Native Research Articles

‘Let's Go to the Land Instead’: Indigenous Perspectives on Biodiversity and the Possibilities of Regenerative Capital

AbstractThe land has been a source of capital accumulation since colonization through extractive activities like mining and industrial agriculture. Indigenous peoples have profoundly different relationships with the land, which are more relational than extractive. However, their knowledge has been subjugated by and systematically excluded from Western conservation policies, which are based on colonial modes of control. We begin to address this issue by elaborating on a community‐based participatory project, namely a Conservation Impact Bond (CIB), developed in Canada with Deshkan Ziibiing. This CIB was unique since it combined Indigenous and Western knowledges and aimed at restoring ecosystems by building relationships of kinship between peoples and the land. Based on our findings, we propose a Two‐Eyed Seeing relationship‐building process model – a multi‐stakeholder initiative (MSI) incorporating Indigenous and Western knowledges. We discuss the implications of our findings for mobilizing capital to serve collective rather than private interests while promoting Indigenous resurgence and land regeneration. We suggest shifting from extractive to regenerative capital is necessary to address the climate and biodiversity loss crises. This transformation could be achieved by embracing a relational ontology through Two‐Eyed Seeing.

Entanglement in an Endangered Situation: Paiwan Society and the Conservation of the Mountain Hawk-Eagle

Abstract The mountain hawk-eagle has a special status among the indigenous Paiwan people of Taiwan. This article examines the historical evolution of the use of this eagle’s feathers amid social transformations within Paiwan culture. It also addresses the bird’s endangered status and proposed conservation strategies to protect it. Wildlife management collaborations between indigenous communities and conservationists have sparked conflicts in values and worldviews that are challenging to reconcile. While the Paiwan wish to continue using the eagle’s feathers in important cultural rituals, this increased demand exacerbates hunting pressures on the species. This article seeks to find a better balance between preserving cultural practices and ensuring species survival. Drawing on four years of fieldwork among the Paiwan, it demonstrates the complexities of navigating entangled human–animal relationships in the context of species endangerment.

Teaching Across Culture: Insights from Teachers of Indigenous Elementary Pupils at Gigaquit, Surigao Del Norte: A Narrative Inquiry

This qualitative study delved into the experiences of Mamanwa Tribe teachers educating indigenous elementary students in Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte. Utilizing narrative inquiry and categorical-content analysis, the study highlighted two key themes: the considerable challenges faced by these teachers (such as language barriers and student absenteeism) and the strategies they employed to overcome them (including home visits and parental communication). The findings underscore the necessity for a multi-faceted approach from educational authorities to address these challenges and provide support for teachers in indigenous communities. Recommendations include increased scholarship opportunities and encouragement for indigenous learners to enter the teaching profession, thereby strengthening the ranks of indigenous educators.

Traditional Indigenous-Amazonian Therapy Involving Ceremonial Tobacco Drinking as Medicine: A Transdisciplinary Multi-Epistemic Observational Study.

Although the tobacco plant has been employed as a medicinal and sacred herb by Indigenous cultures across the Americas, its usage drastically changed after the 15th-century colonial arrival; its large-scale commodification and global marketing once brought to Europe lead to hedonic and addictive uses harmful to health. As a consequence, tobacco smoking is now one of the largest public health problems worldwide. However, in the Peruvian Amazon, a region of origin of tobacco species, Indigenous healers still know how to use the plant for therapeutic purposes. Due to a general disregard of Indigenous knowledge and stigma, these uses have however not so far been clinically investigated. We hence conducted for the first time a clinical field study assessing a sample of patients treated by a traditional healer specialized in tobacco in the Peruvian Amazon (observational design, pilot study, N = 27). The study was conducted within a transdisciplinary and multi-epistemic medical frame, in close partnership with an Amazonian healer. We used validated self-report scales to quantitatively assess mental health variables before and after the weeklong treatment, and mixed-methods to report experienced effects. Paired-samples t-tests comparing pre- and post-treatment scores revealed significant reductions in anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and general symptom indicators. Experienced effects included initial physical discomfort, followed by psychologically or existentially/spiritually significant insights. Our findings point to a sophisticated therapeutic approach based on Indigenous knowledge of tobacco applications, which should be further investigated. The study also contributes to the burgeoning scientific field on therapeutic uses of contentious psychoactive plants.

