Lessons of Colonization

the twentieth century unfolds to a new millennium, many voices and forums are converging to form a new perspective on knowledge. Many of these voices belong to the Indigenous peoples who have survived Euro-pean colonization and cognitive imperialism. They represent the thoughts and experiences of the people of the Earth whom Europeans have charac-terized as primitive, backward, and inferior – the colonized and dominated people of the last five centuries. The voices of these victims of empire, once predominantly silenced in the social sciences, have been not only resisting colonialization in thought and actions but also attempting to restore Indigenous knowledge and heritage. By harmonizing Indigenous knowledge with Eurocentric knowledge, they are attempting to heal their people, restore their inherent dignity, and apply fundamental human rights to their communities. They are ready to imagine and unfold post-colonial orders and society. This book reveals some of these voices of commitment. They emerged from the meetings of the delegates of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, held every year in Geneva, that converged in debates and drafting sessions on Indigenous rights. In 1996, many of these committed voices gathered at the University of Saskatchewan in Saska