Indigenous Experiences Research Articles

Māori views of forensic DNA evidence: an instrument of justice or criminalizing technology?

DNA profiling is just one of many tools available to police in a criminal investigation. However, unlike any other criminal investigative tool, DNA profiling has captured the public imagination. Its portrayal in popular fiction has given rise to the “CSI effect”, whereby the weight and credibility of science, combined with the predictive potential of DNA, produce an aura of infallibility and certainty only amplified by creative license. Genetic material holds particular significance for Indigenous peoples, establishing identity and group membership, as well as associated rights. This taonga (treasure) status entails particular sensitivities regarding its handling and use; these have been well explored in health, but less so in the forensic context. This article presents professional and lay Māori perspectives on forensic DNA technologies in New Zealand, highlighting the inseparability of these from Indigenous experiences of criminalization but also their value in informing operational, ethical and justice-oriented considerations.

VUOIŊŊALAŠVUOHTA—Sámi Spirituality, Yoik and Its Relations

The subject of identity is important in today’s political landscape. This article explores the way in which indigenous identity in particular is a contested subject, taking into account the way indigeneity in itself was, and still is, created within colonial contexts. The “validity” of indigenous peoples and their political aims, as well as their right to live according to their own cultural paths, will often be determined according to racist ideas connected to authenticity and its stereotypical demands. Such concepts can furthermore turn inward, disconnecting indigenous peoples from their own heritage. How ideas of authenticity affect indigenous individuals and their processes of identification serves as a central question within this text. Central to the Standing Rock movement was the focus on spirituality and religion grounded in Lakota traditions and other indigenous cultures. The text accounts for how these practices affected Marielle Beaska Gaup, Sámi artist, activist, and mother, especially through her experiences as a juoigi, a traditional Sámi yoiker. The ever-present singing and drumming at camp, chiefly during the summer, tied the mundane and ritualistic together, a characteristic mirroring traditional Lakota and Sámi ways of life, in which the spiritual at times seem to be an integral part of daily life. Building upon Marielle’s observations, the text looks at the way indigenous people’s relationships with spiritual traditions can affect processes of identification, and how indigenous identity can be intimately link to its spiritual heritage. This article employs indigenous methodologies, centering research on Sámi and indigenous perspectives, values and agendas. Marielle’s reflections contribute to the exploration of the connections between spirituality and Sámi identities; furthermore, they enable us to connect ideas about moving beyond the authoritarian ideals of “authentic identities”, through re-centering on indigenous experiences and processes of identification My main source is Marielle’s interview and articles based on interviews with people from Standing Rock The analysis centers on Marielle’s thoughts together with my own, with support from indigenous researchers bringing their own knowledge about identity and spirituality forward.

Ishi and the California Indian Genocide as Developmental Mass Violence

Ishi represents a form of sentimental folk reductionism. But he can be a teaching tool for the California Indian Genocide, John Sutter also. His mill was where gold was discovered – setting off a frenzied settlement in which Indians were legally enslaved and slaughtered, finally ending a decade after the Emancipation Proclamation. They had already experienced wholesale devastation under Spanish and Mexican colonization. The mission system itself was inhumane and genocidal. It codified enslavement and trafficking of Indians as economically useful and morally purposeful. Mexican administration paid lip service to Indian emancipation but exploited them ruthlessly as peons. The California genocide typifies an expanded understanding of genocide and how it operates in a developmental paradigm. We then turn to a related model of the indigenous experience. Using developmental genocide in a gangland “democracy” and Andrew Woolford’s ontologies of destruction, a 500-year wholesale assault, we champion genocide as generic while including specific modes mediated by economic or civil destruction and challenging the unmediated model – direct mass killing – as the archetypical form. Allied with this, a model mediated by civil war also helps explain genocide in the Americas, including California. Genocide of native peoples operates through a cultural and moral reductionism that allows them to be manipulated (and destroyed) as objects.

