Indigenous Movements Research Articles

Advocating Dialogue or Monological Advocacy? Settler Colonial Theory, Critical Whiteness Studies and the Authentic “Pro-Indigenous” Position

ABSTRACTThis article problematises settler colonial theory and critical whiteness studies and their role in supporting advocacy scholarship, or scholarship purporting to uphold Indigenous political aspirations. It examines the conceptual reliance of these paradigms on binarised, orthodox representations of Indigeneity and the role of these representations in supporting particular “pro-Indigenous” political priorities, such as decolonisation. By way of example, a retrospective engagement with Sarah Maddison’s Beyond White Guilt: The Real Challenge for Black–White Relations in Australia is offered. I argue that this text’s representation of all non-Indigenous people as “white” and “guilty” perpetrators constructs Indigenous people as “black” and (by implication) “innocent” victims. The circumscription of Indigeneity delimits the terms by which Indigenous people can articulate their interests in the dialogue proffered as evidence of decolonisation, thus rendering the dialogue a monologue. Underscoring the power of this monologue, a Métis critique of Indigenous cultural-nationalist anti-colonial movements is called upon to argue that those who employ orthodox representations of Indigeneity put their commitment to an ideological position above a negotiation of alternatives. Consequently, the task of theorising decolonisation is diminished, and those we seek to support in our scholarship remain marginalised in our representations of them.

Indigenismo, educación colonial y etnoeducación

Con este trabajo se pretende abordar el indigenismo entendido como un movimiento político y cultural que defiende la identidad sociopolítica y el valor de la cultura de la América india, y que propone, a su vez, una alternativa en busca del bienestar colectivo. Esa alternativa surge del discurso postcolonial, crítico al desarrollo, y de las cosmovisiones de los pueblos originarios. Se denomina El Buen Vivir y se caracteriza por buscar otras vías al desarrollo más acordes con el respeto a la Pachamama, donde el ser humano forma un todo, siendo parte inherente del entorno natural y social que le rodea. De igual manera, se intenta mostrar cómo, a partir de los movimientos indigenistas, los pueblos originarios luchan por una educación propia que les permita mantener sus saberes ancestrales, amenazados en el presente por el neocolonialismo. Este trabajo surge a partir de la inquietud generada por las propias vivencias, resultado de la participación directa e in situ con diferentes comunidades indígenas que se encuentran en Abya Yala, y también a partir del conocimiento de diferentes investigaciones sobre el tema.

Ukuo e identidad entre los u̧wo̧tju̧ja̧ de Selva de Matavén, Orinoquia colombiana

¿Qué es ser u̧wo̧tju̧ja̧ hoy? ¿cuáles son los elementos que se tejen para construir la identidad? A través de un breve recorrido por el proceso histórico del pueblo u̧wo̧tju̧ja̧ (piaroa) de Selva de Matavén y el afianzamiento del ukuocomo eje articulador de la identidad, este artículo tiene como objetivo presentar algunos de los elementos que tejen y dan sentido a una forma particular de entender y habitar el territorio y constituyen la urdimbre de la identidad. Entre estos elementos se destacan la articulación con Venezuela, una continua relación con la economía de mercado, la fundación de la comunidad de Sarrapia, el proceso de educación propia y el papel que han jugado las luchas por el territorio y la autonomía, en especial las reivindicaciones ganadas por los movimientos indígenas, proceso que se consolidó con la Constitución Política de 1991 y la ratificación del Convenio 169 de la OIT sobre Pueblos indígenas y Tribales.

