Wednesday, October 14, 2020 — 7
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan In Color

On Indigenous People’s Day, Michigan in Color would like to express 

our ongoing solidarity with Native Americans and the Indigenous 
struggle against the forces of settler-colonialism for their legitimate 
claim on this land. As a University situated on the land stewarded by 
the Niswi Ishkodewan Anishinaabeg (The Three Fires People of the 

Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi) and their neighbors the Seneca, Dela-
ware, Shawnee and Wyandot nations, we have a personal responsibility 

to push against the colonial pedagogies of our curriculum.We urge 
readers to actively fight against the erasure of indigenous histories, 

not just today, but everyday. Michigan in Color is committed to uplift-
ing the voices of marginalized communities, and as such would like to 
share a list of demands by the Decolonial Pedagogies Initiative. Below 

is a consolidated list of their demands.

Desensitization through statistics

YOUR WEEKLY

ARIES

Financial ups and downs cause 
headaches this week, Aries, but 
it’s within your control to get 
your money better organized. 
Working on your time 

management may free 
up time to indulge in a 
lucrative side hustle, 
which will help.

AQUARIUS

GEMINI

Expect strange coincidences or 
fleeting corner-of-the-eye 
glimpses of otherworldly beings. 
Your spiritual growth is moving 
quickly, Gemini, and help on this 

topic from a sympa-
thetic and encouraging 
family member is very 
welcome.

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

SCORPIO

CANCER

Events in your social circle take a 
surprising turn and you may find 
yourself wondering if you really 
know someone at all, Cancer, 
given their odd behavior. Give 

everyone the benefit of 
the doubt. There’s 
method in their 
madness.

TAURUS

Unexpected news from your 
partner puts your relationship in 
the spotlight, but there should be 
cause for joy mixed with the shock. 
A tumultuous week is in the cards, 

Taurus, but there are 
memories to made here 
too.

VIRGO

PICES

LIBRA
LEO

Tensions between your work and 
home life decrease, finally, 
thanks to a boost in your income 
which makes it easier to balance 
your competing priorities. Look 

ahead with confidence, 
Leo – it just might be 
possible to have it all, 
after all.

Read your weekly horoscopes from astrology.tv

You’re changing your mind so 
often this week that you’re 
struggling to keep up with 
yourself. This intellectual 
instability is a good thing though, 

Virgo, in as much as it 

shows that you are 
keeping an open mind. 
Don’t be afraid to 
revisit old opinions.

Someone forgives you out of the 
blue – but do you forgive yourself? 
The energies this week encourage 
you to look ahead and to stop 
fretting about the past, Libra. You 

may have made a 

mistake, but so do we 
all. Be kinder to 
yourself.

Romantic surprises and passionate 
encounters – what’s not to love 
about this energy? It’s set to be a 
very loving week, Scorpio, whether 
you’re in an existing relationship 

or looking for new love. If 

you’re single, a 

friendship may turn 
into something much 
more.

A happy accident or fortunate 
coincidence works in your favor, 
Sagittarius, but you’re reminded 
that you could create more of 
your own luck if you were better 

organized. Work on 

clearing your clutter so 

that you can spend 
more time manifest-
ing your dreams.

Fun is very much a team effort 
this week, so say yes to invitations 
and don’t be afraid to join in. If a 
travel opportunity presents itself, 
Capricorn, you’ll be busy 

weighing up the pros and 

cons – but don’t take so 

long that you miss out 
on an incredible 
chance.

Chaos at work subsides into 
something more doable and 
normal, but there’s still a lot of 
hard work to be done. Fortunately, 
Aquarius, your loved ones are very 

understanding and will 

back your need to spend 
more time on your 
career. Don’t lose your 
focus.

News travels fast, Pisces, but 
double check your facts before 
you spread gossip which may or 
may not be true. There’s an air of 
excitement as you wait for an 
announcement – and it should 

hopefully be good 
news. Changing 
circumstances benefit 
you hugely.

WHISPER

“Dude in park to friend, Taco: 
Blaming Covid on Trump is like 
blaming me for the sun comin’ up”

“Give lifetakes blog a look on 
Wordpress, twitter, Instagram, 
and Facebook!”

“I grew my self worth so much this 
summer I feel like I’ve outgrown 
friends I once thought I needed.”

We live in a country where, 

with even a bare amount of effort 
exerted, access to information 
regarding a million different 
issues is readily obtainable. 
That doesn’t necessitate that 
any of such information is true, 
or that subject matters are cov-
ered with the attention they 
deserve. The information — 
authentic or fake, specific or 
vague — is readily accessible for 
the majority of us. We are used 
to continually having numbers, 
statistics, estimates poured into 
our ears. While it is crucial to 
be aware of current events and 
their impacts, it is purposeless 
if you are not able to understand 
and empathize with what the 
current events mean. And that 
is exactly the problem we are 
facing with each generation, 
each progressively less able 
to comprehend the severity of 
these issues. 

