A PERFECT CIRCLE BOUND IN CHAINS: Creole-NDN Health, Historical Trauma, and Settler Colonialism

Our people of Louisiana are in the midst of a crisis; not only are we fighting to retain our culture, landbases, and languages as Creole-NDN people, but we are fighting to simply stay alive. Afro-Indigenous struggles with systemic wellness issues of diabetes, autoimmune disease, heart disease, mental health disorders, and cyclical domestic and sexual violence are forever chained to our communities through the institutions of colonization, slavery, racism, and Indigenous erasure. These issues will continue to repeat themselves in a perfect circle because our stories are ingrained into our DNA as survivors representing the Indigenous diaspora of the South. Creole-NDN