Decolonizing Joy: Reclaiming Indigenous Celebration

BY NICOLE LAU

Rhythm, Dance, and Embodiment as Resistance

"Why was joy suppressed?"

This is not just historical curiosity.

This is about understanding:

• Why embodied, joyful practices were criminalized
• How colonialism systematically destroyed celebration
• Why reclaiming joy is decolonization
• How to engage respectfully with indigenous traditions

Because the suppression of joy was not accidental.

It was strategic.

Colonial powers knew:

Joyful people are harder to control.

This article explores:

• Colonial suppression of joyful traditions
• Reclaiming rhythm, dance, embodiment
• Indigenous joy as resistance
• Syncretism and cultural appropriation
• Respectful engagement

Because reclaiming joy is not just personal.

It's political. It's decolonization.

I. Colonial Suppression of Joy

A. The Pattern

Across colonized lands, the same pattern:

1. Identify joyful practices: Drumming, dancing, ceremony, embodied rituals
2. Criminalize them: Make them illegal, punishable
3. Replace with suffering-based religion: Christianity emphasizing sin, suffering, denial
4. Break the spirit: Destroy community, culture, resistance

This happened everywhere colonizers went.

B. Examples

1. Indigenous Americas:

• Ghost Dance banned (1890): Native American spiritual movement, dancing for renewal, outlawed by US government
• Potlatch banned (1885-1951): Pacific Northwest ceremony with feasting, dancing, gift-giving, illegal in Canada for 66 years
• Sun Dance suppressed: Plains tribes' sacred ceremony, banned, practitioners jailed
• Drumming criminalized: Drums confiscated, destroyed

2. Africa and African Diaspora:

• Drumming banned: In slavery, drums outlawed (feared communication, uprising)
• Dance criminalized: African dances seen as "savage," forbidden
• Vodou/Candomblé/Santería suppressed: Afro-Caribbean religions with drumming, dance, possession, criminalized
• Replaced with: Christianity, but traditions survived underground

3. Indigenous Australia:

• Corroboree banned: Aboriginal ceremonies with dance, song, storytelling, outlawed
• Language suppressed: Speaking native languages punished
• Children stolen: Removed from families, forced into Christian schools, culture erased

4. Polynesia:

• Hula banned (1830s): Hawaiian sacred dance, outlawed by Christian missionaries
• Tattoo banned: Polynesian body art, spiritual practice, criminalized
• Chanting suppressed: Oral traditions, ceremonies, forbidden

The pattern is global and systematic.

C. Why Joy Was Targeted

Colonial powers understood:

1. Joy builds community:

• Dancing together creates bonds
• Drumming synchronizes people
• Ceremony builds collective identity
• Strong communities resist

2. Joy maintains culture:

• Traditions passed through celebration
• Stories told through dance
• Identity preserved in ritual
• Culture survives through joy

3. Joy creates power:

• Joyful people have agency
• Celebration is empowering
• Hard to control people who celebrate
• Must break their spirit

4. Joy is embodied:

• Body-based practices
• Sensual, alive
• Threatens Christian body-denial
• Must suppress the body

Suppressing joy was strategic genocide.

II. Reclaiming Rhythm

A. The Drum as Resistance

Why drums were banned:

• Communication (could organize resistance)
• Trance induction (altered states, spiritual power)
• Community building (drumming together = unity)
• Cultural identity (drum = heartbeat of culture)

Reclaiming the drum:

• Indigenous communities bringing back drumming
• Drum circles in schools, prisons, communities
• Healing through rhythm
• Resistance through sound

B. Contemporary Examples

1. Taiko (Japanese drumming):

• Revived in 1950s-60s
• Now global movement
• Community, power, cultural pride
• Embodied, joyful practice

2. West African drumming diaspora:

• Djembe, dunun traditions
• Brought to Americas through slavery
• Survived, evolved (jazz, blues, hip-hop)
• Now taught globally
• Reclaiming African roots

3. Native American drum circles:

• Powwows revived
• Drumming central to ceremony
• Cultural resurgence
• Healing intergenerational trauma

C. Rhythm as Medicine

From Article 24 (Rhythm as Consciousness Technology):

• Rhythm entrains nervous system
• Creates coherence
• Induces trance, healing states
• Builds community through synchrony

Indigenous peoples always knew this.

Colonizers suppressed it because it works.

III. Reclaiming Dance

A. Dance as Cultural Survival

When language is banned, dance remembers:

• Stories encoded in movement
• History passed through body
• Identity preserved in gesture
• Culture survives in dance

Examples:

• Hula: Banned, then revived, now central to Hawaiian identity
• Capoeira: Brazilian martial art disguised as dance, resistance to slavery
• Flamenco: Romani resistance through dance, survival of persecution
• Powwow dances: Native American cultural resurgence

B. Contemporary Reclamation

1. Hula renaissance:

• 1970s cultural revival
• Reclaiming sacred dance
• Teaching new generations
• Resistance to cultural erasure

2. Aboriginal dance revival:

• Corroboree returning
• Teaching in schools
• Healing through movement
• Cultural pride

3. African diaspora dance:

• Afro-Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, Afro-Caribbean
• Reclaiming African roots
• Celebrating heritage
• Resistance through joy

C. Dance as Decolonization

When you dance your ancestors' dances:

• You reclaim stolen culture
• You resist erasure
• You heal intergenerational trauma
• You embody resistance

This is not just personal healing. This is political act.

