Indigenous Knowledge

Collaborative methods: a comparison of subfield styles

by Rena Lederman

Written oral history: Dimensions of identity of Chukotka’s indigenous people in the works of Rytkheu

by Ivan Sablin

published in AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, vol. 8, no. 1, 2012, pp. 27–41.

Through the examination of two autobiographic works of Chukchi writer, Rytkheu, this study demonstrates the research... more Through the examination of two autobiographic works of Chukchi writer, Rytkheu, this study demonstrates the research potential of indigenous literatures, offering a new perspective on the past and present of indigenous peoples. The study seeks to provide new interpretations of identity in Chukotka, the northeastern extremity of Asia, of the 1930s and 1940s and to contribute to the identity debate in indigenous studies. In the article identity is understood as a multidimensional whole, with the discussed dimensions being based on ethnicity, nationality, occupation and place of residence. The article pre-eminently addresses the identity of the coastal sea-mammal hunters of Chukotka.

Review of 'The Biggest Estate on Earth' by Bill Gammage

by Timothy Neale

Arena magazine, 116, February 2012, 51-2

Naturalistic Observation in the Hispanic World and its Contribution to the Development of Comparative Psychology

by José Javier Campos-Bueno

Campos Bueno, José Javier y Montoya , Pedro y Birbaumer, Niels (2011) Naturalistic Observation in the Hispanic World and its Contribution to the Development of Comparative Psychology. Psychologia Latina, 2 (1). pp. 1-10. ISSN 2171-6609

The observation and descriptions of animal’s behavior and emotions from the New World began shortly after the arrival... more The observation and descriptions of animal’s behavior and emotions from the New World began shortly after the arrival of Spaniards in America. The discovery of the Indian natives and completely unknown species in Europe sparked a great interest in pioneers like Álvarez Chanca, Fernández de Oviedo, Cieza de León, Sahagún, Francisco Hernández, Acosta, Cobo or much later by Azara. In our opinion, these studies provided the basis for the study of animal behavior and emotions in the New and the Old World and allowed a new understanding of the Natural History and the relationship between structure and function. It is likely that these findings were crucial for the work of Charles Darwin three Centuries later. Moreover, it is suggested that the future development of Comparative Psychology based on Darwin and Romanes work, based its roots in the work and observations of these early pioneers.

Afterword -- Occupy Education: Learning and Living Sustainability by Tina Lynn Evans (Peter Lang, 2012)

by Richard Kahn

Forthcoming book. Order one today!

A kind of manifesto statement on the current state of the so-called socio-cultural turn in environmental education and... more A kind of manifesto statement on the current state of the so-called socio-cultural turn in environmental education and the ecological turn in critical pedagogy, as both move to frameworks of decolonization and hopeful dialogue and solidarity with sovereignty activists and indigenous scholars/educators. A call for hope in the form of the "wild jeremiad" is issued.

2011, Autochthony as Capital in a Global Age, in Theory, Culture & Society , vol. 28 no. 1 34-54

by Mathieu Hilgers

For a little over a decade we have been witnessing a profusion of discourses on autochthony — that is, an original... more For a little over a decade we have been witnessing a profusion of discourses on autochthony — that is, an original belonging to a group or territory — in many parts of the world. A global approach to this question first requires a look at the principle of autochthony and its genealogy. Starting from African examples, places of prolific expression of the phenomenon, this article shows how autochthony plays the role of capital that can be invested, valued and profited from. The structure of this capital carries within itself the seeds of conflict. The article analyses how the stabilization of its value requires the execution of specific strategies. Among these strategies, I will focus in greater depth on voting. The relationship between capital, autochthony and elections will thus bring us back to debates that animate political science: in new municipalities, autochthony as capital is at the heart of candidate selection, suffrage, political participation and citizenship.

Gardens at home, gardens at school: Diet and food crop diversity in two Q'eqchi'communities in Southern Belize

by douglas reeser

A district-wide school garden project has been initiated in the Toledo District of Southern Belize in response to... more A district-wide school garden project has been initiated in the Toledo District of Southern Belize in response to reported high rates of poverty and undernutrition. This paper will discuss research conducted in the summer of 2007 with Q'eqchi' Maya in the Toledo District to determine the effect of school gardens on household diet and gardening, the composition of the household diet, and the makeup of homegardens. Food frequency questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted in two rural villages, one with a school garden program and one without. Various members of NGOs working on school garden projects in the district were also interviewed about the functionality and purpose of the projects. Results discussed herein include the limited effects of the school garden program, the role that both homegardens and school gardens play in household diet and nutrition, the diverse array of fruit trees utilized by the Q’eqchi, and a description and inventory of a typical Q'eqchi' homegarden in Belize.