We are becoming an increas-

ingly desensitized society. We 
are unable to put intense situ-
ations into perspective. Part of 

it is simple, human nature. The 
disparity between 10,000 and 
11,000 lives lost is not something 
we are able to process instan-
taneously, especially when we 
are flooded with the news of 
death every day; it floats over 
our heads. Many of us do not 
really feel an elevated sense of 
despair when we hear the num-
ber of malnourished children in 
Yemen could increase from 2.2 
million to 2.4 million by the end 
of this year. What does two mil-
lion mean? The majority of us 
have not been exposed to this 
immense of a number, making 
it unimaginable to visualize its 
scope in global and historical 
situations. Wislawa Szymbor-
ska, a Nobel Peace Prize recipi-
ent, elaborates on the concept 
of counting the dead: “history 
counts its skeletons in round 
numbers. A thousand and one 
remains a thousand, as though 
the one had never existed.”

If we are unable to truly com-

prehend damage, it becomes 
impossible to understand the 
severity of the events we are 
experiencing globally. We get 
accustomed 
to 
listening 
to 

large, hollow numbers and our 

ability to empathize with oth-
ers diminishes. We derogate 
from the actual loss of human 
lives. 

This 
mindset 
is 
actively 

reflected in our society today. 
Whether or not you agree teen-
agers and children should have 
access to violent games is a 
separate conversation. But the 
fact of the matter is that many 
popular games give exposure 
to graphic events like decapi-
tation, headshots, murder and 
rape. These exposures have a 
hand in desensitizing children 
to the weight of violence. If a 
13-year-old spends an hour a 
day working on their headshot 
capabilities in Call of Duty, it is 
inevitably harder for them to be 
moved when a similar situation 
reaches the headlines. 

We need to start looking at 

the numbers — even the very 
small ones — and take a minute 
to stop and digest. Take a min-
ute to think about if the person 
who got shot was someone you 
loved, if the rape victim was a 
member of your family, if the 
person who got run down by a 
car was your best friend, if the 
victim of suicide was someone 

you personally knew. They are 
incredibly uncomfortable situ-
ations to willingly put yourself 
in, but nothing is worth sacri-
ficing what makes you human 
and what gives you the ability 
to empathize. If we make con-
textualizing 
these 
tragedies 

a habit, it can become easier 
to understand the devastation 
behind global events. I don’t 
think I can ever understand 
what 10,000 deaths means. I 
honestly have tried; I sit idle 
and reflect on what that number 
looks like. But I can’t seem to 
wrap my mind around its mag-
nitude. But making an honest 
attempt counts for something, 
paving the way to becoming 
more aware of the impact sta-
tistics have beyond their place 
in a news article. We need to 
focus on what makes us human: 
a sense of shared mortality, 
loss, a unity that goes beyond 
the limits of race, religion or 
nationality. Being bombarded 
by numbers that continue to 
desensitize us is what makes 
calamity seem trivialized, a 
mentality that goes against our 
humanity: a calamity in and of 
itself.

Photo by Marcus Spiske via Unsplash

SYEDA MAHA

MiC Columnist

United Statement: Uplifting Diverse Indigenous Ontologies 
We students find it imperative The University of Michigan accom-

modates institutional space for Diverse Indigenous Ontologies to take 
part in weaving our shared sustainable future through Decolonizing 

Pedagogies. Only through creating an ethics of reciprocity between the 
University of Michigan and the World will we be able to truly create an 

inclusive UofM. 

The United Statement and all demands of the Decolonizing Pedago-
gies Initiative (DPI) are made relevant by The University of Michi-

gan’s existing mission statement:

“The mission of the University of Michigan is to serve the people of 

Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicat-
ing, preserving and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and 
in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and 

enrich the future.”

Go to https://www.seedsforchange.ca/decolonizingpedagogiesinitiative for 

more on the initiative and access to the full United Statement. 

1. Considering the University of Michigan was founded following the 

establishment of The Fort Meigs Treaty, we assert that the Treaty be rec-
ognized beyond Land Acknowledgement and used as a reputable refer-
ence of Anishinaabek land and cultural rights, operating as a central focus 
for all University affairs. An Institutional Territorial Land Acknowledge-
ment must exist to function as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 
for the Anishinaabek, Decolonial Faculty/Staff, Global Indigenous Facul-
ty/Staff/Students and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Unit Plan Contacts. 

2. A DPI Taskforce be created in evaluating and meeting the continu-

ous needs of Anishinaabek and Global Indigenous students to serve a 
living document to the Board of Regents that reinforce the most recent 
Native American Student Task Force Committee Demands. 

