Indigenous Governance Systems Research Articles

Harmony in Dispute: The Role of Anywaa's Traditional Institutions in Conflict Resolution

This paper explores the traditional institutions and conflict resolution mechanisms among the Anywaa community, shedding light on their intricate structures and practices. The Anywaa people, located in Ethiopia and South Sudan, have developed indigenous governance systems centered on institutions such as Nyieya (nobleship), Kwaaro (headmanship), and the spiritual leadership of Nyibur, along with family councils. These institutions play vital roles in maintaining social order and resolving conflicts within the community. The study elucidates the processes of conflict resolution, involving mediation by various officials and councils within the traditional governance system. Whether dealing with inter-village disputes, intra-village conflicts, or homicide cases, the Anywaa employ a combination of customary practices and indigenous knowledge to address conflicts effectively. The involvement of neutral parties underscores the community's commitment to fair and just resolution processes. Furthermore, the research highlights the significance of compensation and purification rituals in restoring harmony and reconciliation within the community. Through restitution and traditional ceremonies, the Anywaa aim to mend relationships and reintegrate offenders back into society, emphasizing the importance of forgiveness and community cohesion. Overall, the findings contribute to a deeper understanding of indigenous governance systems and their relevance in contemporary society. By documenting the intricate workings of traditional institutions and conflict resolution practices among the Anywaa people, the research underscores the importance of preserving and respecting indigenous knowledge for sustainable peace and social cohesion in diverse cultural contexts.

Customary Governance and State Legal System in Nepal

Indigenous governance systems are sui generis judicial, administrative, economic, and political systems for exercising authority and upholding the Indigenous governance system of Indigenous peoples. Those institutions help them to realize self-government, autonomy, and self-determination as enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples inter alia other legal instruments. In Nepal, the 2015 Constitution opened up avenues for the de jure acceptance of the Indigenous customary governance system at the local levels. De facto recognitions were in place for a long time at the local level despite national laws’ reticence and prejudice. This article looks into the convergent and divergent between customary governance and “nation-state” governing procedure and evaluates the long-term effects on self-rule, autonomy, and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples while interfacing with the contemporary state mechanisms. The indigenous worldview and inclusion/exclusion perspective is the theoretical/conceptual lenses for analyzing the phenomenon in this study. Talking circles, key informant interviews, focus group discussions observations, informal conversations, and participation in periodic assemblies of customary institutions were the strategies of data gathering. Despite the nonrecognition of federal laws, local governments in some parts of the country initiated recognizing customary governance. However, such initiatives, instead of allowing them to operate independently and guaranteeing self-determination, self-rule, and autonomy as the indigenous peoples’ movement demanded at the time, tended to subordinate and bring the customary governance system under the control and jurisdiction of the state law. That will be detrimental to the functioning of Indigenous political institutions in the long run.

Sustainable Indigenous Governance: Catalysts for Economic Development in India

In India we have too many different communities with vast tradition and culture. In order to enhance their own way of life we have to protect the indigenous nature of governance. The idea of indigenous governance for economic development in India combines traditional knowledge and governance structures with modern development strategies. This model of indigenous governance is based on the central role of community-led initiatives, practices and management to promote sustainable economic growth. This research paper aims to make a correlation between indigenous governance and economic development. This paper also advocates a top-down approach to prioritizes the aspirations, needs and values of indigenous communities, to ensure their active participation in decision-making processes. This indigenous governance model is important to rethink development paradigms and make them more inclusive and equitable. By following this indigenous governance and leadership models, our country can find the way for a development strategy that is not only economically valuable but also socially and environmentally sustainable. India can harness the potential of its diverse cultures for inclusive and sustainable economic development by creating an enabling political environment that respects and takes into account indigenous governance systems. The principle of self-determination is a key to this indigenous model, which can allow different communities to follow their own development paths in accordance with their cultural heritage and environmental protection. To improve the economic well-being of indigenous peoples and to preserve their natural resources, cultural identity and traditional knowledge for future generations, the government should follow the indigenous approach of governance.