Model Pendidikan Karakter Peduli Lingkungan Berbasis Agama dan Budaya Lokal: Studi Kasus di Masyarakat Adat Kampung Dukuh Kecamatan Cikelet Kabupaten Garut

This research aims to form a model of character education that cares about the environment in religious-based forest conservation which has characteristics in accordance with the realities of life and culture of the indigenous people of Kampung Dukuh, Ciroyom Village, Cikelet District, Garut Regency in particular and rural communities in general. The method used is a qualitative approach, namely research that does not carry out calculations (numbers) in carrying out epistemological justification. As a result, the indigenous people of Kampung Dukuh live their social life based on religious and cultural values ​​that refer to the sayings of their ancestors.

Earth Rights for the Advancement of a Planetary Health Agenda.

This article discusses Earth's Rights as an environmental justice mechanism of reparation, protection, and justice for indigenous communities, environmental defenders, and other populations in Latin America. We argue that Earth's rights encompass and include the right to health and can be integrated into international human rights frameworks to protect all forms of life, responding to colonial legacies of discrimination and violence. We respond to the scarcity of literature discussing Earth's rights in relation to situations where human rights and Earth's rights are violated. We ground our argument in the theoretical conceptualization of Latin American proposals of Earth's rights and its potential for actionable policy approaches that include human health as inevitably interconnected to our planet's well-being. We address the environmental injustices that affect the right to health and argue that an Earth's rights framework can support reparations for historically marginalized communities.

Unravelling settler ideology: navigating treaty dynamics in settler-colonial contexts

ABSTRACT Indigenous activism in North America often hinges on the conceptual apparatus of the treaty relationship between Indigenous peoples and the settler state to ground struggles waged in a wide array of political, cultural, and social sites. Yet, a persistent question lingers: Why do Indigenous activists continue to emphasize treaties, despite a history of broken promises by the settler state? This article scrutinizes the ideological role of treaties as a means of concealing the underlying systemic violence of settler colonialism through Marxist ideology critique. I challenge the notion that treaties can supply a solid foundation for decolonial justice, and further suggest that a heavy focus on treaties and rights-based discourse risks inadvertently offering an ideological alibi to the settler state and legitimizing its claims to sovereignty and territory. This deeply complicates struggles for reconciliation and justice within the socio-political context of settler colonialism, and there is an urgent need to encourage exploration of alternative strategies for achieving decolonial justice beyond the structures of settler colonialism.

The global implementation of UNDRIP: a thematic review

ABSTRACT Following almost 25 years of work, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2007. UNDRIP has been widely recognised as an authoritative statement of human rights norms concerning Indigenous peoples around the world. However, meaningful implementation of UNDRIP has been slow. To better understand the pace and challenges facing implementation, we identify and analyze four key recurring themes that emerge from the growing literature on this topic. This includes (1) Indigenous self-determination versus state autonomy as a driver of potential conflict; (2) the meaning of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in the context of UNDRIP; (3) the nexus between land, culture, and self-determination; and (4) Western/Global North influence over non-Western/Global South state implementation of UNDRIP. We examine several specific examples from across the globe to reveal the continuities and discontinuities across these four themes. The article concludes by offering ideas on how the limits of the present study and wider literature on UNDRIP might be rectified. That is, by incorporating a greater number of Indigenous perspectives on UNDRIP and adding more studies of governance and implementation challenges encountered in countries located in the Global South.

Prophecy redux: a critique of Leanne Simpson’s concept of autogenocide

ABSTRACT This article examines the thought of Leanne Betasamosake Simpson as a case study in Indigenous decolonial theory. Primarily by engaging with Simpson’s approach in As We Have Always Done, it develops a critique of the concept of ‘autogenocide’. It argues that the liberatory potential of grounded normativity is undercut by Simpson’s juxtaposition of resistance with the immediate threat of self-destruction. This is signalled by the failure to exist in an adequately Indigenous ontological domain. The result arguably summons myths about Indigenous disappearance – that Indigenous peoples are a ‘dying race’ responsible for their own demise, and thus may read as injurious to Indigenous peoples who defy the markers of indigeneity outlined by Simpson in her Radical Resurgence Project. This critique is framed with reference to biopolitics, resilience, and Indigenous suicide. Transposing autogenocide to the Indigenous suicide crisis in Canada demands that the utility of the concept be evaluated in terms of another anti-colonial imaginary, where death by suicide exposes the structural violence of settler colonialism. It further contends that Critical Indigenous Studies is uniquely charged with confronting the intellectual, political, and philosophical consequences produced by the autogenocide concept. Most importantly, the alternative forms of essentialism and erasure that it heralds.