Educación Intercultural Bilingüe en Ecuador: Una revisión conceptual

El artículo explora los desafíos de la Educación Intercultural Bilingüe en Ecuador. Para ello, revisa brevemente la historia de las luchas y resistencias de los movimientos indígenas por educarse en una lengua ancestral desde sus inicios hasta llegar a la institucionalización del Sistema de Educación Intercultural Bilingüe (SEIB) en el año 1988. En este sentido, destaca en distintos momentos, la participación de organismos religiosos, así como la cooperación de organismos internacionales. Posteriormente, el análisis hace énfasis en el gobierno del eco. Rafael correa delgado (2007-2017), además de la legislación y literatura académica correspondiente al tema, el trabajo demuestra que el anterior Gobierno de la República del Ecuador, supuso el impulso de políticas públicas al reconocer los derechos de las trece nacionalidades legítimas, y de todas ellas, las lenguas más extendidas: kichwa y shuar, no obstante, en la práctica es compleja la aplicación de políticas públicas en pro de la educación intercultural, incluyendo la educación en lengua ancestral y en español, con ello se logra verificar que se avala una educación más multicultural que intercultural. Finalmente, se revisa el concepto de interculturalidad, y se ofrecen recomendaciones para la implementación de políticas públicas culturales que avalen la interculturalidad y el bilingüismo como proyecto político y epistémico para el desarrollo social en Ecuador.

Museums, heritage and the politics of pursuing indigenous rights in Taiwan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to trace the development of indigenous heritage rights in Taiwan. It examines how this pursuit is intertwined with the global indigenous movement, national political interests and rising local cultural awareness.Design/methodology/approachThis paper focuses on the rise of indigenous rights in Taiwan by looking at political shifts, indigenous museums and changing frameworks through which heritage is understood. The paper uses two case studies: one is the implementation of a heritage protection law in Taiwan; the other is the launch of indigenous museums.FindingsIn Taiwan, heritage is often associated with political ideology, power relations and resource distribution. The development of heritage discourse is inseparable from the international heritage trend as well as the local political situation.Originality/valueThe pursuit of indigenous heritage rights in Taiwan is supported on the one hand by the government so as to define a distinctive Taiwanese culture and on the other to meet the demands of Taiwan’s indigenous movement. Two case studies are provided to examine the pros and cons of current indigenous heritage projects in Taiwan.

Indigenous social movements and political institutionalization: a comparative case study

ABSTRACT Why do some indigenous social movements integrate into political institutions, i.e., political parties, and some do not? This study compares the impact that indigenous social movements have had on existing political institutions in Peru and Guatemala, theorizing about the effects that framing and experiential commensurability can have on the success of a social movement of a marginalized group transitioning into a political party. That is to say, in the case of Indigenous social movements which have expressly signaled their interest in participating in mainstream political institutions, what factors contribute to making gains in representation or legislative change? Indigenous social movements in both Guatemala and Peru have faced significant opposition from existing political institutions and dealt with additional issues such as a lack of physical infrastructure and a deficit of centralized organization within the movements themselves. This study compares the process of Guatemala’s indigenous social movement in its transition to a nationally and municipally representative political party in contrast with a continued lack of mobilization and representation of indigenous interests in the national political institutions of Peru.

A Tribute to Ibrahim Baba Farajajé: An Intersectional Perspective on Sexual Violence, Decolonization, and Standing Rock

Ibrahim Baba Farajajé embodied intersectionality and the sacred inseparability of the political and the spiritual. This piece uses intersectional perspectives of decolonizing sexuality, indigenous rights, gender politics, counteroppressive resistance, environmental justice, and sacred practice as taught by Ibrahim to examine the perpetuation of violence inside of liberation movements and the need for systems of accountability. By acknowledging the interwoven complexity and interplay of these themes, we are more prepared for the level of nuance needed in forms of resistance to hegemonic and oppressive power. This is a non-Native reflection on an experience at Standing Rock that uses intersectional frameworks to examine experiences of sexism and oppression while participating in an indigenous-led and indigenous-centered movement. This reflection was written during the Standing Rock resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2017. This writing is a prayer for collective liberation, decolonization and the many scales and nuanced ways through which these struggles continue. May this serve the indigenous environmental movement's central prayer to stop pipelines like the Dakota Access Pipeline and other environmentally devastating industry, honor sacred relationship to land, and stand for indigenous rights. Let it empower us to be more vigilant and present in all of the ways we engage with resistance to empirical power.

