Indigenous Elders Research Articles

A scoping review protocol on social participation of indigenous elders, intergenerational solidarity and their influence on individual and community wellness

IntroductionIndigenous elders have traditionally played an important role in maintaining social cohesion within their communities. Today, part of this role has been taken over by government social and healthcare services,...

Las voces de los conocedores y conocedoras de los pueblos originarios en la formación docente

During the last decades the need to question the way in which knowledge is constructed as well as its relation with power issues has come forward. An important innovation in some teacher training colleges and conventional universities is the redefinition of the teaching staff. They have included indigenous elders as an attempt to open higher education to the inclusion of new actors and new voices. However, in this article I argue that the participation of indigenous elders in teacher training processes, does not necessarily guarantee the development of practises that will highlight the existence of ways of thinking alternative to hegemonic knowledge nor the multiple ways in which knowledge is produced. For this to happen consciousness must be gained regarding the complex relations between knowledge and power, and the way in which it is expressed in higher education in general and in specific academic spaces. Drawing from the experience of the Teacher Training Programme of the Peruvian Amazon (Formabiap), which I have accompanied during the last 29 years, I sustain my argument with information gained through my direct experience with the Programme and from documents, studies and internal and external evaluations of its process.

Nomadic Ecologies: Plants, embodied knowledge, and temporality in the Colombian Amazon

A non-anthropocentric approach to human and other-than-human relations in the Colombian Amazon, this paper follows plant-human encounters in the context of the ritual use of coca (Quech. kuka; Lat. Erythroxylon coca) with a Murui indigenous elder. It describes how plants and humans co-create place-based knowledge, ecologies, and territories. The article also tackles some aspects of Amazonian socio-ecological life beyond teleological notions of time, change, and history. A conversation on plant-human relations, it suggests that questions of corporality, ingestion, and tactility, among others, might be of interest to decolonial theory.

Wati (Piper methysticum) medicinal plant: The ethnobiological and ethnomedicinal values of the Marind tribe in Merauke, Papua, Indonesia

Suharno, Tanjung RHR, Sufaati S, Agustini V. 2016. Wati (Piper methysticum L.) medicinal plant: The ethnobiological and ethnomedicinal values of the Marind tribe in Merauke, Papua, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 17: 814-822. Biological resources around neighborhood play important roles in the cultural development of the surrounding communities, including the use of plants. Wati (kava, Piper methysticum) is one of the species that has long been used as a traditional medicine and cultivated by Marind tribal community in the lowlands of Merauke, Papua. The aim of this study is to examine the use and domestication of wati plant by Marind tribe in Papua.Results of the study showed that wati plant has long been used by the Marind tribal community as a medicinal plant with high customary value. Each customary event includes wati plant as a complementary requirement for legitimate activities by the Marind tribe. It is the importance of customary values that led the domestication of wati plant done since 60 years ago on a small scale to eventually develop into plant called as “the Marind people’s gold”. Results of the observation showed that 93.8% of the Marind people have largely recognized wati plant, while 53.3% of the immigrant communities from outside the area recognized it, but only 33.3% knew about its utilization. Although not all indigenous elders cultivate it, they recognize, utilize, and understand the rules of using wati plant in traditional events and as traditional medicine. As traditional medicine, the parts used by Marind people use root (100.0%), stem (96.6%), and leaves (89.7%). For customary events, the most important parts are the whole plant (100.0%), stem (100.0%), leaves (98.3%) and roots (93.1%). Their children even recognize it and know its benefits, but most of them 31.25% only utilize it but are prohibited from participating in its preparation (0.0%). The domestication of this plant is quite unique because it is closed to the public and is still done by a conventional method.

