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It is important to understand that decolonization is a physical action and that since the creation of the United Nations, more than 80 countries have decolonized; which is to say, in over 80 nations, oppressive domination has been dismantled鈥攃olonial rule has left the building. I try to imagine that kind of dismantling happening here in our homeland. I imagine a Handmaid鈥檚 Tale scenario where power is drastically overturned by Indigenous brethren. I see fire and destruction. I see the worst kind of Mad Max or zombie apocalypse that climaxes with 90 percent of our current population gone. The cost of this shift would be so devastating and tragic, it seems anti-American to even imagine it. But the truth is it鈥檚 already been actualized; and it happened here鈥攐n this soil, to my people. For some, it was only four generations ago that more than 90 percent of our relatives experienced that kind of genocide.

Native America might always feel the grief from that loss because colonial disruption is still here and its violence permeates every aspect of American culture and politics. Every aspect of our lives suffers from this violent structure. Sometimes I sit in modern spaces and try to imagine a 鈥淯nited States of Tribal Nations.鈥� I imagine that the music overhead would be by a well-known Native hip-hop artist, and I鈥檇 shake my head because it lacks the substance of my generation, but at least it would be relevant. I try to imagine what it would be like to grow up in a modern longhouse surrounded by my closest friends and relatives at every meal. I wonder if our people would be less lonely. Maybe I would have had the opportunity to know my own 鈥渃oming of age鈥� ceremony, and at a very young age I鈥檇 have purpose and meaning instead of adolescent rage. Maybe we would be driving hydro-powered cars. Maybe corporations wouldn鈥檛 have human rights. Maybe ownership of land would look different. Maybe shoe stands would be at airports to clean my moccasins. There definitely wouldn鈥檛 be a blood quantum; we鈥檇 all belong. I imagine that 95 percent of the population would look like me. I imagine walking into spaces where I鈥檓 not the only Indian. Maybe our people would be healthier. Maybe I wouldn鈥檛 have known alcoholism or trauma or abuse. Maybe there would still be a thousand variations of grasses on the prairie, and buffalo would still have space to roam. Maybe we would have intricate trading systems between the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, Pomo, and Miccosukee. Maybe the fish wouldn鈥檛 be dying from agricultural runoff. Maybe our children would grow up with fathers. But these maybes aren鈥檛 enough. So I focus on what I can do. I become an Indigenous mental abolitionist. And you can, too. That begins by imagining that our Indigenous ancestors鈥� belief systems are worthy of saving. Michael Yellow Bird and Waziyatawin in For Indigenous Minds Only: A Decolonization Handbook say, 鈥淥nly then will we be positioned to take action that reflects a rejection of the programming of self-hatred with which we have been indoctrinated. We will also learn to assess the claims of colonizer society regarding its justification for colonization and its sense of superiority. When we regain a belief in the wisdom and beauty of our traditional ways of being and reject the colonial lies that have inundated us, we will release the pent-up dreams of liberation and again realize the need for resistance to colonization.鈥�

I keep having these recurring dreams where I鈥檓 on a plane or train and all the people around me, Native and non-Native, are speaking different Indigenous languages. I hear Paiute, Lashootseed, Din茅, Catawba, and they鈥檙e feeding their babies wild rice and smoked fish. I鈥檓 dreaming about a modern world that doesn鈥檛 erase its Indigenous intelligence, but rather embraces the rich complexity of Indigenous culture. This can be actualized if we all bring our hearts and minds together. The land we walk on is Indian Land, whether it be suburban cul-de-sacs or city streets. Echoes of Indian existence are all around us. It鈥檚 up to us to listen.

Melba Appawara from the Northern Ute Tribe, born in 1932, and grandma to many beautiful bear dancers.

Matika Wilbur, right, and her mother, Nancy, from the Swinomish tribe.

Isabella and Alyssa Klain (Din茅)

we will not rest hoping is not enough our resilience shall prevail

together we rise our ancestors always behind us

Sin茅ad Talley (Karuk and Yurok)

鈥淚t鈥檚 taken a long time for me to get outside of the blood quantum construct of thinking. I鈥檓 low blood quantum, and my family was disconnected for a while before we came back to the river. It鈥檚 been a returning process. Learning more about history and the fact that blood quantum is a European concept and that鈥檚 not how Native people determined who was a community member and who was not helped. When it comes down to it, blood quantum doesn鈥檛 mean anything. It鈥檚 your connection to place, it鈥檚 your kinship ties and how involved you are in the community. It has a lot to do with a lot of things, but indigeneity doesn鈥檛 have to do with blood quantum. You can know that and you can feel that, but they鈥檙e two different things. For me it鈥檚 taken a long time to feel that.鈥�

Wahatalihate (He Made it Warm) Daniel Clay Stevens (Oneida)

Osk蕦nu路t煤 (deer) is considered the leader of the animal kingdom. Wahatalihate鈥檚 mom, Stephanie, explains: 鈥淪hukwayatisu gave us the deer for sustenance. Oneida people used all parts of the deer. The deer are peaceful animals, and it is understood to have peace in our hearts and minds when we eat venison.鈥