Los pueblos indígenas en el buen vivir global, un concepto como herramienta de inclusión de los excluidos

Indigenous peoples have been and still are largely excluded from the most important areas of modern society. They cannot participate adequately in politics, economics, education, etc. This exclusion is linked to colonialism and the coloniality of power and manifests itself in the term «indigenous» itself. The indigenous movement, especially since the 1970s, showed a clear awareness of this contradiction. It took advantage of the oppressive categories in the sense of a collective liberation. The indigenous function as a mechanism of political inclusion allows a local movement to connect with other movements, insofar as they are linked to the indigenous. And the indigenous became a discursive vehicle for the central demands of indigenous movements worldwide.In this contribution, it will be discussed the internal and external effects of the dissemination of the buen vivir concept by the indigenous movement based on a deeper discussion of the mechanisms of self-inclusion sustained on the indigenous movements. The centre of this discussion will be the framed of the concrete demands of the indigenous movement, especially the Ecuadorian movement and its economic proposals, in the concept of buen vivir.

Foes and allies: the Catholic Church, Acción Cultural Popular (ACPO), and the emergence of the indigenous movement in Cauca, Colombia

ABSTRACTLiterature on Latin American social movements has discussed the contributions of post-Second Vatican Council (SVC) (1963–1965) progressive branches of the Catholic Church in the formation of indigenous movements. However, this literature has largely ignored discussions on the intervention of non-SVC and conservative branches of the Catholic establishment. This article illustrates the role of the modernizing educational program Acción Cultural Popular (ACPO) (1949), a Catholic organization aligned with conservative forces of the Colombian State and developmental agencies from abroad, in the formation of the indigenous movement of the department of Cauca by Misak and Nasa indigenous people, who pioneered the indigenous movement in the country. ACPO provided educational tools and contacts that contributed to the creation of the indigenous movement of Cauca in the 1970s. However, it also promoted problematic technologies that affected indigenous territories and modes of understanding indigenous cultures that belittled the traditions of the Misak and Nasa indigenous people.

Reconsidering 1969: TheWhite Paperand the Making of the Modern Indigenous Rights Movement

The White Paper of 1969, which proposed to eliminate the legislated difference between Indigenous peoples and other Canadians promised a dramatic break from the settler status quo but became, instead, synonymous with continued assimilatory policies, an out-of-touch federal government, and (somewhat ironically) a catalyst for the modern Indigenous rights movement. Indigenous criticism of the paper was swift, with several Indigenous political organizations producing policy papers decrying the White Paper and demanding its retraction. And discussions would not stop there. In the ensuing decades, scholars have taken up the policy as a turning point for Indigenous politics. This article questions what this White Paper dominance has done for our understandings of the modern Indigenous movement and suggests that the policy has been mobilized in ways that separate the movement into pre- and post-eras, effectively erasing, or at least minimizing, pre-1969 political work and overemphasizing provincial and national unity after 1969.

Indigenous adult women, learning and social justice: Challenging deficit discourses in the current policy environment

Indigenous education engages directly with an overtly politicised process of knowledge construction, recognising and building on existing skills and informal learning practices within communities. Given the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda’s emphasis on social justice and gender equality, this paper sets out to explore what indigenous movements can offer in terms of developing an alternative approach to adult learning based on a rights perspective. The article compares the documentary analysis of policy on indigenous women and adult education internationally with a case study of indigenous movements and government policy in Nepal. The analysis reveals that international policy recognises indigenous women as a particularly marginalised group, but is not informed by a transformative notion of empowerment nor consideration of the implications of indigenous knowledge for mainstream education. In Nepal, indigenous federations and the government non formal education programmes similarly aim to impart skills for a modernised economy. However, women’s indigenous movements are committed to developing capabilities and creating new spaces for indigenous women to engage in political debate and representation. This politicised informal learning offers insights for developing the cross-sectoral rights-based adult education envisaged in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Decolonizing indigenous education: an indigenous pluriversity within a university in Cauca, Colombia

ABSTRACT Indigenous movements in southwestern Colombia have shifted their focus from their original goals of asserting indigenous identities, reclaiming land, and uniting the country’s diverse indigenous communities. The Autonomous Indigenous Intercultural University (UAIIN) reasserts indigenous identities by appropriating a western educational model but returning education to processes of cultural reproduction among peers, by requiring all students to engage in community investigation and popular education within their own communities. In this paper, I argue that the UAIIN strives to be a pluriversity that builds on the diversity of its participants in order to foster thinking-feeling students who engage Mother Earth through deep and spiritual connections. These efforts are contradicted, however, by the UAIIN’s administration’s desire to meet the Colombian Ministry of Education’s requirements for universities and to gain official recognition for its degree programmes. In practice, the UAIIN is a pluriversity within a university. Through its pedagogy, the UAIIN seeks to build indigenous solidarity across cultural difference, connects students to Mother Earth through action-oriented education, and strategically universalizes a pan-indigenous national identity.