Nikîkîwân: Contesting Settler-Colonial Archives through Indigenous Oral History

This paper seeks to unsettle and contest the role of the small town archive in the production of local knowledges, specifically the ways in which these archives conflict with the narratives told by Indigenous elders in surrounding reserve communities. I intend to use the methodologies I have acquired in Indigenous studies to re-read my grandmother’s account of her displacement from the ‘Swan River Settlement’ and from the township that would eventually become to be known as Kinuso, Alberta (Treaty 8 Territory). I situate my grandmother’s narrative against local history texts, specifically Sodbusters: A History of Kinuso and Swan River Settlement, to locate the ways in which family and colonial histories intersect and are embodied by community members of the Swan River First Nation. My account begins with a detailing of the life of my great-grandfather, August Sound, and how the policies of the Indian Act would come to have a profound effect on him and his succeeding relations. I plot the historical trajectory of my family, or, more specifically, the historical trajectories of my grandmother and great-grandfather to demonstrate how personal archives can illuminate the processes of settler-colonialism in detailed and nuanced ways, and how these personal histories can contest the dominant narratives propagated by white settler-colonial imaginaries. The form of this paper will be an inter-weaving of academic texts and theories with the oral and experiential knowledge of my grandmother, with the ‘narrative history’ of my grandmother serving as the primary text.

American Indian Elders' resilience: Sources of strength for building a healthy future for youth.

This study examined American Indian (AI) elders' resilience to support an intervention to build resilience among AI urban youth. A literature review of peer-reviewed articles that address resilience in AI and other Indigenous elders yielded six studies that focused on intergenerational relationships, culture, and self-identity. In addition, a qualitative research project collected narratives with urban AI elders to document perceptions of resilience and resilience strategies. The combined outcomes of the literature search and research project revealed how resilience is exemplified in elders' lives and how resilience strategies are linked to cultural teachings and values, youth activities, and education.

Legislating for Filial Piety: An Indirect Approach to Promoting Family Support and Responsibility for Older People in Korea

Although every culture follows its own indigenous elder care practices, Korea has retained a unique way of supporting elder parents, specifically, and older people in general. When the care of older people in Korea became significantly challenging, it was determined to launch a controversial law to promote the tradition of filial piety. The main content of the law consists of requiring the government to take action to encourage filial piety and to support those adult children who care for their parents. Although this legislation has the potential to promote the practice of filial piety, the nature of the law is largely rhetorical and symbolic rather than practical, and as a result, its workability and efficiency are limited.

POLÍTICA EDUCACIONAL INDIGENISTA: IMPLICAÇÕES NO XINGU

800x600 This work aims to approach elements of education policy for indigenous education and analyze how they express themselves in the present moment for Indian schools, ethnicity such as Xipaya, Juruna, Altamira Para. Methodology consists of documentary and field research, including history as a process, in order to pursue organic and cyclical movements. Results constitute the research the initial field sample, held in December 2011, July and September 2012, through the Research Project. The procedures were document analysis, interviews and analysis of these, from the understanding of teachers, managers, indigenous leaders and technicians from FUNAI. The perspective is to contribute to the History of Educational Policy for indigenous schools, as well as the discussion and social educational thought. Results point out to the centrality of State to occupy space in the conduct of indigenous educational policy, with openness to participation by indigenous leaders from the 1988 Constitution, with respect to ensuring rights for ethnic groups, in order to have a different, bilingual and intercultural school. Achievements are guaranteed by law, as in the LDB, Judgment 14/99 and Resolution 3/99, laws that are favorable to the creation of the category, indigenous schools and training teachers. The Referencial Curricular para Escolas Indigenas - RCNEI was built by MEC to subsidize the development and implementation of new policies and pedagogical practices in schools in indigenous areas. The Program Parameters in Action of Indigenous Education aims to follow the RCNEI in order to continue the training of indigenous teachers, which is similar to the Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais – PCNs, however has a limit, since the latter is structured to be the benchmark for the Brazilian basic education schools, while RCNEI reference for curriculum organization is unique to Indian schools, thus this needs to consider cultural diversity and will not be detailed by the hegemonic capitalist rationality to provide a model Indian school. It is highlighted in this context, the need for vigilance and struggle of indigenous peoples to implement the rights won from the Law largest of country. The performance of critical teacher profession is critical, based on the centrality of work to contribute to overcoming the logic of centrality in the political sphere of the state, which produces actions and policies to ideological control of indigenous movements, is a current requirement. This also to overcome cronyism imposed to indigenous leaders, as is the case of Hydropower Projects - Belo Monte at Xingu, which have extension to reach achievements for indigenous education. To assert indigenous education with quality in Brazilian capitalist society, the indigenous and non-indigenous teachers are the agents that promote research with the leaders and indigenous elders in order to seek Indigenous History and contribute in overcoming the homogeneous curriculum organization, centered still in Eurocentric and American school culture, as well as minimizing and efficiency and productivity of the logic of current policies - quantitative education systems. The approach from teachers has scored discontinuities of educational policies that impact the teaching and learning processes. As an example: The training of indigenous teachers in Altamira began in October 2009 and in July 2013 there will still be training. Besides successive issues stemming from these policies, the 1990s, which they refer and are repeated in the first decades of 21th century, in order to meet the specific demands of the ethnic groups, such as ensuring cultural diversity in elementary and secondary education, resulting in deepening of difficulties in implementing a bilingual education. Normal 0 21 false false false PT-BR X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:Tabela normal; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Times New Roman,serif;}

