De|Colón|ial Days: March Against Monsanto among the focus points



















March Against Monsanto among activities for Day of Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples


DECOLONIAL MOVEMENTS HAVE REDEFINED MEANING OF OCT 12





Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA
| October 12, 2013





In many parts of the United States, October 12 is still celebrated as Columbus Day, but many social
movements and communities of resistance consider this date the Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People. Across the country today thousands of public protest and political events are taking place. Many
of these actions and protests are taken in solidarity with indigenous peoples but all these organizations and movements in one way or another focus on the ‘decolonial’ struggles of
our time: Idle No More; Tar Sands Blockade; Occupy; Not1More; Food Justice; the
anti-GMO movements, etc. All of these social movements have one thing in common:
They are focused on ending the reign of Empires, viz. capitalist colonies and the liberation of our food systems is of paramount importance.





The March Against Monsanto (MAM) is
one of the events taking place today. 
The struggle for indigenous autonomy includes a great deal of focus and movement toward
food sovereignty so MAM is a noteworthy allied movement.



For indigenous communities food sovereignty struggles encompass three interrelated actions seeking to restore and reconnect (1) traditional farming systems; (2) ancestral heritage food crops; and (3) heritage cuisines (how we prepare ur foods is as important to our health as what we eat). The First Foods Sovereignty movement is taking place through the assertion of indigenous political autonomy based on collective rather than individualistc value systems. The campaign of self-governance in watershed commonwealths is at its heart a revival of the local place-based institutions of collective action that have been so badly damaged not just by the 30+ years of shock doctrine administered via neoliberal government but as a consequence of more than 500+ years of indigenous resistance to structural violence and historical trauma.





The work of food sovereignty aims to restore original, place-‘graced’ farming systems. The Mesoamerican polyculture milpas and xinampas represent enduring contributions made possible by the agroecological knowledge of indigenous peoples. These agroecosystems produce the heritage heriloom crops of indigenous cultures and for many peoples of the post-NAFTA Mesoamerican Disapora, the polyculture patch in Los Angeles or Seattle is a necessity born of the scarcity of culturally-appropriate food crops and herbs. The struggle then is also for heritage food
self-sufficiency.







Indigenous farmers and seed
savers see the alterNative observance of October 12 as an especially poignant moment since this date marks the start
of a world-transforming ecological exchange: The great food crops of the Americas, which
in time fed so much of the rest of the World, were stolen while at the same time the colonizers worked and starved the
natives to death in the plantations, fields, and mining centers. Indigenous
people survived and are resurgent. Such decolonial meanings are now being widely
recognized as part of the deeper significance of protest marches and direct
actions taking place on October 12.





Please use the MAM link above


to locate activities in your city or area.







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