Ivan Sen’s Transnational Post-Westerns: Mystery Road (2012) and Goldstone (2016)

ABSTRACT This paper uses Neil Campbell’s definition of post-Westerns as films ‘coming after and going beyond the traditional Western whilst engaging with and commenting on its deeply haunting assumptions and values’ (Post-Westerns, 2013) in order to expand it to a transnational, post-colonial context and focus on two films made by Australian director Ivan Sen (Mystery Road [2013] and Goldstone [2016]) that can be considered Australian post-Westerns. These two films make references not only to American Westerns, but also to the less known genre of Australian Westerns or ‘bushranger films’, and they use, on the one hand, an aboriginal protagonist as reminder of the ‘black tracker’ typical of Australian Westerns, and on the other, the Australian outback to question the country’s identity and foundational myths. By establishing a complex dialogue both with American Westerns and their Australian counterpart, Ivan Sen articulates a discourse which refutes the country’s foundational myth as a terra nullius, and proposes a new sense of national identity that is inclusive of the Indigenous experience.

Sovereign Futures in Neshnabé Speculative Fiction

Abstract Film has been the primary way dominant society has consumed inaccurate and problematic symbols, images, and stereotypes of Native peoples for over one hundred years. Indigenous-made films, on the other hand, reclaim Indigenous representational space or ‘visual sovereignty’ through narratives of Indigenous experience that highlight culturally relevant stories and contemporary issues they face. In particular, Indigenous-made speculative fiction inspires contemplations of Indigenous agency in alternative realities. Indigenous futurisms expressed in works of speculative fiction is a rejection of theoretical, institutional, and political projects that imagined Indigenous peoples in the past and excluded them from the future. Through a survey of Neshnabé speculative fiction and other art, this article argues that Indigenous futurisms constitute creative approaches to sovereignty in a multiplicity of potential futures and is an analytical framework that illuminates the ever-expanding contours of Indigenous sovereignty in order to imagine an otherwise to present and past circumstances of Indigenous existence.

ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN ACHIEVING FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION IN GARISSA COUNTY, KENYA

Food is a primary need that is basic to all human needs and a fundamental human right (Maxwell, 2001; Ingram, 2011). Improved food security is vital in the alleviation of poverty, promotion of people’s health and labor productivity, contributes to the political stability of a country and ensures sustainable development of citizens (FAO, 2011). Food and nutrition security are achieved adequate food is available, accessed and satisfactorily utilized by all individuals at all times to live a healthy and happy life. Nutrition security goes beyond food security by considering adequate access to essential nutrients, not just calories. Nutritional security means guaranteed constant adequate dietary intake that helps the body to resist and recover from disease. Food insecurity leads to severe health problems for individuals and to the society including malnutrition, obesity, disease and poverty (Hammond & Dube, 2011). Indigenous knowledge refers to the knowledge and know-how unique to a given society or culture which encompasses “the cultural traditions, values, beliefs and worldviews of local people” (UNESCO, 2016). The fundamental differences between indigenous and scientific knowledge paradigms are characterized by an old African proverb which states when a knowledgeable old person dies, a whole library disappears (Naanyu, 2013). The study explored the role of indigenous knowledge in achieving food security and nutrition in Garissa county whose major economic is livestock keeping. The study found out that in the dry season resources are rare; the pastoralist manage their herd composition in regard to age and sex to preserve herd viability; and splitting up herds during wet and dry season, milk preservation is through gourds cleaning, drying and disinfecting for long-term, milk preservation is via spontaneous fermentation or back slopping and drying remain to be the most use approach for raw cereal grains, supported by the addition of ash, minerals or activated charcoal to absorb moisture and oxygen. The study concludes that despite the rich practices, indigenous knowledge is marginalized in favor of high-tech modern knowledge. The agro-pastoralist have no clearly defined channels through which they can share their lived indigenous knowledge, experiences and practice and it is rational and easy for pastoralist to practice indigenous methods of control of pests and diseases learnt over generations. The study recommends that documentation of indigenous knowledge from aging experts for future references, repackage indigenous knowledge towards food security and sustainable pastoral production in communal ranches. Article visualizations:

‘Indians are the Majority of the Prisoners’? Historical Variations in Incarceration Rates for Indigenous Women and Men in British Columbia

AbstractIndigenous people have experienced relatively high incarceration rates in British Columbia, as elsewhere in North America, since the 1940s. Archival prison records, however, show that the incidence of Indigenous incarceration was lower than for other people before 1910. This evidence implies the crucial period for increasing incarceration of Indigenous peoples in British Columbias was from 1910 to 1940. The pattern for Indigenous women differed from that of men. Large numbers of Indigenous women were imprisoned in the 1870s and 1880s. The British Columbia Indigenous pattern has important similarities to the New Zealand Māori in the same era. Neither Indigenous experience is easily explained by group threat theory used to understand rising incarceration for African‐Americans in this period. Indigenous incarceration in settler states prior to the 1950s needs additional comparative research and theoretical understanding.

