Paper Short Abstract:

Silence entails different meanings. It can indicate a state of subjugation as well as acts of resistance. The paper analyses the notion of silence in relation to the coloniality of power and its repercussions on a Diné indigenous community on the Navajo-Hopi territory in North America.

Paper Abstract:

Silence entails different meanings. It can indicate a state of subjugation whereby a community is being coerced into silence or it can signify a form of resistance as the act of silence may entail a choice endorsed in response to domination. The tensions in between meanings are a constant as anthropologists attempt to de-code silence in different socio-cultural contexts within histories of colonial domination where indigenous communities continue to struggle and resist new forms of displacement. In this paper I analyse the notion of silence in relation to the coloniality of power and its repercussions on a Diné (Navajo) indigenous community from Big Mountain, a remote region located on the Navajo-Hopi disputed land in the state of Arizona (USA). Diné communities like many other indigenous native tribes across the Americas, have faced colonial domination throughout centuries. In present times, they still experience the repercussions of a colonial legacy, which continues to disrupt their lives. The struggle for survival is the norm while resiliency is the driving force that enables indigenous peoples to thrive in the pursuit of their daily living and wellbeing. The weight of colonial disruption is still omnipresent and to decipher the meaning of silence within its oppressive and hostile reverberations is not a straightforward matter. The analysis in this paper is structured within an interdisciplinary methodological approach, which takes into reflection the notion of “historical trauma” with the aim to deepen even further the question of silence in post-colonial indigenous societies.