The Number in my Pocket: the Power of Mobile Technology for the Exchange of Indigenous Knowledge

by Niall McNulty

Co-authored with Elizabeth Greyling. Published in conference proceedings 'IKTC2011: Embracing Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a New Technology Design Paradigm'

The last decade has seen the development of online databases becoming an established norm throughout the world for the... more The last decade has seen the development of online databases becoming an established norm throughout the world for the preservation of Indigenous Knowledge. However, in the absence of desktop computers and ubiquitous Internet access, Africa is limping behind in this quest for global information, with the digital divide ever widening and the wealth of Indigenous Knowledge fast disappearing for the people of this continent. In a bid to address these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Africa is recognizing the potential of the mobile phone to enable the continent to catch up with the global information society. Since 2000 some 316 million new mobile phone subscriptions have emerged on the African continent. For them the cell phone has become an information hub, the primary interface through which to connect to Africa and to the rest of the world. A recent, promising development has been the introduction of browsers on mobile phones. This, combined with the 3G network all cellular providers have migrated to, means that ordinary Africans are accessing the Internet from their phones in ever-increasing numbers. The success of a number of Internet-based mobile applications means that the average cell phone user now associates his phone with more than just the calls he makes or text messages he sends. He can also play music, show video, find out where he is via GPS and access local and global information. This paper describes a concept for the development of user- generated content compiled in an online Indigenous Knowledge database, making use of current mobile and web technologies. Informed by empirical practice based on a real African case-study, the different tools are discussed, highlighting the interaction between the library, the community and the technologies. The participating role of local communities leading to enrichment of the database is juxtaposed against the library’s anchor role as custodian of the knowledge resource. The preservation of context- related local knowledge creates a digital library of relevance to local communities. Technical functionality enables the social interaction that results from knowledge sharing. Short and long term benefits that the community stands to gain are discussed and the limitations of the model pointed out.

Beyond the Brink: Indigenous Women's Agency and the Colonization of Knowledge in the Maid of the Mist Myth

by Robinder Sehdev

Forthcoming 2012. Cultural Studies Review.

The myth of the Maid of the Mist of Niagara Falls is a settler story of an Indigenous woman who kills herself by... more The myth of the Maid of the Mist of Niagara Falls is a settler story of an Indigenous woman who kills herself by piloting her canoe over the cataract. This is presented not as a tragedy, but as a cultural necessity. So compelling was this settler myth that until recently it was the focus of settler cultural production at Niagara. I argue that the creation and subsequent fixation upon the myth attempted to displace Indigenous stories, and the centrality of Indigenous women to Indigenous epistemologies and in decolonial action. The recent move to banish the myth from tourist audiences does further violence by moving colonial cultural production to the fringes of visibility and away from critical interrogation. The myth and the ways it is called upon and subsequently banished indicates the normalizing practices of settler colonialism and must be pulled from the brink of unnameability and unknowability into critical discourse.

Reassembling Ethnographic Museum Collections

by Rodney Harrison

This is the final submitted version of a review chapter that will appear as the Introduction to Rodney Harrison, Sarah Byrne and Anne Clarke (eds) Reassembling the Collection: Ethnographic Museums and Indigenous Agency, to be published by SAR Press

