Episode's summary
After listening to the Rev Left Radio conversation with Jen and Pavin, I found myself thinking more deeply about Marxism, Indigenous thought, colonialism, land, and the development of capitalism. I shared some of those thoughts in a short reel, and the comment section immediately became a debate. Was Marx an economic determinist? Was he Eurocentric? Did Marx reduce everything to class? Can Marxism and Indigenous thought even be compatible? In this episode of the 7th Generation Podcast, I take those questions seriously. I discuss Marx’s concept of so called primitive accumulation and why capitalism did not emerge peacefully through hard work and entrepreneurship. Capitalism developed through expropriation, colonial conquest, slavery, land theft, and the destruction of ways of living that existed outside capitalist markets. I also look at why primitive accumulation never really ended. Capital still needs land, water, minerals, forests, energy, labor, and new resources to turn into commodities. For Indigenous…
After listening to the Rev Left Radio conversation with Jen and Pavin, I found myself thinking more deeply about Marxism, Indigenous thought, colonialism, land, and the development of capitalism. I shared some of those thoughts in a short reel, and the comment section immediately became a debate. Was Marx an economic determinist? Was he Eurocentric? Did Marx reduce everything to class? Can Marxism and Indigenous thought even be compatible? In this episode of the 7th Generation Podcast, I take those questions seriously. I discuss Marx’s concept of so called primitive accumulation and why capitalism did not emerge peacefully through hard work and entrepreneurship. Capitalism developed through expropriation, colonial conquest, slavery, land theft, and the destruction of ways of living that existed outside capitalist markets. I also look at why primitive accumulation never really ended. Capital still needs land, water, minerals, forests, energy, labor, and new resources to turn into commodities. For Indigenous…
Episodes
Marx Is a Weapon: Capitalism, Colonialism & Indigenous Thought
ListenedAfter listening to the Rev Left Radio conversation with Jen and Pavin, I found myself thinking more deeply about Marxism, Indigenous thought, colonialism, land, and the development of capitalism. I shared some of those thoughts in a short reel, and the comment section immediately became a debate. Was Marx an economic determinist? Was he Eurocentric? Did Marx reduce everything to class? Can Marxism and Indigenous thought even be compatible? In this episode of the 7th Generation Podcast, I take those questions seriously. I discuss Marx’s concept of so called primitive accumulation and why capitalism did not emerge peacefully through hard work and entrepreneurship. Capitalism developed through expropriation, colonial conquest, slavery, land theft, and the destruction of ways of living that existed outside capitalist markets. I also look at why primitive accumulation never really ended. Capital still needs land, water, minerals, forests, energy, labor, and new resources to turn into commodities. For Indigenous…
Missionaries, Indigenous Sovereignty, and the Power of Ideas
ListenedPATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/u40108333 In this episode of the 7th Generation Podcast, I take a closer look at Pastor Sarah Lucas and the controversy surrounding her comments about the Northern Arapaho Sundance and sacred pipe on the Wind River Reservation. This is about more than one pastor. I connect her words to the long history of Christian missionization, boarding schools, the suppression of Native religions, and the effort to replace Indigenous spiritual traditions with Christianity. I also talk about the Northern Arapaho response, tribal sovereignty, and the difference between religious persecution and being held accountable for attacking another people's sacred traditions. Later in the episode, I reflect on a former student who recently came back to find me on campus and reminded me how much influence educators can have without even realizing it. I also talk about Jen Marley and Pavin's appearance on Rev Left Radio and how hearing two young Native intellectuals discuss Marxism, capitalism,…
The Hidden History of Indigenous Slavery with Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez
ListenedIn this episode, I sit down with Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez, founder and president/executive director of Native Bound Unbound: Archive of Indigenous Slavery, for a powerful conversation on the hidden history of Indigenous slavery in the Americas.We discuss the mission of Native Bound Unbound, the history of Indigenous captivity and enslavement, and why this history has been buried for so long. Dr. Rael-Gálvez helps explain how Indigenous slavery operated across the Americas, how it shaped New Mexico specifically, and why the history of Genízaros is central to understanding captivity, survival, identity, and colonial violence in the Southwest.This conversation also gets into the difficult questions: What happens when families discover they descend from enslaved Indigenous people? How do we talk about Indigenous ancestry without romanticizing it? And how do communities confront histories of both survival and complicity?This is a conversation about memory, history, identity, and truth. It is about recovering the…
The Dark Truth of the California Missions & Indigenous Resistance
ListenedIn this episode of the 7th Generation Podcast, we dismantle the sanitized "fourth-grade history project" narrative of the California mission system. We uncover the brutal reality of the 21 missions established by Junípero Serra and the Spanish colonizers, exploring the system of forced labor, cultural erasure, and the devastating demographic collapse that resulted in the deaths of over 64,000 Indigenous people. But we cannot just focus on the tragedy—this is a story of fierce resistance. We highlight the relentless pushback from Native Californians, from everyday acts of defiance to large-scale, organized military uprisings like the Kumeyaay Revolt, Toypurina’s Rebellion at Mission San Gabriel, and the massive Chumash Uprising of 1824. This history is crucial for understanding the systemic violence that Native populations faced even before the state-sanctioned genocide of the Gold Rush era under figures like Serranus Clinton Hastings. If you believe in the importance of teaching accurate, unvarnished…
America at 250: 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance
ListenedSupport the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/u40108333 America is preparing to celebrate 250 years of independence. Fireworks, flags, speeches, and patriotic stories will fill the country. But for Indigenous people, the Fourth of July carries a different memory. 1776 was not freedom for Native nations. In this episode of The 7th Generation Podcast and Dr. B Teaches, Dr. B flips the America 250 celebration and tells a deeper story: more than 500 years of Indigenous resistance across this hemisphere. Before the United States existed, Native people were already resisting European invasion, enslavement, religious violence, land theft, forced labor, and colonial domination. This episode begins in 1492 with Taíno resistance in the Caribbean, then moves through Mexica resistance in Tenochtitlan, Maya resistance in Mexico, the Pueblo Revolt, Powhatan resistance, the Pequot War, Metacom’s War, Pontiac’s War, Tecumseh’s Confederacy, the Seminole Wars, the Trail of Tears, California Native resistance during…