Equality versus equity: Barriers to health care access for Indigenous populations in Canada

Abstract Canada's universal and publicly funded health-care system aims to promote universal and equitable access to care based on the needs of individuals, rather than on their capacity to pay for these services. Despite these principles, some groups, such as Indigenous peoples, experience significant and persistent social inequalities in health compared to the general population. This situation results from the continuing impacts of colonialism, which has an undeniable influence on social determinants of health, including access to care. This is surprising for many health professionals because it contradicts the democratic ideals of justice and equality that underlie the health-care system, as well as the rhetoric of their professional practice which asserts that 'everyone is treated the same'. Based on literature and on research findings, this presentation will demonstrate several ways in which a universal and homogeneous approach to health-care can contribute to creating social inequalities in health for Indigenous populations. First, health professionals tend to favor socially and culturally neutral practice, which can hinder the recognition of the influence of historical and socio-cultural factors on patients' health. This kind of practice may encourage a distorted reading of patients' issues and can lead to inappropriate responses. Second, a homogenous approach to care refers by default to health-care models and practices that are rooted in values and perspectives of the dominant culture, which contributes to the provision of culturally unsafe care for Indigenous patients. Finally, this type of approach overlooks the critical and specific needs of vulnerable groups, who often require more than the general population to achieve the same results. We will conclude by outlining some potential solutions, mainly how cultural safety as a transformative approach to care allows health professionals to better consider the needs and cultural identity of Indigenous patients.

The Experience of Colombian Medical Students in a Pilot Cultural Safety Training Program: A Qualitative Study Using the Most Significant Change Technique

Problem: The Colombian government provides health services grounded in the Western biomedical model, yet 40% of the population use cultural and traditional practices to maintain their health. Adversarial interactions between physicians and patients from other cultures hinder access to quality health services and reinforce health disparities. Cultural safety is an approach to medical training that encourages practitioners to examine how their own culture shapes their clinical practice and how to respect their patients’ worldviews. This approach could help bridge the cultural divide in Colombian health services, improving multicultural access to health services and reducing health disparities. Intervention: In 2016, we conducted a pilot cultural safety training program in Cota, Colombia. A five-month training program for medical students included: (a) theoretical training on cultural safety and participatory research, and (b) a community-based intervention, co-designed by community leaders, training supervisors, and the medical students, with the aim of strengthening cultural practices related to health. Evaluation used the Most Significant Change narrative approach, which allows participants to communicate the changes most meaningful to them. Using an inductive thematic analysis, the authors analyzed the stories and discussed these findings in a debriefing session with the medical students. Context: Cota is located only 15 kilometers from Bogota, the national capital and biggest city of Colombia, so the small town has gone through rapid urbanization and cultural change. A few decades ago, inhabitants of Cota were mainly peasants with Indigenous and European traditions. Urbanization displaced agriculture with industrial and commercial occupations. One consequence of this change was loss of cultural health care practices and resources, for example, medicinal plants, that the community had used for centuries. Impact: A group of 13 final-year medical students (ten female and three male, age range 20–24) participated in the study. The medical students listed four areas of change after their experience: increased respect for traditional health practices to provide better healthcare; increased recognition of traditional practices as part of their cultural heritage and identity; a desire to deepen their knowledge about cultural practices; and openness to incorporate cultural practices in healthcare. Lessons Learned: Medical students reported positive perceptions of their patients’ cultural practices after participating in this community-based training program. The training preceded a positive shift in perceptions and was accepted by Colombian medical students. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first documented cultural safety training initiative with medical students in Colombia and an early attempt to apply the cultural safety approach outside the Indigenous experience.

