Reorientations; or, An Indigenous Feminist Reflection on the Anthropocene

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: Destruction of homelands. Loss of kinship species. Exposure to deadly contaminants. Mass extinction. Transformed lifeways. In the face of these radical changes, a question lingers: How long will life be possible? Recently the academy has also felt the urgency of these environmental problems and proposed to address them within the framework of the term the Anthropocene. Indigenous studies has offered various responses to the Anthropocene, some arguing that it has utility in framing the violence of colonialism and others critiquing the limitations and assumptions behind the anthropos in Anthropocene.1 Since contact, indigenous peoples of the Americas have dealt with an escalation of the forces of environmental change. Consequently, their ability to live has been challenged. Indigenous scholarship has shown that the Anthropocene can bring attention to the violence indigenous people have suffered and continue to resist, but it can also be used to erase this history of violence. Narratives can conceal other narratives. It is the work of scholars to be attentive to this. The Anthropocene, as a term, has the potential to bolster indigenous critical projects because it can be read as an indexical mark on the planet that makes the violence of imperial projects visible. The environmental, economic, spiritual, and social challenges that indigenous people face are a rearticulation of the violence of living in a capitalist settler state