3. In an effort to combat The University of Michigan’s systemic era-

sure, we assert that Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island be represented by 
the name of their respective Nation, Tribe, Band or language family and 
not by terms imposed on them (e.g., “[American] Indian”), unless Indig-
enous stakeholders (e.g. Tribal Elders, Indigenous Community Leaders) 
explicitly request that the The University of Michigan reference them as 
Native American/American Indian, etc. 

4. Indigenous people of East Pacific, North Pacific and South Pacific 

descent be represented by their respective islands of Polynesian, Mela-
nesian, Micronesian and Australasian heritage. Terms such as ‘Pacific 
Islander’ must be respective of their diverse Indigenous ontologies with-
out omitting Indigenous people of New Zealand and Australia. Like the 
term Oceania, it must reflect all of Australia, Melanesia, Micronesia, 
Polynesia and some identifying populations of The Philippines. Indig-
enous communities depend on Michigan’s academic leadership to sustain 
lands, cultures and people far beyond Michigan’s state lines. For diverse 
students of Oceania to truly belong at The University of Michigan, Michi-
gan’s structures and definitions must reflect their ontologies.

5. First Nations of Canada, Indigenous South Americans, Mesoameri-

cans, Afro Caribbeans, Black Natives be regarded with rising respect and 
visibility as Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island. 

6. The University’s implementation of the Michigan Indian Tuition 

Waiver (MITW) be expanded beyond state law to support all First 
Nations Canadian and American Indigenous bands/tribes —- regardless 
of phenotype, enrollment status, federal recognition or blood quantum 
under the requirement that the Anishinaabek community members of 
Canada, North Dakota, Wyoming, Kansa, Montana, Wisconsin, Michi-
gan and Minnesota gain priority in the MITW. The University of Michi-
gan must heed their responsibility to the Treaty of Fort Meigs by further 
encouraging institutional action that serves and works towards Indige-
nous and traditional knowledge systems that are overshadowed, ignored 
or suppressed by present programming developed within their settler-
colonial model. 

7. Make Higher Education accessible to Indigenous individuals impact-

ed by generational traumas/erasure from Indian Child Welfare Act 
(ICWA), Foster care, Adoption, Removal and Boarding Schools (geno-
cide pedagogy). This includes Black Natives (unenrolled and enrolled), 
Displaced Natives, Urban Natives, Indigenous Bands/Tribes predat-
ing American borders, Federally non-recognized tribes and unenrolled 
Native Americans (all of which are not currently (2020) represented at 
The University of Michigan). 

8. Restore Indigenous ecological management into University of Mich-

igan’s Carbon Neutrality initiative. We believe ‘establishing an effec-
tive path toward carbon neutrality for the University’s community and 
beyond’ must include Global Indigenous traditions, sustainable science, 
resource management, land management, food production, traditional 
environmental management, practices and processes included within the 
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2030 agenda.

Solidarity Statement:

This document was written and developed by Decolonial Academics 

throughout Turtle Island and The University of Michigan. On behalf of 
Anishinaabek Latinx, Taíno, Kanaka Maoli, Maori, Cook Island, Native 
American, Black Natives, Displaced Natives, Enrolled Natives, Unen-
rolled Natives, Native Americans impacted by erasure, Native Ameri-
cans impacted by climate change, Native Americans impacted by ICWA, 
Native Americans of Foster Care Systems, Native Americans ‘discon-
nected’ by adoption, Native Americans impacted by generational trauma, 
Native Americans impacted by boarding school pedagogy, Native Ameri-
can and global Indigenous students and alumni impacted by genocide and 
climate change ask The University of Michigan to heed our statement and 
begin restoring their Treaty obligation by decolonizing The University of 
Michigan’s Pedagogies. 

All proposals entailed are intended to have elastic quality and benefit all 

Michigan students across all three campuses from the liberation of Indig-
enous epistemologies and pedagogies. All proposals made by students are 
to be verified and developed by Anishinaabek community Elders/leaders 
and Decolonial Scholars throughout the Great Lakes Region and beyond 
with an official Task Force to develop DPI into sustainable action.

The United Statement respectfully acknowledges the abolishment of 

Prop 2/Affirmative Action within The University of Michigan’s three 
respective campuses. However, we ask The University of Michigan 
continue to enhance support for all marginalized students beyond race, 
gender, ethnicity or national origin in student success programming to 
recruit, retain and sustain students impacted by climate change, natural 
disaster, lack of clean water, economic deprivation, settler-colonialism, 
genocide, malnourishment, generational trauma, urbanization, erasure 
and Tribal Sovereignty. 

Roxana Tanginya contributed to the formation of this piece.

Statement of solidarity
with Indigenous struggle

SAMARA JULIA JACKSON TOBEY

MiC Contributor