Privileging Aboriginal voices: Applied theatre as a transformative process for Aboriginal Australian youth

Abstract Poor rates of school completion combined with high rates of imprisonment mean that at least half the Indigenous young people in Australia are under-achieving, and are at risk of a future characterized by extreme disadvantage and disconnection from the mainstream. This research stemmed from an invitation from Indigenous elders to a non-Indigenous teaching artist experienced in intercultural drama and theatre, and began with a broad concern about how to reconnect disaffected Indigenous youth with education. Immersed in a new and unfamiliar cultural, social, political and environmental context, I developed a deeper understanding of Indigenous perspectives on partnerships, relationships and cultural safety, facilitated by the young people’s participation and the involvement of elders in three applied theatre projects. I found it necessary to adapt my approach to incorporate the making of short films as a medium of storytelling and as an initiative of the young people.

Conservation and Ethnobotanical Knowledge of a Hmong Community in Long Lan, Luang Prabang, Lao People's Democratic Republic

In 2012 and 2013 participatory ethnobotany explorations were undertaken with herbalists from the Hmong ethnic group of Long Lan village, in Luang Prabang, Lao People’s Democratic Republic. These investigations into the knowledge and experience of indigenous elders of Long Lan and surrounding villages sought to identify the relationship between the spiritual-cultural practices and livelihood uses of plants and their conservation. Information about 74 plant species of 49 families was recorded, including 25 herbs (17 perennial, 8 annual), 20 trees, 17 shrubs, 10 climbers, and 2 ferns. Analysis of quantitative ethnobotany scores indicated positive trends between uses and conservation practices for plants. The study suggests that the traditional Hmong cultural uses for plants may be a mechanism for the conservation of biodiversity in the rapidly deteriorating forests of Luang Prabang in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Tshawb nrhiav nroj tsuag tau muaj kev koom tes nrog cov kws tshuaj ntsuab Hmoob nyob rau zos Long Lan, Xeev Luang prabang, Los Tsuas Teb chaws tau pib tshawb los rau ntawm lub xyoo 2012 thiab 2013. Nrhiav txog lub laj lim thiab tswv yim ntawm cov laus neeg nyob zos Long Lan thiab cov zos nyob ib puag ncig twb yog ib qhov sij hawm muaj txiaj ntsig tau paub txog txoj kev cai coj siv nroj tsuag thiab pov hwm nyob nrog lub neej. Tau paub txog ntawm 74 hom tau muaj 49 yam (nroj tsuag) twb tau muab sau zoo, qhov nov muaj 25 yam tshuaj ntsuab (17 yam yog cov muaj hnub nyooj ntev thiab 8 yam yog cov muaj hnub nyooj luv), 20 yam yog cov ua ntoo, 17 yam yog cov nroj, 10 yam yog cov hmab, thiab 2 yam yog suab. Muab xam tau pom txog nroj tsuag muaj txiaj ntsig zoo heev rau ntawm txoj kev siv yoom thiab pov hwm nyob nrog lub neej. Qhov tshawb rhiav no tau ceeb toom txog tias txoj kev siv yoom nroj tsuag raws li txoj cai Hmoob coj yog ib txoj cai zoo rau ntawm kev pov hwm hav zoov hav tsuag rau qhov hav zoov niaj hnub no raug luaj ntov nyob rau xeev Luang prabang, los Tsuas Teb.

