Embodied Decoloniality: Partnering with Land and Ancestral Kin in Transformative Work

As we move deeper into the 21st century, it has become strikingly clear that what could once be ignored and dismissed requires a new disposition and demands we assume a different posture. There are many questions that arise as we, the human family, turn toward great troubles–ecological crises, cultural and political polarizations, economic frustrations and disparities. How do we resource ourselves to contribute to generative change that is life-affirming? What does the pathway of transformation look and feel like, in the face of massive systems change? What are the decolonial gestures that may support efforts to reconfigure our relationships with the Earth and each other?

Inspired by the work of adrienne maree brown, I invite you on a journey to explore how partnering with personal and more-than-human ancestors can support and strengthen efforts to transform our agreements and create more humane social relationships. Systems change can often feel like an insurmountable task, yet an undeniable necessity. In her book Emergent Strategy, brown offers up a practical guide that helps to make systems change manageable, accessible. Through partnering with nature–our elder ancestral kin that operate in patterns–we’re invited to feel into the emergent quality of change work. “Emergence is the way small actions and connections create complex systems; patterns that become ecosystems over time.”

Over the course of a weekend in late September 2024, we will take a journey through decoloniality, centering the body and nature as our primary teachers. There will be time and space devoted to cultivating critical consciousness (C3)–exploring the theoretical foundations of coloniality and how this psychic phenomenon is still quite pervasive in our social agreements. We’ll incorporate ritual and fireside storytelling to assure the sacred is present. Finally, we’ll explore how cultivating deeper relationships with our wise ancestors can foster healing from cultural and intergenerational trauma.

I invite you to join in on this deep decoloniality expedition, bringing your whole selves to it. Decoloniality, in essence, is a wholeness-making process. Where we have been falsely separated–from the land, nature, and each other–may we be well supported in discovering and excavating the pathways that unify us.