

• In Event: Standing With Youth, Parent, and Community Educational Leaders: Case Studies in Subverting Systemic Oppression

Abstract

In this paper, the authors position their personal and professional histories in relation to their roles and experiences of advocacy and agency enacted by/with Indigenous families and community members who engage in spaces of resistance where settler colonial dispossession, desecration, and exploitation of land, water, and sacred sites is occurring. Though Indigenous peoples have held long standing commitments toward protecting relations to land; most recently, we are seeing a resurgence in youth, families, and communities participating in spaces of activism. Grounded in theoretical orientations of Critical and Culturally Sustaining Indigenous Family and Community Engagement in Education (Garcia, 2019), this case study embodies a critical and culturally sustaining stance that underscores the leadership of Indigenous families and communities engaging in Indigenous movement spaces. Co-presenter and Author 2 (Hopi/Tewa), will capture her commitment to being in solidarity with various Indigenous movements as a mother, educator, and community activist. The case study will offer teachers, administrators, and community educators an opportunity to examine the question of: How do schools understand, include, and engage with Indigenous families and youth who are invested in being protectors of their land and sacred sites? This paper embodies a call to action for educators and leaders to be in solidarity with Indigenous youth and families who are striving for decolonization and indigenizing efforts that lead to protecting sacred sites and engage in self-determination and sovereignty.

Authors

• Jeremy Garcia, University of Arizona

• Samantha Honani