Decolonising Fire Science by Reexamining Fire Management across Contested Landscapes: A Workshop Approach

In many landscapes worldwide, fire regimes and human–fire interactions were reorganised by colonialism and continue to be shaped by neo-colonial processes. The introduction of fire suppression policies and state-centric property-rights systems across conservation areas and the intentional erasure of Indigenous governance systems and knowledge have served to decouple Indigenous fire-dependent communities from culturally mediated fire regimes and fire-adapted landscapes. This has driven a decline in anthropogenic fires while simultaneously increasing wildfire risk where Indigenous people have been excluded, resulting in widespread social–ecological vulnerabilities. Much contemporary fire research also bears colonial legacies in its epistemological traditions, in the global geographical distribution of research institutions, and the accessibility of research outputs. We report on a two-day workshop titled ‘Fire Management Across Contested Landscapes’ convened concurrently in Nairobi, Kenya, and London, UK. The workshop formed part of a series of workshops on ‘Decolonising Fire Science’ held by the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, UK. The workshop in Nairobi invited diverse Kenyan stakeholders to engage in participatory activities that facilitate knowledge sharing, aiming to establish an inclusive working fire network. Activities included rich pictures, world café discussions, participatory art, and the co-development of a declaration to guide fire management in Kenya. Meanwhile, in London, Leverhulme Wildfires researchers explored participatory research methodologies including rich pictures and participatory video, and developed a declaration to guide more equitable research. There were opportunities throughout the workshop for participants in Nairobi and London to engage in dialogue with one another, sharing their experiences and understandings of complex fire challenges in Kenya and globally.

Anticipatory co-governance for human rights to sciences across knowledge systems

ABSTRACT The interface between Indigenous and Western knowledge systems highlights the existence of diverse sciences, each with their own history, contexts and processes for validation, with relevance to the human rights to sciences (HRS). The lens of intersectional universality shows how Indigenous peoples differ in ways that affect the HRS, through: (1) holding unique connections to territories, distinct cultures, worldviews and knowledge systems; (2) experiencing dispossession of their lands, territories and resources leading to great disadvantage in socio-economic status; (3) bearing a disproportionately high impact from colonial scientific practices that breach human rights; and (4) utilising Indigenous governance systems based on customary institutions for decision-making. Human rights law requires that these institutions are consistent with principles of non-discrimination – the universal aspect. From this recognition of difference and sameness, we argue that diligent anticipation of risk needs to be based on recognition and support from states for the institutions that govern Indigenous sciences, redress by relevant scientific organisations for the negative impacts of colonial scientific practices, and capacity-building to overcome inequitable distribution of resources and power. Anticipatory co-governance with Indigenous peoples can empower Indigenous agency, Indigenous perspectives on human rights and provide a fertile ground for future thinking to diligently anticipate risks and benefits of science and scientific progress.

Remaining Unreconciled: Philanthropy and Indigenous Governance in Canada

While the Income Tax Act provides structure to philanthropic activity in Canada, an Indigenist reading of it shows that it is also a part of state-building at the expense of inherent Indigenous governance systems. By shaping philanthropic gift giving, this paper shows, the act plays a role in precluding inherent Indigenous leaders from accessing fiscal support based on their own political authority.

Indigenous governance structures for maintaining an ecosystem service in an agro-pastoral community in the Indian Trans Himalaya

ABSTRACT The majority of the global terrestrial biodiversity occurs on indigenous lands, and biodiversity decline on these lands is relatively slower. Yet, robust understanding of indigenous governance systems for biodiversity and ecosystem services remains a key knowledge gap. We used the socio-ecological systems framework to study the governance of ecosystem services (ES) by an indigenous community in the Village of Kibber in the Trans-Himalayan Mountains of India. Focusing on plant-biomass removal from communal pastures, we identified the main factors shaping local governance using in-depth focal and deliberative group discussions with community members. Notwithstanding inequities of caste and gender, we found that Kibber had a well-functioning, complex, relatively democratic and inclusive system, with all households of the village involved in decision-making related to ES governance. Robust systems of information sharing, monitoring, conflict resolution, and self-organization played an important role. We found the role of institutional memory sustained by the oracle to be critical in maintaining governance structures. Our work underscores the potential resilience and importance of indigenous systems for the governance of ecosystem services.

