Indigenous Traditions Research Articles

Negotiating Indigenous Peopless Exit from Colonialism: The Case for an Integrative Approach

New institutions of indigenous governance will be the product of negotiations, negotiations that will take place against a background of colonial structures and relationships. Having previously examined the challenges of structuring a negotiation process that takes due account of pre-existing cultural and power differences between the parties, the author analyzes the significance of their choice of negotiation strategy on the negotiation process and outcome. In particular, this paper reflects on the promise and limitations of the parties’ adopting interest-based, or “integrative”, negotiation strategies and the potential for fruitful entanglements between those strategies and indigenous diplomatic traditions.

Tourism Development Strategy of Buntula’bi Balusu Sub-Village, North Toraja Regency Based on Tourist Perception

Buntula’bi Balusu Sub-village located in North Toraja Regency. It is uniquely endowed with diverse cultural heritages, both physical (tangible) and non-physical (intangible) cultures, viable to attract domestic and/or international tourists. The objectives of this research were to identify Buntula’bi physical and non-physical characteristics, analyse the tourists’ perceptions towards Buntula’bi’s tourism objects performances, and formulate the appropriate direction of tourism development within the sub-village. The research employed descriptive and evaluative analytical methods through observations on primary data, questionnaires, documentation, and a set of literature reviews. An evaluative approach was used to measure tourists’ level of satisfaction towards the tourism objects performances. Tourism component variables were assessed using Importance Performance Analysis (IPA). Descriptively, the physical characteristics in the study site were in the form of ancestral buildings, which included tongkonan Kollo-Kollo, tongkonan Rantewai, togkonan Lingkasile, alang, banuabugi’, and also traditional buildings of kombongan, rantetendan, ranteissun, liangtondon, lokkotarra, and sawahadat. Meanwhile, the non-physical characteristics were identified as indigenous traditions in the forms of tribal cultures and ceremonies such as Aluk Todolo, Rambu Solo’ andRambuTuka’. The IPA result showed that the top priority for the tourism development strategy in Buntula’bi was to improve public facilities, optimize road conditions, and develop restaurants and accommodation, as well as souvenir shops in Buntula’bi Balusu Sub-Village.Keywords: Importance Performance Analysis, Tourism Development, Toraja

KEARIFAN BUDAYA LOKAL MASYARAKAT MARITIM UNTUK UPAYA MITIGASI BENCANA DI SUMATERA BARAT

Local wisdom that exists in the community is potentially a very valuable in dealing with the problems of natural disasters that hit the region. Understanding of the potential of local wisdom in dealing with the threat of natural disasters is important in disaster mitigation efforts in disaster-prone areas. One of the natural disaster-prone areas in West Sumatra that have the potential of local cultural wisdom is Ulakan Nagari, Kec. Ulakan Tapakis, Kab. Padang Pariaman. This region includes the areas worst affected by the earthquake last 30 September 2009. However, these communities do not get a lot of casualties caused by the earthquake The power of religion as a major potential cultural wisdom of this community, namely the existence of the tomb of the great scholar Shaykh Burhanuddin considered believed society could reject any disaster so that when disaster strikes, the community has a great power to anticipate the disaster. The community did with various religious traditions, such as dhikr (prayer) in the tomb and on the waterfront and implement indigenous tradition (sort of ceremony Tabuik) as a sign of gratitude to Allah SWT. Besides the religious aspect, the public trust with marine geography which has the power of a tsunami hazard barrier so that people believe that the tsunami would not harm them

The politics of indigeneity, identity and representation in literature from north Australia's Gulf Country

The Aboriginal author Alexis Wright's novels Plains of Promise, Carpentaria and The Swan Book have prompted scholars and critics towards enthusiastic comparisons with the ground-breaking work of a range of international writers. With her novels all set partly in the remote Gulf Country of north Australia, Wright's work arises from intellectual and political commitment to Indigenous people, and aspires to the idea of a distinctive ‘Aboriginal sovereignty of the mind’. Much less known yet, we argue, of complementary significance, are a broader suite of writings about this region, and we address representations of cultural identity and connections to place by authors with both Aboriginal and European ancestries. With our interest in a deliberately cross-disciplinary methodology, ethnographic research complements our focus on texts to facilitate analysis of diverse identities in a setting produced through both the resilience of Indigenous cultural traditions and the legacies of European settler colonialism. We argue that the range of authorial representations arising from this sector of Australian society provides a focus for understanding shared and contested postcolonial imaginaries about place, culture and identity.