Storytelling and good relations: Indigenous youth capabilities in climate futures

AbstractHow can we support young citizens facing chaotic climate futures? This question is urgent, particularly for Indigenous communities who face disproportionate risks and impacts of climate change. For the past three decades, climate‐related education has focused largely on the acquisition of scientific knowledge in instrumental ways, while encouraging individual behaviour change. This approach centres the problem rather than human capabilities to generate solutions, which is especially misaligned with the increasing practice and significance of Indigenous communities’ regenerating self‐determining capabilities. This article reports on a pilot study that uses intergenerational storytelling methods or pūrākau to support leadership capabilities among Indigenous Māori and Pacific young people aged 10 to 14 years in communities at high risk of flooding in Ōtautahi/Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand. The study showed how storytelling locates and scaffolds Indigenous young people into positions of individual and collective responsibility for grappling with “wicked problems” such as climate and injustice and climate‐related challenges as part of the future they will inherit and shape within a broader intergenerational journey of resilience and reclamation.

Sustainable Community-Based Ecotourism Development Mechanism: Oaxaca and Puebla Cases in Mexico

This research intends to identify the processes and factors of Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) development in indigenous communities, focusing specifically on the states of Oaxaca and Puebla, Mexico. Six different CBET initiatives were investigated. Two methodologies were used for data collection. One approach involves conducting in-depth interviews with community representatives to potentially refine the hypothesis from prior studies and preliminary fieldwork. The other approach uses a questionnaire for the quantitative validation of the hypothesis. The findings revealed core factors influencing CBET success, such as deep community pride, an active community-centered approach, management skills, and the integration of ecotourism with traditional lifestyles. Surprisingly, communities demonstrated a willingness to embrace government support as a pivotal catalyst in the initial phases of CBET endeavors. This openness is influenced by specific national laws that endorse and safeguard indigenous autonomy, ensuring that accrued benefits are retained within the community. This study underscores the delicate balance between heritage preservation and a thoughtful acceptance of modern progress, offering valuable insights to CBET.

The Role of Customary Law in Forest Governance and Conservation in Jambi, Indonesia: A Case Study of Makekal Hulu Village within the Customary Territory of the Suku Anak Dalam

Indonesia's forests face increasing pressures from deforestation and degradation. While national laws exist to protect these vital ecosystems, their implementation often faces challenges, particularly in areas inhabited by indigenous communities with distinct customary laws and practices. This study examines the role of customary law (adat law) in forest governance and conservation in Jambi Province, Indonesia, focusing on Makekal Hulu village within the customary territory of the Suku Anak Dalam. This qualitative study employed a case study approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with adat leaders, community members, government officials, and NGO representatives. Focus group discussions were conducted to gather diverse perspectives on forest management practices. Relevant documents, such as adat regulations, government policies, and NGO reports, were also analyzed. Additionally, data was utilized to enhance understanding of resource use dynamics and land-use change patterns. The findings reveal that adat law plays a significant role in regulating access to and use of forest resources in Makekal Hulu. Adat institutions, led by the village elder and guided by customary beliefs, enforce rules related to logging, hunting, and land clearing. These rules often complement national laws, providing a localized and context-specific approach to forest management. However, challenges exist in harmonizing adat law with national legislation, particularly concerning land tenure conflicts and external pressures from logging and plantation interests. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of recognizing and incorporating adat law into forest governance frameworks in Indonesia. By integrating traditional knowledge and practices with national policies, a more effective and sustainable approach to forest conservation can be achieved. This requires collaboration between government agencies, adat communities, and civil society organizations to ensure that adat law is respected and supported within the broader legal framework.

The accounting challenges for indigenous businesses: a Pacific Islands case study

Purpose This paper aims to examine the accounting challenges faced by indigenous businesses in the wholesale and retail market in Tonga. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 participants, from a mix of individuals from the wholesale and retail market in Tonga. This paper uses institutional logics framework to inform the study. Findings The research findings suggest an inability of indigenous businesses to adapt to significant changes in the market and overcome the economic and social challenges faced in the business environment involving accounting values. A lack of business skills and accounting knowledge, restrictive traditions and religious obligations and a poor business investment climate are key factors behind the inability of the indigenous Tongan businesses to succeed. Research limitations/implications The paper is limited to a study on Tonga only. The paper suggests better accountability from government sector on their effort to encourage inclusion of indigenous businesses. Practical implications The paper suggests better accountability from government sector on their effort to encourage inclusion of indigenous businesses. As a way forward, participants suggest that an inclusive approach for the government, businesses and stakeholders in policy formulation and consultation would create a better business environment that would foster the development and growth of the wholesale and retail business sector in Tonga. There is a dearth of cultural studies in accounting in countries within the developing world, particularly in the Oceania region. Social implications There are many accounting challenges faced by the indigenous Tongan business people in the market, which indicate specific areas where the attention of the policymakers should be directed. A better accountability from the government is needed on their efforts to encourage inclusion of indigenous businesses. Originality/value This paper extends the literature by considering inclusivity challenges for ethnically marginalised collectives of individuals in small business. The research findings suggest a gap in knowledge in the current business environment with respect to the Western accounting practices in the indigenous society.

