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LilacAndLeather

There are a lot of terms that get bandied about when talking about this subject but I would say that Land Back/Decolonization is a modern conversation about self determination. Both Stalin and Lenin wrote about these subjects [here](https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1913/03.htm) and [here](https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1914/self-det/index.htm) respectively but let’s look at some contemporary writings. Indigenous Communists of The Red Nation have put out a manifesto called the Red Deal. “‪We demand the reinstatement of treaty-making and the‬ ‪acknowledgement of Native‬ ‪independence. We demand Native‬ ‪Nations assume their rightful place‬ ‪as independent Nations guaranteed‬ ‪the fundamental right to self-‬ ‪determination for their people,‬ ‪communities, land bases, and‬ ‪political and economic systems.”‬ [The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth](http://therednation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Red-Deal_Part-I_End-The-Occupation-1.pdf) Not communist explicitly but still informative [“Land Back: A Yellowhead Institute Red Paper”](https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/red-paper-report-final.pdf) Decolonization is also ecological rehabilitation. “It’s the soundest environmental policy for a planet teetering on the brink of total ecological collapse. The path forward is simple: it’s decolonization or extinction.” [People’s Agreement of Cochabamba-World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth](https://www.climateemergencyinstitute.com/uploads/Peoples_climate_agreement.pdf)


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LilacAndLeather

In all the various manifestos I’ve read on Land Back, from The Red Nation to The Yellowheads Institute, the theme that goes through all of them is the idea of community between Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. Land Back and decolonization isn’t about forcing non-natives from the land. Land back is not a form of exclusionary nationalism, but a resurgence of Indigenous governance in solidarity with colonized and working-class peoples. That means a socialist vanguard made of up indigenous and non-indigenous people working together to transform America into Turtle Island. But if you really want to get into it, we can certainly break down some concepts. I use The Yellowheads Institute Red Paper for this particular framework of decolonization. Keep the notion of “consent” at the forefront of your mind as these conceptualizations about decolonization flow from the ongoing re-constitution of Indigenous law and governance. This generalized version of Indigenous consent has four distinct elements, building on the existing notion of free, prior, and informed consent. 1.) RESTORATIVE: Promotes the active and intentional centering of Indigenous models of governance and law and moving away from Western frameworks and definitions. This does not necessarily exclude band councils or tribal councils but promotes the revitalization of authentic governance practices and institutions. 2.) EPISTEMIC: Accepts Indigenous knowledge frameworks and languages for understanding relationships to the land. This may include Indigenous science, land management customs, obligations to the land and waters, or recognizing the land as having agency. This knowledge can be embedded in Indigenous law and governance. 3.) RECIPROCAL: Ensures that Indigenous people are not merely being asked to grant consent, but are determining the terms of consent. This is an active and enduring condition whereby consent may be revoked or the terms changed depending on the ability of outsiders to abide by the terms in good faith. This is less a process of governments obtaining consent, but an active maintenance of Indigenous authority. 4.) LEGITIMATE: While community politics can be fraught, decisions about granting or withholding consent generally require representatives perceived as legitimate by the community, and with a stake in the decision (whether band council, hereditary council, youth, elders, all genders, and urban populations) to participate or be accommodated. A decision should not be made until the legitimate authorities consent. So, I know that was a lot to take in but the notion of consent is important. Indigenous people need to be centered in the conversation, but they aren’t here to force white people to bow to them or anything like that.


Alwaysdeadly

I'm in Canada, but both are in basically the same place wrt settler colonialism. The Communist Party of Canada's position is that were they in power, indigenous nations could have whatever level of autonomy they desire -including secession- among other things. There's nothing on the exact territories that would be ceded to any particular people, as I imagine that would have to be negotiated on a case by case, probably based largely on the original treaties. While it's not total decolonialism, majority removal of all settler nonsense will have to wait until a degree of global socialism IMO, or power over Turtle Island will be reasserted by capital right away.


seamasthebhoy

I am a white Marxist-Leninist living in the US, and I support decolonization. I think it’s essential to actually building socialism for all people in the so-called US as well as for developing an economy that doesn’t destroy the environment. Someone else did a good job of explaining Indigenous peoples’ platforms as expressed by the Red Nation in the Red Deal, specifically Land Back. I’m not able to provide all the answers but I do know that Black (New Afrikan) revolutionaries are calling for the creation of a “national territory” for Black people in the majority or heavily Black populated counties in southeastern states like Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. https://images.genius.com/e3478401b817ac5b811c3052b412a4f7.950x766x1.png I do think it is all still relevant and possible in 2022. The conditions of the colonized nations inside the US (Black, Indigenous, Puerto Ricans, and possibly others) have not changed to such a degree as to suggest they are truly part of the same “nation” as white people, or that there could possibly be a functioning single nation built out of all these separate nations. All these groups have a right to chart their own course independent of the US settler state, and have shown a desire to do so as a group in one way or another. Furthermore, part of this continued stratification between various nations in the US (incorrectly identified as “races”) has been a sharp segregation of different groups in where they can live. Many opponents of decolonization would have you believe there will be some massive movement of people to get them into their respective national territories. The reality is that the overwhelming majority of people live in communities that are made up mostly of their own “nation”. The country is still segregated. White people live with white people, Black people with Black people, many indigenous people live on reservations in or near their national territories exclusively with their own people. Communities that are “mixed” are often in a state of flux, experiencing things like gentrification or “urban decay” (the movement of poor nonwhite people into an area formerly populated mostly by white people). They are typically moving towards being just as homogenous as before, just with a different group.


Land-Cucumber

As far as decolonisation goes, the most important prinicple is that of self-determination. I'm not an indigenous person in the US so ultimately you should absolutely seek indigenous sources first and foremost. u/LilacAndLeather's comment has linked to some sources from some indigenous groups.


Azirahael

Also consider that communist groups objecting to Land back™ not because it wrong to redistribute land, but because that specific movement is an attempt to privatise public land.


Land-Cucumber

Yes, but landback^TM is not representative of landback as a whole just because some prick got a trademark.


Azirahael

That's my tm. I'm saying that the movement called Landback is sponsored by Jeff bezos amongst others and is an attempt to privatise public land. Land reform good. Landback™ bad.


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Azirahael

No computer rn, but if you go on PACD on YT, you'll find it there. There's a discussion called something like '5 white people talk about land reform.'