IV. Reclaiming Embodiment

A. The War on the Body

Colonialism + Christianity = body denial:

• Body is sinful
• Flesh must be mortified
• Pleasure is dangerous
• Spirit good, body bad

This replaced indigenous embodied spirituality:

• Body as sacred
• Pleasure as spiritual
• Embodiment as path
• Integration, not denial

B. Reclaiming the Sacred Body

Contemporary movements:

• Somatic practices: Reconnecting with body wisdom
• Ecstatic dance: Embodied spirituality
• Tantra: Sacred sexuality (though often appropriated)
• Yoga: Embodied practice (also often appropriated)

Indigenous traditions that survived:

• Candomblé/Santería: Possession, embodied divinity
• Vodou: Lwa riding the body
• Native American sweat lodge: Body purification, sacred
• Polynesian tattoo: Body as sacred text

C. The Politics of Embodiment

Reclaiming embodiment is:

• Rejecting colonial body-shame
• Resisting Christian body-denial
• Affirming indigenous body-wisdom
• Decolonizing spirituality

Your embodied joy is resistance.

V. Indigenous Joy as Resistance

A. Survival Through Celebration

Despite genocide, indigenous peoples survived through:

• Maintaining ceremony (underground when necessary)
• Passing traditions to children
• Adapting, syncretizing
• Never giving up joy

This is resistance.

B. Contemporary Examples

1. Standing Rock (Article 36):

• Water protectors dancing, drumming, praying
• Joy in face of militarized police
• Ceremony as resistance
• Celebration sustaining the fight

2. Idle No More:

• Indigenous rights movement
• Round dances in malls, public spaces
• Joyful, visible resistance
• Reclaiming space through dance

3. Māori haka:

• Traditional war dance
• Now performed at protests, sports, ceremonies
• Powerful, embodied, joyful
• Cultural pride and resistance

C. Joy as Refusal

From Article 33 (Politics of Joy):

• Colonizers wanted indigenous peoples broken
• Celebrating is refusal to be broken
• Joy says: "You didn't destroy us"
• This is resistance

Indigenous joy is revolutionary.

VI. Syncretism and Appropriation

A. Syncretism: Survival Strategy

Syncretism: Blending traditions

Examples:

• Santería: Yoruba orishas + Catholic saints
• Candomblé: African deities + Christian veneer
• Vodou: West African + Catholicism
• Day of the Dead: Indigenous + Catholic

Why:

• Survival (hide indigenous practice behind Christian facade)
• Resistance (maintain culture while appearing compliant)
• Genuine integration (both traditions meaningful)

Syncretism is not dilution. It's survival and creativity.

B. Cultural Appropriation: The Problem

Appropriation: Taking without permission, context, or respect

Examples:

• White people wearing Native headdresses at festivals
• Yoga stripped of Hindu context, commodified
• "Shamanic" retreats led by non-indigenous people
• Smudging sold as "wellness" without indigenous permission

Why it's harmful:

• Erases indigenous people
• Profits from stolen culture
• Strips sacred practices of meaning
• Continues colonial extraction

C. The Difference

Syncretism (by indigenous peoples):

• Survival strategy
• Creative adaptation
• Maintains cultural ownership
• Resistance

Appropriation (by colonizers/settlers):

• Extraction
• Commodification
• Erases indigenous people
• Continues colonialism

Intent doesn't matter. Impact does.

VII. Respectful Engagement

A. Guidelines

If you're not indigenous to a tradition:

1. Learn the history:

• Understand colonization
• Know what was stolen
• Recognize ongoing harm

2. Seek permission:

• Learn from indigenous teachers
• Pay them fairly
• Follow their guidance
• Don't take what's not offered

3. Give credit:

• Name the source
• Acknowledge indigenous origins
• Don't claim as your own

4. Support indigenous communities:

• Financially
• Politically (land back, rights)
• Amplify indigenous voices
• Don't speak over them

5. Stay in your lane:

• Some practices are closed (not for outsiders)
• Respect boundaries
• Don't play shaman if you're not one

B. What You Can Do

Instead of appropriating:

• Learn from your own ancestors: What joyful traditions did they have?
• Support indigenous-led initiatives: Attend events, donate, amplify
• Practice universal principles: Rhythm, dance, embodiment exist in all cultures
• Build your own joyful practice: Inspired by, not stealing from

C. For Indigenous People

Reclaim your traditions:

• Learn from elders
• Teach your children
• Practice openly, proudly
• This is your birthright

You don't need permission to reclaim what's yours.

VIII. The Work of Decolonization

A. Personal Decolonization

For everyone (indigenous and settler):

• Unlearn colonial body-shame
• Reclaim embodied joy
• Question suffering-as-virtue
• Celebrate as resistance

B. Collective Decolonization

Support:

• Land back movements
• Indigenous sovereignty
• Cultural revitalization
• Reparations

C. Spiritual Decolonization

Reject:

• Body-denial spirituality
• Suffering-as-only-path
• Colonial Christianity (when imposed)

Reclaim:

• Embodied spirituality
• Joyful paths
• Indigenous wisdom (respectfully)

Conclusion: Joy is Decolonization

They tried to take our drums.

They tried to ban our dances.

They tried to shame our bodies.

They tried to break our spirits.

But we kept dancing.

Underground, in secret, in our hearts.

We kept the rhythm.

We passed it to our children.

We never stopped celebrating.

And now—

Now we dance openly.

We drum loudly.

We celebrate proudly.

This is resistance.

This is reclamation.

This is decolonization.

Your joy is not frivolous.

Your celebration is not naive.

Your embodied practice is not selfish.

Your joy is revolutionary.

Dance your ancestors' dances.

Drum your people's rhythms.

Reclaim what was stolen.

Celebrate as resistance.

This is decolonizing joy.

Next in this series: "Gender and Joy: Feminine Spirituality" — exploring patriarchal suppression of embodied joy and reclaiming the feminine spiritual traditions of celebration.