Public attention for Indigenous issues has in recent years reemerged at its strongest since the 1970s, through social media campaigns surrounding residential schools and opposing oil pipelines. People around the world now seek to build solidarity with Indigenous North Americans. How can we act as “allies”? This research looks back to the work of white activists for Native North American rights in the US, Canada, and Western Europe from the 1960s to the 1990s, to question how effective solidarity can be built. Using archival research, literary writings, and oral history interviews of members of past white-led rights organizations, this research will uncover how solidarity is shaped by enduring societal structures. This study will both advance the scientific understanding of the structures of whiteness and settler colonialism and their intersections, and lay the groundwork for the research team and collaborators to develop best practices for building solidarity for Indigenous rights.

2023

2027