MALAKOK: A MODEL OF ETHNIC RELATIONS BETWEEN NIAS AND MINANGKABAU PEOPLE IN PADANG CITY AND PADANG PARIAMAN REGENCY, WEST SUMATERA PROVINCE

The distribution of the population in West Sumatra is almost over 80 percent of the Minangkabau indigenous people who are Muslim. The remaining 20 percent are non-Minangkabau people and have religions other than Islam, even if there are other ethnicities and religions, they can still live and live side by side. This ethnic and religious diversity needs to be managed to maintain diversity as the achievement of national goals. The purpose of this research is to examine more deeply the relationship model between Nias and Minangkabau ethnic groups in Padang City and Padang Pariaman Regency. The research method was carried out through a literature review through the search for secondary information. From the literature studied, it is known that malakok has been proven to be able to act as a model of local wisdom in relation to diversity, both ethnically and religiously based for social harmony, both internally Minangkabau and with non-Minangkabau who are Muslim and with non-Minangkabau who are not Muslim. Malakok, commonly referred to as the Minang kabaustyle assimilation. The existence of this malakok system means that the kinship system in Minangkabau proves that it is actually an open system.

Reflecting on the 1775 Mount Gamalama Eruption: Lessons from Indigenous Knowledge for Sustainable Development in Ternate Island, North Maluku Province, Indonesia

The volcanic Molucca islands have provided the world with their precious cloves, which have been highly valued in medicinal properties for millennia. Cloves have antibacterial, antiviral, and analgesic characteristics. They were considered silver bullet cures in medieval epidemics and the early COVID-19 pandemic response. Cloves originated from Ternate Island, the center and regional trade hub of the Molucca Islands. Its cloves had reached Babylonia 4,000 years ago, marking its importance in global trade. Qualitative research was conducted on the 1775 Mount Gamalama eruption's impact on indigenous knowledge development. To confirm the findings, I conducted field visits, key informant interviews, field observations, and a literature review. Tolire Lake is an apparent landmark in Takome village, which has a sacred white crocodile, a java plum hill, a lush forest, stunning landscapes, and an underwater mythical village. The residents are testaments to human resilience, preserving indigenous knowledge and turning it into disaster risk reduction tools. They built settlements on safer ground and designated parts areas for conservation-based tourism. In addition, modern science introduction enhances disaster early warning and alert systems and empowers indigenous communities. Understanding indigenous knowledge and wisdom is critical to building resilience and sustainability through disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts. Indigenous knowledge produces lessons in environmental protection, social justice, and economic growth. The world can learn from indigenous and scientific knowledge combined to sustain the island, its people, and its prosperity.

Race, sovereignty, and White settler colonial studies: placing settlers at the Cultural Interface

ABSTRACT White settler colonial studies has been widely criticised for representing settler colonialism as an impenetrable and inevitable structure. This article therefore turns to explore how race preconditions and limits the construction of settler subjects. We draw on Torres Strait Islander theorist Martin Nakata’s Cultural Interface theory to unsettle ‘common-sense’ theories of race, and reconceive of the place where European and Indigenous cultures meet as sovereign Indigenous land. We extend Cultural Interface theory to locate White settler standpoints within the intertwined histories of racial capitalism and European and US imperialism. We argue that these histories orient settlers towards White possessive sovereignty. This article then deploys this framework to provide a deeper understanding of the disciplinary limits of White settler colonial studies through two case studies. First, we analyse Liberia’s construction as a settler colonial nation to denaturalise and historicise White settler standpoints. Second, we analyse the White settler standpoint institutionalised in White settler colonial studies’ descriptions of the settler/Indigenous binary, the logic of elimination, and settler sovereignty. In both cases, White settler standpoints are shaped and limited by the racialised logics of White possessive sovereignty. We nevertheless conclude that settlers may reorient themselves towards Indigenous sovereignty.