Writing Indigenous Vampires: Aboriginal Gothic or Aboriginal Fantastic?

The usual postmodern suspicions about diligently deciphering authorial intent or stridently seeking fixed meaning/s and/or binary distinctions in an artistic work aside, this self-indulgent essay pushes the boundaries regarding normative academic research, for it focusses on my own (minimally celebrated) published creative writing’s status as a literary innovation. Dedicated to illuminating some of the less common denominators at play in Australian horror, my paper recalls the creative writing process involved when I set upon the (arrogant?) goal of creating a new genre of creative writing: that of the ‘Aboriginal Fantastic’. I compare my work to the literary output of a small but significant group (2.5% of the population), of which I am a member: Aboriginal Australians. I narrow my focus even further by examining that creative writing known as Aboriginal horror. And I reduce the sample size of my study to an exceptionally small number by restricting my view to one type of Aboriginal horror literature only: the Aboriginal vampire novel, a genre to which I have contributed professionally with the 2011 paperback and 2012 e-book publication of That Blackfella Bloodsucka Dance! However, as this paper hopefully demonstrates, and despite what may be interpreted by some cynical commentators as the faux sincerity of my taxonomic fervour, Aboriginal horror is a genre noteworthy for its instability and worthy of further academic interrogation. (first paragraph)

A Beaked and Feathered God

A Beaked and Feathered God

Assessing the Diversity of Mission Populations through the Comparison of Native American Residences at Mission Santa Clara de Asís

Mission establishments in Alta California and elsewhere were home to complex, pluralistic communities in which native peoples actively but differentially negotiated aspects of colonialism through daily practice and the reinterpretation of identity. To explore these issues, we compare the archaeological evidence from two different indigenous dwellings at California’s Mission Santa Clara de Asis: an adobe barracks and a native-style thatched house. In particular, we consider possible differences between the dwellings’ inhabitants in terms of relative status, ethnolinguistic affiliation, and re-articulation of indigenous traditions.

Minorities Onstage: Cultural Tourism, Cosmopolitanism, and Social Harmony in Northwestern Vietnam

This article examines the recent proliferation of ethnic minority–themed music and dance shows for tourists in the Sapa district of northwestern Vietnam. Based on 18 months of fieldwork in the region, the research considers how the musical cultures of the Hmong, Yao, and other minority groups in Sapa have been commodified and repackaged as part of Vietnam’s flourishing tourism industry in the early twenty-first century. Two case studies illustrate how traditional performance practices, which some of the ensembles claim to be preserving, are being adapted to cater to tourists’ desires. Although the state-directed folkloricization of these indigenous traditions might reflect a celebration of the cultural cosmopolitanism of Sapa, its major trajectory is national unity via a calculated promotion of social harmony in northwestern Vietnam.

Third Wave Shiʻism: Sayyid ‘Arif Husain al-Husaini and the Islamic Revolution in Pakistan

AbstractThis paper seeks to illuminate the intellectual impact of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 among Pakistani Shiʻas by focusing on Sayyid ʻArif Husain al-Husaini, the dominating Shiʻi leader of the 1980s. In particular, I am interested in exploring how al-Husaini adapted hallmark themes of the Iranian revolutionary message, such as Muslim unity or political leadership of the religious scholars (ʻulama), to the specific circumstances of Pakistan. Crucial for such processes of translation was not only pressure from the Pakistani state but rather internal challenges and divisions among the Shiʻi community. While al-Husaini could draw on a strong, indigenous tradition of political mobilisation, his revolutionary ʻthird waveʼ of Shiʻi thought sat uncomfortably between Lucknow-educated traditionalists and Najaf-trained reformers who shied away from getting entangled in these novel forms of politics. By drawing on biographical accounts and al-Husaini's speeches in Urdu, I trace how his revolutionary rhetoric had to accommodate thorny local issues such as sectarianism, South Asian mourning traditions or the lack of an established Shiʻi clerical hierarchy in Pakistan.

