Context Of Indigenous Peoples Research Articles

Damage to the environment as a sign of genocide

The actualisation of the problems of causing damage to the environment necessitates the determination of the grounds for international criminal liability for this act in the context of various international crimes, including genocide. The purpose of this study was to highlight the damage to the environment as a sign of the crime of genocide. The study was based on general scientific theoretical methods of scientific cognition, namely systemic, functional, and dogmatic methods, as well as methods of analysis, synthesis, and generalisation. Based on the consideration of the acts covered by the concept of genocide, the study found that damage to the environment in this context can be regarded as intentional creation of such conditions of existence for a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group which, by their qualitative characteristics, are aimed at the complete or partial physical destruction of this group, and the signs of such conditions are considered in the practice of the International Criminal Court, the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The study examined the tendency to perceive environmental damage as a sign of genocide in the context of genocide of indigenous peoples, and on this basis formulated the conclusion that it is not impossible to assess environmental damage as genocide outside the context of indigenous peoples’ living conditions, since the Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide define the characteristics of a social group that may be a victim differently – national, ethnic, racial, or religious groups. The study found that damage to the environment may simultaneously constitute a sign of both ecocide and genocide if the ecocide is aimed at the destruction of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The study identified the signs under which damage to the environment can be qualified as a crime of genocide: 1) deliberate creation of such living conditions for a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group aimed at its physical elimination as a social group; 2) such conditions are created in the context of deliberate physical destruction of a social group (contextual element); 3) genocidal intent, i.e., intent to destroy in whole or in part a social group defined in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The practical significance of this study lies in the possibility of using its findings in the context of international justice, provided that the relevant acts are qualified as genocide, one of the ways of committing which is to cause damage to the environment

Nature Prescriptions and Indigenous Peoples: A Qualitative Inquiry in the Northwest Territories, Canada.

Nature prescription programs have become more common within healthcare settings. Despite the health benefits of being in nature, nature prescriptions within the context of Indigenous Peoples have received little attention. We therefore sought to answer the following question: What are circumpolar-based physicians' and Indigenous Elders' views on nature prescribing in the Northwest Territories, Canada? We carried out thirteen semi-structured interviews with physicians between May 2022 and March 2023, and one sharing circle with Indigenous Elders in February 2023. Separate reflexive thematic analysis was carried out to generate key themes through inductive coding of the data. The main themes identified from the physician interviews included the importance of cultural context; barriers with nature prescriptions in the region; and the potential for nature prescriptions in the North. Reflections shared by the Elders included the need for things to be done in the right way; the sentiment that the Land is not just an experience but a way of life; and the importance of traditional food as a connection with Nature. With expanding nature prescription programs, key considerations are needed when serving Indigenous communities. Further investigation is warranted to ensure that nature prescriptions are appropriate within a given context, are inclusive of supporting Land-based approaches to health and wellbeing, and are considered within the context of Indigenous self-determination.

The Ecological Nietzsche: Considering the Environmental Implications of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Philosophy and the Possibility of Grounding der Ubermensch in the Indigenous Perspective

"In this essay, I will be exploring the viability of an ecological Nietzsche, or how Nietzsche’s philosophy may play out in practical contemporary environmental contexts, and whether his philosophy is compatible with any so-called environmental philosophy. Though there is a rich discourse around attempts to assimilate a Nietzschean perspective into environmental ethics, an attempt to restate it in its entirety would exceed practical limits. Therefore, only those themes that are most appropriate for the purposes of this essay will be included. I will then consider these implications and Nietzsche’s philosophy more broadly within the context of indigenous peoples who, I would argue have a “healthier” and more sustainable relationship to nature and their environments, and consider whether they embody a more appropriate point of departure for Nietzsche’s philosophical project than someone from a Western background."

The KAIROS Blanket Exercise: Engaging Indigenous ways of knowing to foster critical consciousness in medical education

Purpose Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island (North America) experience ongoing health disparities tied to the effects of colonization and persistent racism toward Indigenous Peoples. Educating future clinicians to develop a critical consciousness is an important way to work toward cultural safety and improve the health care experiences of Indigenous patients. The present study evaluated the ability of the KAIROS Blanket Exercise (KBE) to foster critical consciousness. Methods Two hundred thirteen medical students at the University of Toronto participated in the KBE. Subsequently, 174 students completed a paper evaluation, designed to capture concepts of cultural safety and critical consciousness. Data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods to identify shifts in perspectives. Results The majority of students reported the exercise altered the way they viewed those from backgrounds different from their own, and comments regarding bias, power and privilege were highlighted throughout the responses. Engaging in critical reflection through dialogue and revealing the complex sociopolitical context of Indigenous Peoples’ history were emphasized as central to this transformation. Conclusions Following participation in the KBE, medical students demonstrated a shift in their perspectives. This suggests that creating curricular space for critical pedagogy may be effective in fostering critical consciousness, ultimately encouraging reflexive practice and social action.

Nurses as agents of disruption: Operationalizing a framework to redress inequities in healthcare access among Indigenous Peoples.

Health equity is a global concern. Although health equity extends far beyond the equitable distribution of healthcare, equitable access to healthcare is essential to the achievement of health equity. In Canada, Indigenous Peoples experience inequities in health and healthcare access. Cultural safety and trauma- and violence-informed care have been proposed as models of care to improve healthcare access, yet practitioners lack guidance on how to implement these models. In this paper, we build upon an existing framework of equity-oriented care for primary healthcare settings by proposing strategies to guide nurses in operationalizing cultural safety and trauma- and violence-informed care into nursing practice at the individual level. This component is one strategy to redress inequitable access to care among Indigenous Peoples in Canada. We conceptualize barriers to accessing healthcare as intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural. We then define three domains for nursing action: practicing reflexivity, prioritizing relationships, and considering the context. We have applied this expanded framework within the context of Indigenous Peoples in Canada as a way of illustrating specific concepts and focusing our argument; however, this framework is relevant to other groups experiencing marginalizing conditions and inequitable access to healthcare, and thus is applicable to many areas of nursing practice.