Indigenous Governance Systems and Democracy in Ethiopia: Yejoka Qicha System of the Gurage People

Indigenous governance systems within the Eastern African nation of Ethiopia are often dismissed by Western political elites as undemocratic. We assessed the nature of and level of democracy in Indigenous governance systems in Ethiopia by focusing on the Yejoka Qicha of the Gurage people. We found that, while the Yejoka Qicha system includes democratic elements that can support national efforts to consolidate democracy, it also marginalizes some groups, such as women, from political and economic benefits. As such, we recommend the implementation of policies that eliminate the oppressive aspects of the Yejoka Qicha system, while also recognizing the role that these Indigenous governance systems can have in promoting democracy within Ethiopia.

Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge, and Practices through Two-Way Partnering.

The Sendai Framework of Action 2015–2030 calls for holistic Indigenous disaster risk reduction (DRR) research. Responding to this call, we synergized a holistic philosophical framework (comprising ecological systems theory, symbolic interactionism, and intersectionality) and social constructionist grounded theory and ethnography within a critical Indigenous research paradigm as a methodology for exploring how diverse individual and contextual factors influence DRR in a remote Indigenous community called Galiwinku, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Working together, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers collected stories in local languages using conversations and yarning circles with 20 community members, as well as participant observations. The stories were interpreted and analysed using social constructivist grounded theory analysis techniques. The findings were dialogued with over 50 community members. The findings deeply resonated with the community members, validating the trustworthiness and relevance of the findings. The grounded theory that emerged identified two themes. First, local Indigenous knowledge and practices strengthen Indigenous people and reduce the risks posed by natural hazards. More specifically, deep reciprocal relationships with country and ecological knowledge, strong kinship relations, Elder’s wisdom and authority, women and men sharing power, and faith in a supreme power/God and Indigenous-led community organizations enable DRR. Second, colonizing practices weaken Indigenous people and increase the risks from natural hazards. Therefore, colonization, the imposition of Western culture, the government application of top-down approaches, infiltration in Indigenous governance systems, the use of fly-in/fly-out workers, scarcity of employment, restrictions on technical and higher education opportunities, and overcrowded housing that is culturally and climatically unsuitable undermine the DRR capability. Based on the findings, we propose a Community-Based DRR theory which proposes that facilitating sustainable Indigenous DRR in Australian Indigenous communities requires Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners to genuinely work together in two-directional and complementary ways.

The Role of Indigenous Resurgence in Marine Conservation

Indigenous peoples’ efforts toward environmental conservation are indivisible from their cultural identity and their social and political organizations. Indigenous resurgence, including the reinvigoration and reestablishment of Indigenous ways of living, are linked to the management, restoration, and conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems around the world. However, there remains a significant gap in the recognition and support of Indigenous governance systems in international policy discussions regarding conservation work. As a way to address this gap, we offer an analysis of marine Indigenous community-led conservation initiatives from around the world that were recipients of the UNDP Equator Prize, framed by initial research on Indigenous-led conservation in British Columbia, Canada. We highlight specific Indigenous governance strategies undertaken by such communities that foster both marine resource conservation and stewardship. The strategies we identified included practicing Indigenous traditional resource management, protection of traditional territories, Indigenous-led actions of environmental conservation, and data collection and monitoring. We also identified networking and collaboration with non-Indigenous supporters, as was reinvestment into education and capacity-building within the community. We conclude with concrete policy suggestions drawn from these cases that can help strengthen the leadership and self-determination of Indigenous peoples on local resource and environmental issues, and aid in much broader conservation efforts globally.

