Native American and Indigenous Studies

Abstract:

What do Indigenous peoples mean when we mobilize the term rematriation? Approached from a decolonial analysis of rematriation discourse and activism, rematriation is an Indigenous feminist paradigm, an embodied praxis of recovery and return, and a sociopolitical mode of resurgence and refusal. Indigenous laws and protocols are foundational to rematriation paradigms. Drawing from auto-ethnographic and community-based research with, by, and for Ts'msyen from Lax Kw'alaams, British Columbia, Canada, I focus on the nuances and active qualities of Ts'msyen rematriation. Analysis of examples of Ts'msyen feasting laws, rights frameworks in the Lax Kxeen Ts'msyen dance group, and protocols in return ceremonies between Indigenous nations on the northwest coast of British Columbia, Canada, illustrates what rematriation is, what it wants, what it takes, and what it does. A case study of a Ts'msyen song collection now held by Columbia University demonstrates that rematriation is the antithesis of repatriation. Considering the legal obstacles Indigenous peoples face when seeking redress for prior thefts from settler states, subjects, and institutions, new legal paradigms for reparation and return are essential.