The Case of Windy Lake by M. Hutchinson

Hutchinson, Michael. The Case of Windy Lake. Second Story Press, 2019.
 Micheal Hutchinson is a citizen of the Misipawistik Cree Nation in the Treaty 5 territory and is no stranger to the Canadian media. He’s worked as a print reporter for The Calgary Straight and Aboriginal Times and became the host of APTN national news. Somehow in his busy life, he has found time to write two amazing children’s books.
 The Case of the Missing Auntie is Hutchinson’s second Mighty Muskrat Mystery book. It follows the cousins Chickadee, Otter, Samuel, and Atim (the Mighty Muskrats) of the Windy Lake First Nation. It takes place after the first book, but this time the Muskrats are leaving their reserve to spend time with family in the city.
 By setting the book in the city, the topic of urban Indigenous people arises. Hutchinson depicts a wide range of Indigenous people: nurses, students, musicians, and bullies. He doesn’t romanticize Indigenous people, opting to focus on realism and making the characters lifelike. The book makes sure to mention potential issues with moving/travelling from a reserve to a large city such as not fitting in and racism.
 The story has the same style as the previous Mighty Muskrat Mystery book with clear goals for the Muskrats to obtain: visit the Exhibition Fair, get Otter a ticket to see the band Wavoka’s Wail, and look for Auntie Charlotte who was taken during the 60’s scoop. One of the best parts is how realistic the story is, not everything goes the Mighty Muskrats way. This isn’t your typical “everything is going to work out just fine” story but that makes it a solid read—they need to come up with a plan B.
 It opens a dialogue on residential schools, the 60’s scoop, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It felt like a good introduction to those tough topics, explaining what they are without dismissing them as something that happened a long time ago or minimizing their modern impacts. Instead, the story shows the aftermath, and how it affects the younger generation without limiting characters’ identities to only be their relationship to historical trauma. As such, this book could work as a discussion starter between children and adults on these topics and could be used to promote critical discussion around themes like Indigenous identities and experiences.
 Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Kaia MacLeod
 Reviewers BiographyKaia MacLeod, a member of the James Smith Cree Nation, is an MLIS candidate at the University of Alberta. Her bachelor’s degree was in Film Studies, which she sometimes likes to call a degree in “movie watching,” she enjoys exploring how folklore is represented on film and in online content.

Native Apocalypse in Claire G. Coleman’s The Old Lie

Claire G. Coleman’s science fiction novel The Old Lie (2019) evokes the blemished chapters of Australia’s history as the basis of a dystopian futuristic Earth. By using the metaphor of a secular apocalypse (Weaver) wrapped in the form of a space opera, she interrogates historical colonialism on a much larger scale to bring to the fore the distinctive Indigenous experience of Australia’s terra nullius and its horrific offshoots: the Stolen Generations, nuclear tests on Aboriginal land and the treatment of Indigenous war veteran, but this time experienced by the people of the futuristic Earth. Following a brief introduction of the concept of the “Native Apocalypse” (Dillon) in the framework of Indigenous futurism, the paper discusses Coleman’s innovative use of space opera embedded in Wilfred Owen’s famous WWI poem “Dulce et Decorum Est”. The analysis focuses on four allegedly separate stories in the novel which eventually interweave into a single narrative about “the old lie”. In keeping with the twenty-first-century Indigenous futurism, Coleman’s novel does not provide easy answers. Instead, the end brings the reader to the beginning of the novel in the same state of disillusionment as Owen’s lyrical subject.

The sounds of silence in Australian collective memory and popular counter-narratives (Los sonidos del silencio en la memoria colectiva australiana y en los relatos alternativos populares)

ABSTRACT In 1968, the Australian anthropologist W. E. H. Stanner famously articulated that the nation’s history had been wracked by a ‘great Australian silence’ with regard to the recognition of Indigenous experience. Australia’s sense of its past, he argued, its very collective memory, had been built on a state of forgetting. Beyond that disciplinary silence, however, important historical ‘noise’ was being made about Indigenous history. Popular historical fiction and poetry, Indigenous family histories and forms of popular protest all offered important counter-narratives to that formal silence from the History discipline. Scholarship in the fields of anthropology and archaeology further pressed against the silences and silencing of Australian History. This paper uses the idea of silence to complicate historiographical space in Australia. By contemplating formal History texts, vernacular historical accounts and history-making beyond the discipline, it seeks to extend our understandings of national historiographies and historical knowledge.