The Role of Memory and Language in Transformation: Crucial Issues in American Indigenous Poetry

The integration of the personal and the political has been an engaging topic in analyses of literary texts by authors whose works are known for their political content and activism, as well as an emphasis on social justice. Literary audiences in the United States have been familiar with Joy Harjo and John Trudell, two well-known contemporary Indigenous poets, who have voiced out the concerns of Indigenous people in the face of colonization and injustice happening in their homeland. Within the fusion of the personal and the political, as well as the mythical, the idea of transformation is paramount for Indigenous authors since to move from the state of being colonized to one of being decolonized, transformation is undoubtedly crucial. This paper focuses on the role of memory and the power of language in the process of transformation in the three poems by Joy Harjo and John Trudell. The analysis uses a qualitative methodology in the form of a close reading of literary texts to uncover the interconnectedness of memory and language in transformation. I argue that Native poets experience personal transformation that is critically influenced by the role of ancestral memory and social and historical consciousness in the broader context of Indigenous people’s struggle and resistance, as well as the power of language to see reality differently and affect its change. The analysis is intended to show to what extent the concepts of memory and language are critical in the process of decolonization and the manners in which these texts can be empowering for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences in response to forms of injustice through the integration of the personal, the political, and the mythical.

Vulnerable populations and the right to health: lessons from the Peruvian Amazon around tuberculosis control

BackgroundIn 2014 the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the “End TB Strategy”, setting new ambitious goals for elimination of tuberculosis (TB). In contrast with previous efforts to control TB, the new strategy adopted the protection and promotion of human rights in TB prevention and care as a core pillar. This mandated the development of national programmes that are sensitive to the characteristics of populations and responsive to structural factors that put people at increased risk of exposure to TB, limit access to good quality health services and make people more vulnerable to TB infection. Indigenous people living in the Peruvian Amazon have been identified as a TB vulnerable group by Peruvian health authorities. This article examines the barriers faced by indigenous people and rural settlers from the Peruvian Amazon in obtaining a TB diagnosis and appropriate TB treatment, through the principles of the human rights based approach of accessibility, availability, affordability, adaptability and quality, and thus provides evidence of the utility of such approach in Peru.MethodsThis is a qualitative study. We combined information from policy documents and legal regulations and in-depth interviews with health workers and health authorities. We used Atlas-ti to conduct a thematic analysis and identify interviewees responses to pre-defined topics.ResultsDespite having a strong legal framework to protect the right to health of indigenous people and people affected by TB, there are underlying structural factors contributing to delays in detection, diagnosis and TB treatment, which are mostly related to having a health system poorly prepared to provide care for people living in dispersed rural communities. This article shows the limited level of integration of the “End TB Strategy” principles in the Peruvian National TB Programme and identifies the weakness of the health system to improve health care provision for indigenous people and rural settlers from the Peruvian Amazon.ConclusionsOur study shows the need to go beyond developing a strong legal framework to ensure vulnerable populations such as indigenous people are able to realize their right to health. Governments need to allocate funds, improve training and adapt healthcare provision to the cultural, geographical, and social context of indigenous people.

Settler Colonialism, Ecology, and Environmental Injustice

Settler colonialism is a form of domination that violently disrupts human relationships with the environment. Settler colonialism is ecological domination, committing environmental injustice against Indigenous peoples and other groups. Focusing on the context of Indigenous peoples’ facing US domination, this article investigates philosophically one dimension of how settler colonialism commits environmental injustice. When examined ecologically, settler colonialism works strategically to undermine Indigenous peoples’ social resilience as self determining collectives. To understand the relationships connecting settler colonialism, environmental injustice, and violence, the article first engages Anishinaabe intellectual traditions to describe an Indigenous conception of social resilience called collective continuance. One way in which settler colonial violence commits environmental injustice is through strategically undermining Indigenous collective continuance. At least two kinds of environmental injustices demonstrate such violence: vicious sedimentation and insidious loops. The article seeks to contribute to knowledge of how anti-Indigenous settler colonialism and environmental injustice are connected.

Statistics Canada Data Collection on Inuit: The Importance of Consultation and Context

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission underlined the importance of knowing the history and context of Indigenous peoples in Canada, and how today’s institutions continue to be shaped by this legacy with detrimental effects. This article applies that lens to Statistics Canada data collection and reporting on Indigenous groups, particularly Inuit. Statistics Canada has already made strides in terms of consultations with national Indigenous organizations, but improvements can be made in more accurately capturing and describing Indigenous populations. These include: reviewing the definition of Métis, developing methods to include reserves and institutions (“collective dwellings”) fully, outreach strategies and methodologies to include transient and homeless persons, and providing both past and present contextual information to understand better the data and to avoid inadvertently contributing to stereotypes.

The third dimension: cultural awareness for non-English speaking background health professionals.

The complexity of the relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-English speaking background (NESB) communities is difficult to capture in cultural awareness programs that are based on binary (Indigenous/non-Indigenous) models. This is illustrated by an examination of three major elements of cross-cultural programs, the historical/socio-political context of Indigenous people's positioning in Australia, cultural differences and racism. It is acknowledged that these are only a few ideas that may be useful in thinking about NESB-Indigenous relations in health care in Australia.