Territorial Acknowledgementchoa’s fifth volume explores the complexities of 이별 i-byeol—farewell, parting—with people, places, oneself, and/or the intangible. We also explore the many forms it can take.
Sometimes, i-byeol can be a quiet decision made by individuals. More often than not, entire communities are violently separated from their families, homes, motherlands, culture, and traditions. We mourn and remember the many women and girls who lost their lives to colonization, genocide, war, enslavement, military and police forces, and many other forms of systemic and state-sanctioned violence that have made it unsafe to move through this world in female bodies. This is choa’s own i-byeol to this space we have built together and to the stories we have shared. With this final volume, we are able to say goodbye on our own terms. We are grateful to have collectively built something with love and to say goodbye in ways that are meaningful to us. We are grateful to the sisters, daughters, mothers, and aunts; the knowledge keepers, land stewards, and water protectors; and the journalists, activists, teachers, artists, scientists, and others who have made it possible. We honour the infinite wisdom and generosity of these women who resisted, fought, and endured—and those who continue to do so—toward liberation and justice. We acknowledge that this kind of love and hope requires accountability, and that we are responsible to each other and to upholding our treaty agreement for as long as “the sun shines, the grass grows, and rivers flow.” May we continue to be our ancestors’ wildest dreams. May we do the same for our future ancestors. |
