Silencing indigenous pasts: critical Indigenous theory and the history of psychedelics
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education – June 21, 2021
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
Many histories of psychedelics, including psilocybin, perpetuate colonial narratives by centering on white male experiences. Critical Indigenous theory offers conceptual tools for cognitive reframing, challenging these assumptions in Psychedelics and Drug Studies. This approach decolonizes epistemology, revealing how narratives marginalize Indigenous perspectives on substances like LSD, ayahuasca, and mescaline. Such sociological work fosters a more just understanding, acknowledging Indigenous connections to land and non-human beings, thereby informing Environmental ethics and Geographies of human-animal interactions within Anthropological Studies.
Abstract
In this manuscript, I reflect on how Critical Indigenous theory offers white historians like myself powerful conceptual tools to combat the underlying, historically-rooted colonial assumptions prevalent in their work, specifically within the subfield of psychedelic history. Histories of compounds like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, ayahuasca, and mescaline often center themselves on the experiences of white male researchers, clinicians, politicians, and countercultural leaders. These colonizing narratives exoticize, marginalize, and/or misinterpret Indigenous histories of these substances. While important work is being done to address this academic inequity, Critical Indigenous Theoretical perspectives and approaches could help historians reframe their characterizations of Indigenous communities' relationships with psychedelics. I explore these ideas through a critical examination of my own previous writing and current projects. This section identifies how I intend to carry the lessons of Critical Indigenous Theories forward in my present and future scholarly work.