Scan barcode
Reviews
As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
juliaem's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
A book club friend finished this earlier than I did, and said she felt like she needs a re-read to fully absorb this; now having finished, I feel similarly. Now having read 2 nonfiction books and a novel by Betasamosake Simpson, I don't know that I will ever love her nonfiction as much as her fiction (If you're reading this, go read Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies right now!), which is glorious, but this is almost on par with Hospicing Modernity for me in terms of reads where you have feel your worldview experiencing growing pains (and delight!) as you go along. I'm excited to see what that pain and delight looks like in action as I continue to let Betasamosake's vision for radical resurgence sit with me, and what solidarity with that resurgence looks/feels like.
anniemackillican's review
5.0
This was a joy to read. I loved reading about Simpson’s experience of resurgence on land that I will occupy shortly; it taught me how to be respectful and to pursue resurgence and resistance on Michi Saagig territory particularly. I also loved seeing the name of the late Alex McKay pop up; a great professor deserved a spot in this great book.
This made me glad I get to read more of Simpson’s work for school this upcoming year.
This made me glad I get to read more of Simpson’s work for school this upcoming year.
pepper_mind's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
ennsez's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Reading this book right after I finished Paulo Freire's Pedagody of the Oppressed was a fortuitous happenstance that will make me recommend the combination to anyone who wants to read either book. As We Have Always Done brings Freire's concepts to life in the context of the multidimensional resistance of Indigenous people in what is now called Canada and the United States, but also goes beyond Freire to address mechanisms of settler colonialism that target specific aspecrs of Indigeneity.
tamara_mousa's review
5.0
In As We Always Have Done, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson presented the epic life of Indigenous people of the Americas in resisting the oppression and insolence of the colonizers, who forcefully looted their land, murdered, and displaced their people. The Indigenous has a history of oppression and obliteration of their identity, which they still bear its consequences to this day. Such occupation violates human rights by enforcing evictions, discrimination, unfair trials, torture…etc. This must be discontinued because every nation has the right to live peacefully in its land and participate in governing it, which is the request of Native Americans and Native Canadians.
There is a summary about it in my blog - https://www.tamarayousefmousa.com/
There is a summary about it in my blog - https://www.tamarayousefmousa.com/
akingston5's review
5.0
"Meaning, then, is derived not through content or data or even theory in Western context, which by nature is decontextualized knowledge, but through a compassionate web of interdependent relationships that are different and valuable because of difference."
•••
In this, Simpson writes about the importance of Indigenous wisdom fostered and employed through place-based practices that empower resistance to settler colonial states. Simpson situates her arguments within her own location as Mississauga Nishnaabeg in the Canadian settler colonial nation-state, arguing for the land as pedagogy as individuals theorize, research, and write to resist contemporary colonialism. I learned so much from this text, and I cannot recommend it enough.
•••
In this, Simpson writes about the importance of Indigenous wisdom fostered and employed through place-based practices that empower resistance to settler colonial states. Simpson situates her arguments within her own location as Mississauga Nishnaabeg in the Canadian settler colonial nation-state, arguing for the land as pedagogy as individuals theorize, research, and write to resist contemporary colonialism. I learned so much from this text, and I cannot recommend it enough.