Introduction: Indigenous knowledges impacting the environment

This special issue of AlterNative explores the theme of Indigenous knowledges impacting the environment. While the focus is on Australia, one paper discusses the Canadian context, and the issue as a whole has international relevance. The six articles form part of the research outcomes of an Australian Research Council (ARC) project entitled Indigenous Knowledge:Water Sustainability and Wild Fire Mitigation, awarded to senior Kaurna elder “Yerloburka” Uncle Lewis O’Brien. The articles complement each other in exploring how the narrative of terra nullius has sought to obfuscate the “rich and layered understanding of our relationship to country” of Indigenous peoples (Watson, this issue, p. 509). The papers in this issue reflect on the colonial narrative for Indigenous peoples in Australia and across the globe. Undeniably, Indigenous environmental knowledge that may have once been dismissed as “primitive” or “unsophisticated” is now increasingly sought by dominant postcolonial societies in efforts to protect scarce and valuable natural resources. The arguments and supporting evidence investigated in this issue contribute to the positioning of Indigenous knowledges at the forefront of debates around urgent environmental issues including climate change, sustainability, and the tension between development and the environment. Each contributor confronts the imposition of Western ideas on Indigenous communities from within Indigenous knowledges research frameworks or in collaboration with Indigenous elders. A theme of the issue, therefore, is the interplay between Western science and law and Indigenous reasoning and philosophy.

“What We’ve Said Can be Proven in the Ground”: Stó:lō Sovereignty and Historical Narratives at Xá:ytem, 1990–2006

Less than a month after the conclusion of the Oka crisis in Québec in the fall of 1990, development threatened another Indigenous heritage site, this one on the outskirts of Mission, British Columbia. Workers were preparing to blast apart a large stone and clear land for a 14-house subdivision on a sloping hill near the Fraser River. Indigenous elders, along with archaeologists and activists, responded rapidly by stepping forward to challenge the destruction of the site. Xá:ytem, the stone, is a sacred site for Stó:lō peoples, who have been living in the area for millennia. This paper examines the struggle to save Xá:ytem to reveal the tactical hybridity that can emerge when conceptions of heritage are entangled with expressions of sovereignty. When situated in the context of other Indigenous protests, analysis of the historical narratives deployed at Xá:ytem reveals much about the surprising and tenacious nature of heritage activism in late twentieth-century Canada.

Culture-Based Arts Education That Teaches against the Grain: A Model for Place-Specific Material Culture Studies

When 50 Midwest teachers in two public schools and one Reservation school worked in respectful, knowledgeable, and power-sharing ways with local Indigenous elders, artists, and academics, the outcome was often culture-based arts education that teaches against the grain. This collaboration and the culturally responsive pedagogy it inspired led to transformative thinking about race, power, and injustice. Participating teachers, who recognized the social relevance and educative potential of Indigenous material culture as place-based pedagogy, began using a culture-based model for arts integration across disciplinary borders. Immersing these mostly White educators in an Indigenous society’s heritage language and ways of knowing, in turn, heightened many students’ engagement with and appreciation for the place they live and the peoples living there for millennia.

