Episode 020: Land Back and Back to the Land with Lyla June

This week, the Palestine Pod interviews Lyla June, an Indigenous public speaker, artist, scholar and community organizer of Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) nations from Taos, New Mexico. Lyla speaks to us about the ill-effects of colonialism in Turtle Island (i.e. the United States) especially on food and ecosystems and Lara draws comparisons to Palestine. Lyla describes what makes a sustainable culture and recalls the sustainability of indigenous culture as well as the suitability of indigenous food to indigenous communities on a personal level. We speak about the importance of Land Back in Turtle Island and the Palestinian right of return and Lyla shares with us her journey to learning about and supporting the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Michael queries how white settlers in Turtle Island can best get involved in a Land Back movement.

To consult the sources used in the preparation of this episode, please see:

Background/Contextualizing Sources

• IV Geneva Convention (UN)

• Rome-Statute.pdf

• Convention on the Rights of the Child (OHCHR)

• Fact Sheet_UN Conv Rights of the Child

• Defense for Children Palestine (dci-palestine.org)

• A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid (B'Tselem)

• Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: crime against humanity (Amnesty International)

• A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution (HRW)

Videos/Social Media References

• Lyla June - YouTube

• The Palestine Pod_Ep. 17 _Appetite for Justice with Laila El-Haddad (YouTube)

• The Palestine Pod_Ep. 10_Decolonizing Native America & Palestine with Dr. Steve Salaita (YouTube)

Articles/References

• HOME | Lylajune

• The Doctrine of Discovery: The International Law of Colonialism (escholarship.org)

• 'Our History is the Future' puts Standing Rock in broader Native American story (MPR News)

• Water Is Life: Nick Estes on Indigenous Technologies (logicmag.io) (Doctrine of Discovery/linked decolonization)

• Peter Hardeman Burnett - Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California (ACLU NorCal)

• Indigenous Peoples' food systems, nutrition, and gender (Maternal & Child Nutrition, Wiley Online Library)

• Israel’s arbitrary closure of Gaza fishing zone is a form of collective punishment (ReliefWeb)

• Israeli Navy Opens Fire At Fishing Boats, Abducts Four Fishermen In Gaza (IMEMC News)

• Home | Tent of Nations

• Israel’s Jewish National Fund is Uprooting Palestinians, Not Planting Trees (Palestine Chronicle)

• Greenwashing | Decolonize Palestine

• Suha Jarrar_Adaptation Under Occupation (2019)  (alhaq.org)

• 1948 - UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (state.gov)

• The Sand Creek Massacre, Part 2: Slaughter of the Innocents (historycollection.com)

• At the Gates of Yassergrad (Haaretz)

• Inside the camp that’s fighting to stop the Dakota Access pipeline (Grist)

• The Story Behind Standing Rock (The Aspen Institute)

• Capacity Building | Cultural Survival

• https://sogoreate-landtrust.com/shuumi-land-tax/#

• Land Back Movement — Community-Based Global Learning Collaborative (cbglcollab.org)

• What is the Indigenous landback movement — and can it help the climate? (Grist)

• Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations | U.S. Department of the Interior (doi.gov)