In all honesty, I struggled a bit with the photo essay assignment, as I am not sure if sharing my ‘perspectives on decolonization’ from a settler body takes up space it shouldn’t occupy, but after Reading Allison Weir’s “Decolonizing Feminist Freedom: Indigenous Relationalities” I decided to try and collect photos that (hope to) illuminate the ways in which myself and others may view different ontologies, epistemologies, and axiologies. In the chapter, Weir asks:

Can Western feminist theorists recognize the diverse knowledges of trees and even rocks?

She explains that these knowledges, specifically Indigenous knowledges, may often be regarded as whimsical or imaginative rather than knowledge that can be valued, in a sense, knowledge that is useful knowledge, and so on. Certain knowledges such as these do not necessarily have space to exist outside of the parameters of Indigenous knowledges, which may not be in issue, but from my understanding some may see these as knowledges rooted in history and truth, rather than fantasy. These knowledges can be a way of being and seeing in relation to land and the world, however Western feminist theorists are often taught to systematically disprove and disvalue, sometimes in manners that may seem subconscious. While reading this chapter, the idea for my photo essay came to mind: a series of the same photo with different layers. My idea was that as I increasingly added stickers to the image, the viewer would automatically know that it is essentially ‘fake,’ as many of us that grew up trained in digital spheres are taught to recognize counterfeited pictures. My question then is, can we view the images for what they are, what they consist of, what our eyes are actually seeing, suspending our ‘knowledge’ that the animals and added scenery are obviously fake. Can we train ourselves to see the last image without questioning the legitimacy?

In doing this project, I honestly was (and still am) worried that it may come across as reductive, or perhaps unclear. Of course this was not my conscious intent, but I am also aware intent ≠ impact.

Something I often grapple with from ‘inside’ the academia (as the picture is taken from within the walls of SUNY New Paltz’ library), are the elitist and systemically designed oppressive tactics which we are taught, in virtually every area of study, when conducting research. I guess I feel that one step in decolonizing knowledges/knowledge production is moving away from these standards within our research, only recognizing specific sources as legitimate and useful, which not only contributes to intense erasure but also blinds us to so many ideas and processes of thought.

I ask myself Weir’s question, whether I can recognize knowledges I have been historically taught to exclude and discount, beyond just saying “yes,” but actually being with and listening to varying knowledges. Can I live with and in stronger relation to the stolen land, belonging to the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, I call home? In exploring this myself, I see a lot of work and listening I must practice in moving forward, and that is the most clear answer I can give.

*NOTE: I chose to use deer as the layered images because I often think of them as calm and gentle, which are qualities I strive to embody as I try to listen and learn. I feel like there is a lot I could unpack but I am out of my word limit sorry !!!