A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

Colonialism is when one country acquires political control over another country, sending settlers to live in said country and exploiting it for economic gain. In the context of this book, Elliott specifically refers to the colonialism exerted over the Americas, when settlers forced her First Nations ancestors off of their lands in order to exploit their resources. In a contemporary context, colonialism can take on a slightly different meaning, as the settlement has already taken place, but members of Indigenous nations are still being exploited.

Often referred to as the Iroquois, a term used by French settlers which many consider derogatory, this Indigenous confederacy’s actual name is the Haudenosaunee, meaning “People of the Long House.” They are still commonly referred to as Six Nations, and this confederacy of Indigenous nations populated northeast America prior to their displacement by colonizing European nations. It is made up of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, and Elliott is a member of the Mohawk Nation and therefore is considered to be Haudenosaunee.

The Mohawk tribe is the most eastern part of the Haudenosaunee Confederation, and this is also the English name for their language, the Kahnyen’kehàka language. Elliott’s sister Missy took it upon herself to reconnect to her Indigenous language, and Elliott got the idea for the name of her book by talking to Missy about the Mohawk word for depression—an interaction that is depicted in the first essay, also titled “A Mind Spread Out on the Ground.”

A nation state is a territory that a government has control over, as well as a population of people who identify with that state, forming a nation. These people share common qualities factors such as language, heritage, or other aspects of ethnicity. The term nation-state is more precise than “country,” since a country is not defined by an homogeneous ethnic group. Elliott uses this term to add nuance to her descriptions of oppression of Indigenous people, because although Indigenous people live inside the country and state that is Canada, they may be a part of a different nation, and the ethnicity of the people that are most commonly perpetuating violence against Indigenous people have been European settlers and their descendants.

In the Kahnyen’kehàka (Mohawk) language, Onkwehonwe translates to “the original or first people,” also called the people of the Six Nations or the Haudenosaunee.

A reservation, or colloquially known as a rez, is a legal term for an area of land managed by a federally recognized Indigenous tribe. Elliott lives on and off of the reservation for her and other members of the Six Nations, and brings up the poor conditions Indigenous people are forced to live on as the government does not make certain these areas have access to clean, running water or safe schools.