Making sense of communitarianism: the Bolivian experience

In Bolivia, the state and society is undergoing radical transformations. The indigenous movements have revitalised traditions such as communitarianism, and ‘communitarian development’ has come to the forefront of Bolivian politics. The aim of this article is to identify what communitarian development means in the Bolivian context; how it is conceived and how it is practiced. I examine how communitarian development is conceptualised in the Aymara indigenous movement and in policy documents, and analyse what communitarianism might mean to people who uphold such values. I identify and discuss five different but intertwined significations; communitarian economy, communitarian work, communitarian management, communitarian law and communitarian values. I show that Bolivian communitarianism contains conceptualisations of cultural phenomena, which emerge at the nexus of experiences and expectations for the future, and argue that, despite tensions and pitfalls, communitarian development has the potential to increase indigenous wellbeing and agency and to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of what communitarianism is, or could be.

From Hill tribes to Indigenous Peoples: The localisation of a global movement in Thailand

This article presents a chronology of the growth of the concept of Indigeneity in Thailand, analysing the particular ways in which the global Indigenous movement has taken root in the country. In Thailand, transnational support networks and the opening of political associational space played key roles in facilitating the growth of, first, a regional, and later a national Indigenous movement during the 1980s and early 2000s, respectively. Indigenous Peoples in Thailand are asserting their identity by drawing on a new concept of Indigeneity being promoted by the United Nations and other international advocacy organisations that identifies them not only as first peoples, but crucially as colonised or oppressed peoples. Indigenous Peoples in Thailand are further asserting both their cultural distinctiveness and their compatibility with the Thai nation. The Indigenous movement in Thailand differs from movements in Australia, Canada, and the United States where Indigenous Peoples must perform their cultural distinctiveness to maintain political recognition, and in turn are accused of being not different enough when exercising their rights. In Thailand, rather, Indigenous Peoples are accused of being not Thai enough in their efforts to push for any political recognition. While the Thai government denies the relevance of the concept of Indigeneity to Thailand, it is clear that the Indigenous movement in Thailand has grown since the early 2000s. In fact, state policies between the 1950s and early 2000s contributed toward the scaling-up of a pan-Hill tribe identity among the core groups associated with the movement.

Becoming Indigenous Peoples in Thailand

This article investigates the processes of becoming Indigenous Peoples in Thailand by tracing the transnational relationships and influences of global Indigenous movements on the creation of the Network and the Council of Indigenous Peoples in Thailand (NIPT and CIPT). In addition, it examines the Indigenous Peoples’ movement toward both internal and external recognition. I argue that in Thailand the Indigenous Peoples movement stems from the global movement and exists in relation to international organisations. Within Thailand, the movement represents a deterritorialisation of the ethnoscape, with those now identified as Indigenous Peoples previously being identified as ‘tribal peoples’, ‘ethnic minorities’, or ‘Others’ who threatened national security. Indigenous Peoples are also self-identifying as native and marginalised peoples whose basic rights must be recognised and who advocate for equal treatment as citizens. Yet, the Indigenous Peoples’ movement in Thailand is developing through a process of ongoing negotiations with various internal and external sectors. As a Hmong anthropologist and long-time participant in the Indigenous movement in Thailand, in addition to secondary sources, I draw mainly on personal observations and interviews with key informants.

The struggle of indigenous peoples for health in environmental conflict contexts in Brazil (1999-2014)

The Brazilian development model, based on commodities and electro-intensive industries for trade in global markets, generates social and environmental inequalities that trigger various conflicts between indigenous peoples and communities and economic groups involving disputes over territory and common assets in contexts that influence the health situation of these communities. The objective of this paper is to present an overview of environmental conflicts involving the Brazilian indigenous peoples, their strategies to ensure the sustainability and demarcation of their territories and discuss the forms of pressure of the population on this Subsystem of Indigenous Healthcare (SASI) or alternatives they have proposed to tackle the problems generated. This analysis is based on a mapping of environmental conflicts based on the bibliographical revision of secondary sources (by indigenous movements or their partners) that supported the construction of reports on conflicts and analysis of the indigenous narratives about the territory where they live and their struggles. The conclusion drawn is that the health control strategies of Brazilian indigenous peoples are influenced by their socio-environmental disputes and are part of the mobilization of these peoples for the full recognition of their rights.