Women and Legal Pluralism: Lessons from Indigenous Governance Systems in the Andes

AbstractThe shift towards legally plural multicultural and pluri-national citizenship regimes in the Andes formally recognised indigenous peoples’ community-based governance systems. These tend to emphasise participation, deliberation and service to the collective, but are often criticised for discriminating against women. We argue that recent constitutional reforms and legislation combining recognition of collective rights claims with institutional guarantees for gender equality have in fact amplified indigenous women's different strategies of ‘negotiating with patriarchy’, allowing them to further the transformation of their organisations and ‘custom’. Such strategies are necessary because of the intersections of race, class and gendered exclusions that indigenous women experience, and possible because of the diverse and dynamic nature of community governance systems. Despite systemic and structural constraints on the guarantee of indigenous peoples’ rights, the actions of organised indigenous women over the last two decades point to new ways of imagining more plural, less patriarchal forms of citizenship.

Indigenous Federation: The Case of Borana Oromo, Ethiopia

This article draws attention to the Borana Oromo gadaa system as an Indigenous federation. Gadaa is an Indigenous democratic political system used by the Oromo in which leaders are elected and their term in office is strictly fixed. Data for this research were generated through interviews, observations, and focus group discussions. The findings of this research indicate that the Borana have three gadaa councils at two levels: one at the center for the entire Borana and two named after two Borana clans. The later have relative autonomy under the cardinal law of the Borana gadaa. This structure has been serving as a means of managing conflict, maintaining internal unity, and ensuring better governance and power devolution. Finally, suggestions are made on how to support Indigenous governance systems, which in this case includes acknowledging the values and principles of the gadaa system, as well as designing a legal framework that retains and protects the integrity and legitimacy of the system.

Comparative Analysis of Regulatory and Supervisory System of Islamic Banks: Evidence from Pakistan, Malaysia, Bahrain and United Kingdom

This study has critically analysed the regulatory and supervisory framework of Islamic banks in dual banking system of Pakistan, Malaysia, Bahrain and United Kingdom. The core regulatory functions and issues are taken under discussion and results revealed that conflicting views of Islamic jurist and policy makers have further aggravated the Shariah problems. Over the years the regulatory framework in each country moulded in a peculiar way, where Malaysia and Bahrain have developed their indigenous governance systems while in United Kingdom Islamic banks are still under conventional setup. In Pakistan, Islamic banks are under the governance of orthodox regulatory framework, combined with developing Islamic banking regulatory systems. Further, the effectiveness of existing regulatory framework has never been fully challanged by extremely conservative and embryonic Islamic banking industry. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s2p629

A Comparative Analysis of Regulatory and Supervisory Islamic Banking: Evidence from Pakistan, Malaysia, Bahrain, and the UK

This study critically analyzes the regulatory and supervisory frameworks that govern Islamic banks in the dual banking systems of Pakistan, Malaysia, Bahrain, and the UK. We discuss their core regulatory functions and find that conflicting views among Islamic jurists and policymakers have aggravated sharia-related problems. Over the years, the regulatory framework in each country has developed in a certain way. Malaysia and Bahrain have established indigenous governance systems. Islamic banks in the UK still fall under the conventional setup, while in Pakistan, they are governed by an orthodox regulatory framework combined with an evolving Islamic banking regulatory system. However, the effectiveness of the existing regulatory frameworks has never been fully tested by the nascent Islamic banking industry, which remains very conservative.

Modernity and ‘traditionality’ in African Governance: Conceptual and Pragmatic issues

This paper questions the popular binary conception of ‘citizens and subjects’ by Mahmood Mamdani (1996) as a legitimate basis of characterizing indigenous governance systems in Africa. Whilst the history of colonial manipulation of local governance systems is acknowledged, together with how this was twisted to serve colonial ends, this paper questions the observed vulnerability of academic discourse to the ‘invention theory’ which subjects all surviving indigenous forms and systems to colonial invention. This paper is a critical analysis of the intellectualization of political existentialism of African people’s history to pronounce on the state of their lives. It argues that scholars have put the cart before the horse in suggesting that the institutionalized segregation of political life in South Africa legitimately created ‘citizens with rights’ versus ‘subjects with custom’.