Mestizaje and the Creation of Mexican National Literature: Ángel María Garibay Kintana's Nahuatl Project

From the beginning of the twentieth century, numerous Mexican intellectuals attempted to construct a national identity through mestizaje, a mixture of indigenous and European races and cultures. In both historical research and artistic production, they focused on Prehispanic indigenous traditions as an essential part of Mexican national history. In this mestizo nationalism, however, Mexican intellectuals did not pay much attention to the original Prehispanic indigenous forms, and in many cases they recycled post-conquest indigenous traditions that had already been transformed. Thus, the indigenous traditions which appear in the discourses of mestizaje are reworked yet again by Westernized intellectuals in the name of Mexican nationalism. Ángel María Garibay's study of Nahuatl literature is perhaps the best example of this phenomenon. This article examines how Garibay constructs a Prehispanic Nahuatl literary tradition based on the colonial chronicles of the sixteenth-century Catholic missionaries and informed by the European concept of literature.

History, Memory, and Utopia in the Missionaries' Creation of the Indigenous Movement in Brazil (1967–1988)

On April 17, 1974, and die two days following, a gathering of 16 indigenous participants from nine different indigenous societies was held in Diamantino, Mato Grosso, Brazil. During the three days, vernacular narratives, trivial announcements, and critiques of the government and local ranchers were presented—without any of the participants significantly engaging with one another. Only one primary source on this event, a short, typed document, is available today. The historicity of this “Assembly of Indigenous Chiefs” is granted by both the anthropological and the historical situations of the participating communities. For the first time, individuals from indigenous societies that did not share ethnic borders or history met to advance indigenous rights; for the first time also, these individuals were granted political representation (of their groups), a notion largely foreign to indigenous political traditions. There was a conscious effort to draw chiefs from as many communities as possible and to establish a large, pan-Indian movement.

My Father’s Charrería, My Rodeo

Reflecting on the stories behind a belt buckle that he inherited from his father, the author traces his father’s history and his family’s several migrations across the U.S.-Mexico border. The belt buckle depicts a bull and rider, and the article discusses the history of charrería and rodeo, the mingling of Mexican, American, European and indigenous traditions

PERAN JAM'IYYAH IJTIMA'IYYAH DALAM PEMBENTUKAN TRADISI

THE ROLE OF THE JAM’IYYAH IJTIMA’IYYAH IN THE FORMATION OF TRADITIONS. Nahdlotul Ulama is a religious social organization which follow the ahlus sunnah wal jama’ah, by preserving the society tradition. The Mitung Dinatradition is a tradition of Islam that has been acculturated by indigenous traditions. Mitung dinatradition is a multi colored diversity of NU which has been grown. Technically, the tradition of mitung dina sometimes brings its own burden for the families left behind. Then, it becomes a separate discussion for the jam’iyyah board, to make changes to the tradition became more ease. Based on the results of the research, it can be inferred that the jam’iyyah NU subsection Kedung Banteng has committed changes to the ritual mitung dinaor ngajekno in village Kedung Banteng Subdistrict Karangayar Demak regency

An ethnobiological study in Kala Chitta hills of Pothwar region, Pakistan: multinomial logit specification

BackgroundThis paper constitutes an important ethnobiological survey in the context of utilizing biological resources by residents of Kala Chitta hills of Pothwar region, Pakistan. The fundamental aim of this research endeavour was to catalogue and analyse the indigenous knowledge of native community about plants and animals. The study is distinctive in the sense to explore both ethnobotanical and ethnozoological aspects of indigenous culture, and exhibits novelty, being based on empirical approach of Multinomial Logit Specifications (MLS) for examining ethnobotanical and ethnozoological uses of specific plants and animals.MethodsTo document the ethnobiological knowledge, the survey was conducted during 2011–12 by employing a semi-structured questionnaire and thus 54 informants were interviewed. Plant and animal specimens were collected, photographed and properly identified. Distribution of plants and animals were explored by descriptive and graphical examination. MLS were further incorporated to identify the probability of occurrence of diversified utilization of plants and animals in multipurpose domains.ResultsTraditional uses of 91 plant and 65 animal species were reported. Data analysis revealed more medicinal use of plants and animals than all other use categories. MLS findings are also in line with these proportional configurations. They reveal that medicinal and food consumption of underground and perennial plants was more as compared to aerial and annual categories of plants. Likewise, medicinal utilization of wild animals and domestic animals were more commonly observed as food items. However, invertebrates are more in the domain of medicinal and food utilization. Also carnivores are fairly common in the use of medicine while herbivores are in the category of food consumption.ConclusionThis study empirically scans a good chunk of ethnobiological knowledge and depicts its strong connection with indigenous traditions. It is important to make local residents beware of conservation status of species and authentication of this knowledge needs to be done in near future. Moreover, Statistically significant findings impart novelty in the existing literature in the field of ethnobiology. Future conservation, phytochemical and pharmacological studies are recommended on these identified plants and animals in order to use them in a more sustainable and effective way.