INVESTIGATING THE NEEDS OF DEVELOPING A DIGITAL VOCABULARY LEARNING MATERIAL FOR MALAYSIAN INDIGENOUS LEARNERS IN ESL CLASSROOM

Background and Purpose: An intervention program becomes a necessity when a learning problem arises. To ensure the program effectiveness, pedagogical and assessment decisions rely heavily on the actual needs of learners. Hence, this study aimed to conduct a needs analysis survey to investigate the indigenous learners’ needs in terms of their attitudes towards ESL learning, favorable language skills, topics of interest and preferable modes of learning. Unlike other groups of Malaysian learners, the indigenous experience extreme ESL learning disadvantage due to their struggle to assimilate themselves in a multi-ethnic school environment.
 
 Methodology: This study employed design-based research (DBR) methodology with the utilization of mixed-method tools in the forms of document analysis and close-ended questionnaire. These data variations aim for the breadth and depth of understanding and corroboration. Past public examination results were used to highlight the indigenous learning problems in ESL learning followed by a survey questionnaire on forty-eight (48) 13-year-old indigenous learners.
 
 Findings: The findings reveal that the indigenous possessed extremely poor vocabulary mastery and experienced high language anxiety. Nevertheless, they surprisingly exhibited high awareness towards the potential usage of English language, and this level of awareness posits their needs and readiness to explore other means of learning which are not currently offered to them such as digital game-based learning.
 
 Contributions: The study informs ESL practitioners on the importance of considering the needs of the targeted learners and teachers involved so that contextualized, practical, and effective instruction could be designed, developed, and successfully delivered.
 
 Keywords: Design-based research, indigenous learners, instructional design, mixed-method tools, needs analysis.
 
 Cite as: Wan Mahzan, M. S., Alias, N. A., & Ismail, I. S. (2020). Investigating the needs of developing a digital vocabulary learning material for Malaysian indigenous learners in ESL classroom. Journal of Nusantara Studies 2020, 5(2), 282-302. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol5iss2pp282-302

A Qualitative Analysis of Maori and Pacific people's Experiences of Using Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).

If electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are to bring public health benefits, members of population groups most affected by smoking must find them an easily adopted and satisfying replacement for smoking. We explored experiences of ENDS uptake and use among Māori and Pacific peoples living in New Zealand and probed factors that assisted transitions from smoking to vaping. We recruited 16 participants using whānaungatanga and community advertising. All were aged 18 or over, identified as Māori or Pacific (or both), had smoked at least 100 cigarettes, and were current ENDS users. We undertook in-depth interviews and analyzed the data using a thematic analysis approach. We identified two key challenges that participants reported facing: their search for a satisfying ENDS experience and resisting social cues that could trigger relapse. Two supportive factors facilitated and reinforced smoking to vaping transitions: improved financial and physical well-being, and feeling connected to vaping communities. Learning about ENDS devices from those who had successfully switched from smoking to vaping provided much-needed information, reinforced the financial benefits of switching, and could inspire those making this transition to persist until they too become smoke free. Measures to support transitions from smoking to ENDS use could reduce inequities in smoking prevalence that indigenous people experience. Collective cessation interventions that draw on communities' knowledge and connections may enable smokers to access support that helps them navigate the potentially complex pathway from smoking to vaping.

Metaphorical Reflections on the Colonial Circus of the Drunken Indian and the Kidney Machine

This paper represents the need for First Nations community workers to share their narratives of experience and wisdom for academic review. A growing number of mature Indigenous social service workers are returning to Canada’s learning centers where they are articulating observations and insights to Indigenous experience in colonial Canada. It is imperative that post-colonial academic literature include these contributions. True reconciliation between Canada and First Peoples is only possible if those stories of resilience are reflected back from the experience of historic trauma and unresolved intergenerational suffering.

Perspectivismo contra o Estado

Este ensaio propõe uma discussão sobre as consequências políticas do conceito de perspectivismo ameríndio no pensamento de Eduardo Viveiros de Castro. Ele é composto de dois movimentos. O primeiro busca discutir e desdobrar a afirmação, de teor clastriano, de que o perspectivismo é a “cosmologia contra o Estado”. O segundo pretende refletir sobre a conexão possível entre o problema do perspectivismo e o da “cosmopolítica do Antropoceno”, que advém do debate sobre os efeitos das mudanças climáticas e, de maneira mais ampla, da crise da modernidade. Desses movimentos emerge a possibilidade de pensar um outro conceito de política, mais afeito à imaginação e à experiência indígenas, podendo servir de lição ou inspiração para o mundo não-indígena.