The local translation of global indigeneity: A case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts

Indigeneity, a concept and construct, is increasingly gaining currency in academia, in the political sphere, and in public debates. Indigeneity as an active political force with international support has become a resource in identity politics. This article focuses on the dynamics of how the transnational idea of indigeneity has been nationally installed and locally translated within the context of the ethnohistory of an Indigenous movement that stemmed from local–societal relations with the state. The idea of indigeneity is seen as both local and global because it is globally circulated but locally articulated as well as globally charged but locally framed. Focusing on the Chittagong Hill Tracts, in the borderlands of South and Southeast Asia and home to 11 Indigenous groups in Bangladesh, the article argues that the local translation of global indigeneity is necessary for ensuring the rights and entitlements of Indigenous Peoples.

Construção do conhecimento e eurocentrismo nas Universidades:

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a universidade ocidental dentro do padrão de poder moderno/colonial, a partir do Pensamento Decolonial Latino-Americano e de autores como Boaventura de Sousa Santos, apontando outras possibilidades epistemológicas que consideram diferentes tipos de conhecimento com equidade e diálogo. Outras possibilidades já estão sendo construídas, a exemplo da Pluriversidad Amawtay Wasi no Equador, que advém do movimento indígena equatoriano. O conhecimento que emerge e constitui essa pluriversidade difere consideravelmente dos ideais do conhecimento ocidental de objetividade, neutralidade, separação mente e corpo, razão e emoção, produzido por um corpo seleto de especialistas. A radicalidade desse empreendimento indígena se expressa também no reconhecimento da sua proposta como anti eurocêntrica e decolonizadora do conhecimento. Ao assumirem a interculturalidade crítica e o diálogo de saberes como pressupostos básicos na construção do conhecimento e para a transformação de toda a sociedade, atuam nessa direção.

Indigenous nationhood and herring governance: strategies for the reassertion of Indigenous authority and inter-Indigenous solidarity regarding marine resources

The modern-day reinvigoration of individual Indigenous nations around the world is connected to broader simultaneous movements of Indigenous nationhood worldwide. The origins, implications, philosophies, and diversities of Indigenous resurgences and resistances continue to be discussed in the growing body of literature on Indigenous governance. This article builds on these discussions by focusing on the applied tools and strategies of Indigenous resurgence. In the context of the Pacific herring fishery in British Columbia, Canada, this research explores the strategies and tools used by three Indigenous coastal nations to apply pressure on the colonial government to abdicate its asserted authority over herring governance. Motivated by a time-honored relationship to herring, we discuss how these Indigenous nations have strategized to try to regain authority over herring governance to protect species and Indigenous access to the fishery. We then discuss this ocean-based resurgence in the context of global Indigenous movements for the reassertion of self-determining authority.

Multiculturalism, Indigenism and New Universities in Mexico: a case of intercultural multilateralities

ABSTRACTExplicitly multicultural programs and/or institutions are a growing, but still very recent phenomenon in Mexico in particular and in Latin America in general. However, the long-standing tradition of indigenismo is a kind of ‘multiculturalism avant la lettre’, a set of policies that still shape the institutions specifically designed for the country’s 68 indigenous peoples. In the following, the different phases of ‘Mexican style’ multiculturalism are sketched, before I analyze the contemporary emergence of so-called intercultural bilingual education, an institutional arena in which indigenous movements and organizations participate, but which is still state-led and state-dominated. An empirical example from so-called intercultural higher education in Veracruz highlights how intercultural multilateralities (Guilherme, in this issue) shape emerging discourses on culturally and linguistically pertinent educational programs through emerging, novel and rather hybrid academic institutions. As will be shown, however, pre-existing structural path-dependencies limit the scope and depth of the resulting intercultural multilateralities.