Differentiating Indigenous Peoples from local communities under climate regimes in just energy transition: Implications for the Inuit and Sami Peoples

The distinction between Indigenous peoples and local communities under climate regimes was initially addressed under the UNFCCC and has recently garnered renewed attention owing to energy policy changes to cope with rapid climate change such as in Alaska. The Montana climate litigation demonstrates the possibility of harmonizing Indigenous peoples and local communities by clearly identifying the unique climate-related indigenous culture and avoiding unintentional confrontation, given the difficulty of making clear distinctions in modern society and garnering sympathy from the local community against litigations that solely seek indigenous rights, but Indigenous peoples themselves may not see the need for harmony. Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) is one approach to achieve a 30 by 30 target under the CBD by designating Indigenous peoples’ original land but may not be beneficial to assert inherent rights or the best way to achieve harmony if they work with local communities. The local community of Finnish non-Sami reindeer herders will not receive protection under the ICCPR unlike Sami herders in Norway, if a case similar to Norway’s Fosen case occurs. As just energy transition alone does not automatically reflect the perspectives of Indigenous peoples, green colonialism could easily occur when their rights are not considered.

Violences, displacements, and responses: exploring settler colonialism in North and Central America

ABSTRACT The essays in this special issue engage with the multiple enduring and contemporary violences that Indigenous communities – and in particular Indigenous women – experience within and across states in North and Central America. The special issue incorporates a hemispheric and transborder focus, situating accounts of violence, dispossession, and migration experienced by Indigenous communities in Guatemala and Mexico, next to, or side-by-side with accounts of multiple violence that Native communities face in the US. Indigenous peoples and cultures in the Americas have collectively endured some of the most violent and lethal acts of colonization, elimination, and erasure in the world, and the essays here directly address shared aspects of this historic and ongoing legacy. Summarizing the major themes addressed in articles in this special issue, this Introduction reflects on the content with special attention in the ways in which settler colonialism, and a focus on gender in relation to settler colonialism (Simpson 2014; Speed 2019; Theidon 2022) forces neo-Marxian Latin American studies perspectives such as coloniality to reevaluate foundational assumptions including historical periodizations and theoretical positionalities.

Who addresses pollution? Relationships among actors and grant money for waste management efforts in remote Alaskan communities

This study discusses waste-related issues in remote Alaskan villages, focusing on the relationships between the support providers, such as government officials and nonprofits, and the indigenous people, from the perspective of self-determination. With the increasing volume and variety of waste generated by recent lifestyle changes, health and environmental issues have become growing concerns. Each village is responsible for waste management and operating a disposal site. However, challenges exist regarding the current waste management regime, highlighting the importance of grant-funded initiatives and support from non-profit organizations. Based on interviews with supporters and observations of the negotiation process between supporters and indigenous people, this study analyzes the grants and collaborative efforts in Alaska. Through grants and collaborative initiatives, the assimilation of indigenous people into mainstream society is inevitable, although efforts to respect indigenous self-determination and communication are ongoing and serve as a framework for bridging the gap between the waste regime and status quo. However, two unsolved issues remain: the “support-in-waiting” dilemma, and the issues arising from the social, economic, and geographical diversity among settlements. The balance between respect for self-determination in environmental governance and provision of support extending beyond equality of opportunity will be the key to future relationships.

Tradisi Seren Taun berbasis Kearifan Lokal Masyarakat AdatKasepuhan (Suatu Kajian Holistik Antropologi Hukum)

Seren Taun is a series of agricultural activities carried out every year by a traditional community in atraditional area which is usually called a traditional traditional ritual, as a form of respect for the ancestors andthe Goddess Sri with all forms of rituals and cultural arts performances of the Kasepuhan indigenouscommunity from very from long ago to modern art displayed by indigenous peoples. The rice was brought,paraded, accompanied by everyone present to be stored in the Leuit Si Jimat communal barn. The local wisdomof the Kasepuhan traditional community of Banten Kidul is a community that still upholds and carries outtraditions with the supervision of the Abah as the Traditional Leader. Kasepuhan residents are devoutfollowers of the Islamic religion, but in their daily lives they are characterized by mythical and animist beliefsor they still maintain ancestral beliefs such as burning incense, giving offerings, traditional ceremonies, placingfences on doors, and other ancestral beliefs. The Holistic Study of Legal Anthropology illustrates that traditionalrituals based on local wisdom are a manifestation of the behavior or actions of indigenous people in an effort toget closer to God. Because rituals are ceremonies carried out by indigenous people throughout their lifetime,they are carried out by every indigenous community in their traditional territory, because they are ceremoniesfor the life cycle of an individual's life as a member of society (the universal circle of life).Keywords: Seren Taun Tradition, Local Wisdom of the Kasepuhan Indigenous Community, Holistic Study ofLegal Anthropology