Our Fires Still Burn: The Native American Experience (review)

Reviews NAIS 1:2 FALL 2014 198 KYLE T. MAYS Our Fires Still Burn: The Native American Experience by Audrey Geyer DVD distributed by Audrey Geyer/Visions, 2013 THE DOCUMENTARY Our Fires Still Burn: The Native American Experience (2013) is a one-hour film produced by independent media artist Audrey Geyer. This compelling picture tells of the resilience of Native communities in Michigan, with a particular focus on the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, located approximately 155 miles (249 km) northwest of Detroit, and about 70 miles (112 km) north of the capital, Lansing. In thirteen chapters, the author recounts the deep losses and trauma of Native American peoples at large, and the resurgence of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe in particular, fueled by traditional ceremonies and modern economic enterprises. Our Fires Still Burn centers on two themes: trauma and resilience. The first few chapters explain the trauma of the boarding school era, such as the experience of Native youth at the Mt. Pleasant Industrial Boarding School. This was a time when Indigenous communities experienced a cultural and familial genocide throughout the United States: young people were kidnapped from their homes and, as a result, almost an entire generation of youth were cut off from their cultures, languages, and peoples. It also shows how some Indigenous peoples lived in “two-worlds,” living within mainstream U.S. society, or avoiding giving their children an Indigenous identity in order to avoid cultural/racial discrimination. Although the documentary suffers from an illogical structure (meaning it jumps from topic to topic), it does point to three issues that are becoming increasingly important topics in Indigenous communities and studies: language revitalization; the state of Indigenous men, or masculinity; and youth. It mentions that, although Indigenous women suffer from domestic and sexual abuse, most tribal communities lack well-briety (the combination of well-being and sobriety) programs for men. Although the documentary doesn’t spend a lot of time on this subject (and the others), the mention of these important topics might spark a deeper interest by viewers. Michigan’s Indigenous communities are healing their peoples through a myriad of means. From the use of the Sacred Fire and sweat lodges, to art and journalism, Indigenous peoples are able to positively affect not only Indigenous communities but also non-Native communities. From a discussion with Anishinaabe elder and spiritual leader Bruce Hardwick leading people in prayer and sweat lodges to Native News Network founder and editor Levi NAIS 1:2 FALL 2014 Reviews 199 Rickert (Prairie Brand Potawatomi), to Yakima artist Bunky Echo-Hawk, Native peoples use a variety of methods to heal and pass on teachings to Native communities. Perhaps the greatest strength of Our Fires Still Burn is the desire of all Indigenous elders to pass on teachings to the Seventh Generation: Native youth. While properly showcasing the survival of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, the documentary fails to provide historical context for the development of this particular tribal community. Instead, the audience is left with important questions. Who are they? Where did they come from? How did they end up on the reservation? Without broaching these questions and others, it is assumed that the Saginaw Chippewa simply lived on the reservation. There is no discussion of the Treaties of 1855 or 1864, which essentially created the Isabella Reservation, combining the Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River bands into the present Saginaw Chippewa community. Despite its lack of historical depth, Our Fires Still Burn would be great for all ages, from young adolescents to adults with little to no knowledge of contemporary Indigenous realities. It could also be used in an introduction to a Native American Studies course and lower-level Midwestern history courses at the college level. The documentary may lack depth, but it does make at least one major point for non-Indigenous peoples: that Native peoples have survived, are still here, and can blend modern and traditional ways of knowing to make a better life for their children, as Native Americans have been doing for centuries. KYLE T. MAYS (Saginaw Chippewa) is a PhD candidate in the Department of History at the University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign. ...

More than Legitimacy: Local Governance and Variation in Human Development in Post-War Guatemala

How do variations in state–society relations affect development outcomes locally? Specifically, do local, non-state actors and informal institutions, including indigenous elders and traditional authorities, complement the work of the formal local authorities, or compete with them, with observable implications for long-term human development? This paper focuses on Guatemala, where despite nearly two decades having passed since the end of its civil war, and significant external statebuilding, governance and financial assistance, the country remains stricken with widespread poverty and crime. Most apparent in the Guatemala case is the well-documented disparity in living conditions between the capital region surrounding Guatemala City, and rural regions. Even within impoverished regions, however, there is unexplained variability in development outcomes across sub-regions and communities. Drawing from within-country case studies, the paper argues that qualitative differences in state–society relations at the community level — including the degree to which local indigenous leaders or other non-state actors either compete with or complement local formal authorities — have a direct bearing on development outcomes as indicated by human development indicators, and by demonstrated commitment to development programmes from formal authorities.