Images, Land, and Places: Telling Indigenous Narratives and Histories

Abstract Jennifer Graber’s The Gods of Indian Country (2018) and Pamela Klassen’s The Story of Radio Mind (2018) tell stories of Christian and settler-colonialist history from new vantage points highlighting two areas: (1) the importance of land and places, and (2) the use of images in research. Both authors spent time in the lands of their research, and both employ images and maps in meaningful ways. To understand Indigenous experiences on the land and the devastation of dispossession, knowledge of land and places is crucial; to reinterpret the visual record, Indigenous perspectives are imperative. However, largely missing in both texts are Indigenous feelings for the land and their interpretations of the visual record. Therefore, this essay is framed around three questions for scholarship regarding Indigenous spiritual traditions: (1) How can research help readers understand Indigenous stories of dispossession? (2) What guidelines should authors consider when attempting to rewrite/explore/investigate historical narratives? (3) In what ways can Indigenous perspectives revise stories of marginalization and contribute to revitalization?

Rights, interests and expectations: Indigenous perspectives on unrestricted access to genomic data.

Addressing Indigenous rights and interests in genetic resources has become increasingly challenging in an open science environment that promotes unrestricted access to genomic data. Although Indigenous experiences with genetic research have been shaped by a series of negative interactions, there is increasing recognition that equitable benefits can only be realized through greater participation of Indigenous communities. Issues of trust, accountability and equity underpin Indigenous critiques of genetic research and the sharing of genomic data. This Perspectives article highlights identified issues for Indigenous communities around the sharing of genomic data and suggests principles and actions that genomic researchers can adopt to recognize community rights and interests in data.

An ‘authentic’ Aboriginal product: State marketing and the self‐fashioning of Indigenous experiences to Chinese tourists

AbstractChina's burgeoning outbound tourist market has become a priority for Australian tourism, with national and state tourism reports advocating for ‘China‐ready’ marketing, policy and planning and increased industry training around Chinese consumer behaviour and preferences to capitalise on this market. However, studies demonstrate that Chinese tourists are generally not interested in Indigenous tourism experiences. Nevertheless, the state of Victoria is adamant about investing in Indigenous‐themed tourism products which are considered appropriate for Chinese preferences in an attempt to attract tourists from this growing inbound market. This article presents a review of relevant state government policies relating to Indigenous tourism alongside a case study of the tourism experiences developed and provided by Gunditjmara people along the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape in southwest Victoria. We demonstrate the ways that notions of ‘authenticity’ continue to shape, and constrain, Indigenous economic engagement and participation via tourism, and discuss the impact of these notions on the provision of Indigenous tourism products and experiences for Chinese and other visitors. We argue that the marketing of Gunditjmara tourism to fluctuating market demand highlights the arbitrariness of Australian governments' policies with respect to Indigenous development, and call for policymakers to focus renewed attention on the local aspirations of Indigenous entrepreneurs.

Who’s caring for whom? Disabled Indigenous carers experiences of Australia’s infrastructures of social protection

ABSTRACT Almost a quarter (23.9%) of Indigenous Australians report living with a disability. While most of them are cared for at home by female family members, there is limited understanding and insight into their lives. There is even less known about Indigenous primary carers who often also live with a disability and/or serious health condition requiring ongoing medical healthcare and support. This paper explicitly explores Indigenous disabled carer experiences who are navigating complex infrastructures of social protection for those that they care for and to gain support for their own health and disability needs as a disabled carer. The paper illustrates the significant disadvantages they experience given their regional locations of residency and the historicity of disability-carer support availability. Drawing upon their narratives from semi-structured interviews and yarning circles, three significant themes emerge: (i) Extended carer responsibilities for the family, (ii) Challenges applying for and receiving financial support as carers to support their own wellbeing as a disabled person and the disabled family member they cared for, (iii) Living in unsuitable accommodation.