With origins in colonial logics and institutions, language documentation practices can reinforce colonial power hierarchies and norms in ways that work against the needs and values of Indigenous language communities. This paper highlights major patterns through which this occurs, along with their effects, and models how language documentation can be structured in ways that are more grounded in the experiences and perspectives of the communities that use it. I propose decolonial interventions that emerge from Indigenous research principles and perspectives, and illustrate how these practices can better support language community needs while also improving the scientific value of language documentation