This volume addresses itself to fundamental questions about the nature, value and efficacy of museum collections in a... more This volume addresses itself to fundamental questions about the nature, value and efficacy of museum collections in a postcolonial world, and the agency of indigenous people in their production. Its primary focus lies with those objects which, by way of their specific histories, have been defined as ‘ethnographic’, however, the question of the contexts in which things are defined as ‘art’ as opposed to ‘artifact’ (e.g. Clifford 1988, 1997; Danto 1988; Putnam 1991; Marcus and Myers 1995; Gell 1998; Thomas 1999; Myers 2001) also constitutes a key concern. The book is most appropriately situated within the context of various postcolonial critiques of the role of museums and museum collections in the politics of indigenous representation (e.g. Clifford 1988; 1995; O’Hanlon 1993; Greenfield 1996; Lidchi 1997; Barringer and Flynn 1998; Russell 2001; Karp and Levine 2001; Fforde, Hubert and Turnbull 2002; Kramer 2006; Cuno 2008; Lonetree and Cobb 2008; Sleeper-Smith 2009), and a reaction to the perception that indigenous people had little or no ‘agency’ in the processes which were responsible for the genesis of ethnographic museum collections (themselves largely a phenomenon of the exercising of asymmetrical colonial power relations in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries). Nonetheless, in seeing this book as a product of that literature and its accompanying themes, what sets it apart from much of the current literature is that it makes a significant attempt to move beyond the concerns of the politics of representation which have tended to dominate critical museum studies (Macdonald 2011), to consider the affective qualities of things alongside their representational role within the museum. Similarly, in considering the complex material and social interactions of things, people and institutions which constitute ethnographic collections, we attempt to move beyond the observation that indigenous people and ethnographic objects ‘had (and continue to have) agency’, to consider how concepts of agency and indigeneity need to be reconfigured in the light of their study within the context of the museum. In doing so, the volume develops a series of new concepts and considers their application to historical and contemporary engagements between ethnographic museums and the various individuals and communities who were (and are) involved in their production. The themes of the volume have profound implications not only for understanding the ongoing processes which have formed museum collections in the past and present, but also for developing new and innovative curatorial practices in the future. Key concepts include the idea of museums as meshworks and material/social assemblages; the ways in which the application of an ‘archaeological sensibility’ might inform approaches to understanding the past and present relationships between people, ‘things’ and institutions in relation to museums; and the ‘curatorial responsibility’ which arises from a reconsideration of the nature of museum ‘objects’.

Singapore's Orang Seletar, Orang Kallang, and Orang Selat: The Last Settlements

by Mariam Ali

“Unwritten, unsaid, just known”: the role of Indigenous knowledge(s) in water planning in Australia

by John Mackenzie

Margaret Ayre & John Mackenzie (2012): “Unwritten, unsaid, just known”: the role of Indigenous knowledge(s) in water planning in Australia, Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, DOI:10.1080/13549839.2012.665864

Water planning processes in Australia have struggled to account for Indigenous interests and rights in water,... more Water planning processes in Australia have struggled to account for Indigenous interests and rights in water, including the use of Indigenous knowledge in water management. In exploring the role of Indigenous knowledge in government-led water planning processes, how might tensions between Western scientific and Indigenous knowledges be lessened? Drawing on two case studies from northern Australia we examine how Indigenous knowledge is represented and managed as a different social knowledge to that of Western science in a management context where legal and planning conventions assume priority. The role of Indigenous (social) knowledges in developing options and strategies for sustainable water management is contingent upon the participation of Indigenous people in water planning. We suggest that water planning processes must contain the possibility of an explicit approach to mutual recognition and consequent translation of the conceptual and pragmatic bases of water management and planning in both Western scientific and Indigenous domains.

Keywords: Indigenous knowledge; water planning; sustainability; translation

Removing the Heart of the Choctaw People: Indian 'Removal' From a Native Perpective

by Donna L Akers, Ph.D.

Indigenous knowledges, sustainable development and the environment: implications for research, education and capacity building

by Blane Harvey

Convenio169enMexicoyGuatemala

by Bernardo Mendez Lugo

Pristine Wilderness, Participatory Archaeology and the Custodianship of Heritage in Mursiland

by Tim Clack

co-authored with Dr Marcus Brittain (CAU, University of Cambridge, UK)


In Mol, L. & T. Sternberg (eds.). 2012. Changing Deserts: Integrating People and Their Environment, Strond: The White Horse Press, pp.192-212.

This chapter explores the imposition, character and history of notions of 'pristine wilderness' in parts of S. W.... more This chapter explores the imposition, character and history of notions of 'pristine wilderness' in parts of S. W. Ethiopia. Moreover, exploration, conservation policy and development initiatives are also considered in addition to the value of anthropological approaches to archaeology in understanding cultural heritage.

AN OPEN LETTER TO CAMERON COUNTY COMMISSION

by MARGO TAMEZ

Published in The Crit Legal Studies Journal, Vol. 2, Issue 1, Winter 2009

SPACE, POSITION AND IMPERIALISM IN SOUTH TEXAS

by MARGO TAMEZ

In, Chicana/Latina Studies, 7:2, Spring 2008

'Our Way of Life is Our Resistance': Indigenous Women and Anti-Imperialist Challeges to Militarization along the U.S.-Mexico Border Wall

by MARGO TAMEZ

Ryser West Mexico’s Ancient Knowledge Systems 10feb12

by Rudolph Ryser