If you’ve listened before you may know I am a White person and my spouse is Indigenous. This summer we went to several powwows and Indigenous events in New England. At the Pocumtuck Homelands Festival in Massachusetts we had the privilege of hearing Grandmother Carole Bubar-Bledgett speak. Grandmother Carole was in the middle of a month-long walk along the Connecticut River – although she calls it the Quinetucket River. This is the river’s original name, a Pequot word meaning Long Tidal River.
Every year Grandmother Carole is called to walk the length of a major North American waterway. She walks 13-18 miles a day, and performs ceremonies to renew the energies of the water and the finned, winged and 4-legged creature that rely on it. She also teaches classes and calls attention to water pollution.
On the day we met Grandmother Carole, I was wearing a t-shirt with the word, “Decolonize.” Just like in the title of my show. Grandmother Carole looked at my shirt and read it aloud, saying, “Decolonize. Hmm. That’s something I think about for myself.” She said that we all need to decolonize ourselves, and that it is hard work.
Grandmother Carole also explained that Decolonization is what she is doing with her water walking. She wants people, the land, the animals, and the water spirit itself to remember and understand that water is not a resource to be exploited, but a giving entity to be respected. You can learn more about Grandmother Carole’s annual water walks at waterislifewalk.wordpress.com.
I’m not a tribal Elder, and I wouldn’t last long walking 18 miles a day, but I like to think my show is also a decolonizing practice. Finding artists I like, learning about their backgrounds, trying to pronounce their names and song names correctly, and most of all playing their music. Every song is a story that’s important to an Indigenous person. Maybe listening can be decolonizing for you, too.