Is there Space for Spirituality in the Contemporary Museum?

This paper outlines the subject and findings of the author's doctoral thesis, completed at Flinders University of South Australia in 2010, entitled “The Spirit of Change in Museums” which examined the influence of Indigenous cultural and spiritual beliefs and practices on contemporary museums and considered the implications for future developments of the role of the Museum (). The author demonstrates that in mainstream and community museums, Indigenous elders, ceremonialists and artists are using both cultural protocols and museological methods to protect culturally-sensitive knowledge, preserve or renew spiritual aspects of culture, and address contemporary social and cultural issues such as protection of cultural rights and recovery from post-colonial trauma. This is creating new models of museums shaped by local cultural and spiritual values and ceremonial practices. The author also suggests that by recognising spiritual and intangible dimensions of cultural artefacts and their significance to traditional owners, mainstream museums can potentially play an important role in contributing to these efforts.

Changing the course of health disparities in indigenous elder populations

Changing the course of health disparities in indigenous elder populations

Research on indigenous elders: from positivistic to decolonizing methodologies.

Although indigenous peoples have lower life expectancies than the social majority populations in their countries, increasing numbers of indigenous people are living into old age. Research on indigenous elders is informed by a number of research traditions. Researchers have mined existing data sets to compare characteristics of indigenous populations with non-indigenous groups, and these findings have revealed significant disparities experienced by indigenous elders. Some investigators have attempted to validate standardized research tools for use in indigenous populations. Findings from these studies have furthered our knowledge about indigenous elders and have highlighted the ways in which tools may need to be adapted to better fit indigenous views of the constructs being measured. Qualitative approaches are popular, as they allow indigenous elders to tell their stories and challenge non-indigenous investigators to acknowledge values and worldviews different from their own. Recently, efforts have extended to participatory and decolonizing research methods, which aim to empower indigenous elders as researchers. Research approaches are discussed in light of the negative experiences many indigenous peoples have had with Eurocentric research. Acknowledgment of historical trauma, life-course perspectives, phenomenology, and critical gerontology should frame future research with, rather than on, indigenous elders.

The Spatial Knowledge of Indigenous People in Mountainous Environments: A Case Study of Three Taiwanese Indigenous Tribes

This article recounts information gleaned from a case study of three indigenous tribes in Taiwan regarding the origin and nature of their spatial knowledge. Sketched mental maps and 3D virtual environment () are used by indigenous elders and hunters to delineate their traditional territories. Spatial components representing the predominant spatial elements are identified. Spatial structures used for locational positioning are analyzed, as are spatial reference systems for orientation and movement. The results show that spatial components are used for daily activities, as well as having historical and cultural meaning; a quadrant structure is used for spatial positioning; and instead of using the directional reference system of east, south, west, and north, these indigenous people rely on the orientation analogies of uphill, downhill, upstream, and downstream for direction.

Writing white, writing black, and events at Canoe Rivulet

How a community imagines the past contributes to the shaping of its present culture; influences that community’s vision for the future. Yet much about the past can be difficult to access, as it can be lost or hidden. Therefore, when retelling first contact stories, especially when the documentary information is limited to a colonial perspective, how might a writer approach fictionalizing historical Indigenous figures? ‘Will Martin’ (2011), a tale written as part of my practice-led PhD, is a fictional retelling of the eighteenth century sailing trip,taken along the New South Wales coast, by explorers Matthew Flinders, George Bass, and Bass’s servant, William Martin. This paper traces my attempts to discover how to approach fictionalizing the historical Indigenous figures that Flinders met. Examining how some non-Indigenous writers have appropriated Indigenous culture and investigating what some writers have said about non-Indigenous writers creating Indigenous characters, provided me with some guidelines. Interviews with Indigenous elders, and other members of the Illawarra community, helped me imagine the gaps in knowledge. In the fictional retelling, using unreliable narration to suggest there may be multiple stories around a single historical event, some of which we may never get to hear, became a useful narrative strategy.