Anonymously restored: the natural partnership and mutual instruction of Alcoholics Anonymous and restorative justice

Today, western academicians continue to examine, learn from, and respect the many indigenous forms of what is often deemed ‘restorative justice.’ The following paper presents a similar process of learning through the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program. AA is a time-tested practice that persists because of its ability to promote personal and group harmony. It is isolated as a western subgroup that, like many indigenous justice traditions, contains a restorative fabric and may serve as an instructive case study. As a living model of restorative practice, AA is able to sharpen aspects of restorative justice theory, though this theory is also used to comment upon perceived weaknesses in the AA program. More generally, this paper seeks to raise awareness for restorative practice that occurs naturally in many western contexts. It is important that proponents/advocates of restorative justice begin to consider the ways in which unseen or anonymous allies may support the development and expansion of restorative justice.

Searching for the Divine, Handling Mobile Phones

The Bauls of Bengal, a community of low-caste itinerant performers and esoteric practitioners, have received contrasting appreciations in the course of the last two centuries. Initially disregarded as the low tradition of an ‘immoral’, ‘degenerate’, ‘scatological’ sect, Baul songs were revived and promoted by the famous Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore’s publications on Bauls contributed to the diffusion of their success among intellectuals and the urban élite, in a purified version that romanticised the Bauls’ esoteric aspect to make it socially acceptable. With the growing impact of globalisation and the gentrification of the Bengali countryside, Bauls are now enjoying an increasing patronage by outsiders, middle-class amateurs and folklore tourists in search of an ‘authentic’ indigenous tradition. What is the impact of cultural tourism, commercialisation and the commodification of culture on the oral literature of Bauls? How do Baul composers react to the encounter with the urban milieu? The recent strand of academic literature on Bauls shares a common fear of corruption and contamination by the invasion of modernity and show-business. Questioning this view, textual and contextual evidence shows that Bauls’ lyrics are responding with self-confidence and adaptability: keeping their tenets and literary devices unaltered, contemporary Baul songs are capable of preserving their peculiar identity vis-à-vis the demands of a modern audience. Bauls’ compositions are incorporating objects of contemporary reality, such as mobile phones, metro stations, motorbikes, etc., fitting them into their traditional structures of metaphorical songs that discuss, through the use of an enigmatic jargon known as sandhya-bhasha, their crucial sexo-yogic practices of self-realisation.

Liberalisation of the Indian retail sector - an examination of macro level HR implications and challenges

This conceptual paper examines the prospects of liberalisation of the Indian retail sector, with a futuristic eye on the macro level human resources (HRs) implications and challenges. Drawing on broader theoretical concepts from the existing literature on globalisation and liberalisation, such as the ‘race to the bottom’ (RTB) and ‘bottom of the pyramid’ (BOP), it aims to first, look at the challenges global retail giants would face in order to adapt their organisational culture to the Indian business context. Second, in terms of sustainability, it looks at how the retail sector would cope with the vast requirement and challenges of its workforce. In doing so it identifies various implications on demographics, unemployment, indigenous traditions, RTB and reforms. This paper also identifies among others, three major challenges in the form of bureaucracy, corruption and online retail battles. It concludes by framing a conceptual model based on the implications and challenges discussed above. This paper thus contributes to new knowledge in the form of futuristic macro level HR implications and challenges within the prospective liberalisation of the retail sector in an emerging market economy, India.

Negotiating Indigenous Peoples’ Exit From Colonialism: The Case for an Integrative Approach

New institutions of indigenous governance will be the product of negotiations, negotiations that will take place against a background of colonial structures and relationships. Having examined the challenges of structuring a negotiation process that takes due account of pre-existing cultural and power differences between the parties, the author analyzes the significance of their choice of negotiation strategy on the negotiation process and outcome. In particular, this paper reflects on the promise and limitations of the parties’ adopting interest-based, or “integrative”, negotiation strategies and the potential for fruitful entanglements between those strategies and indigenous diplomatic traditions.

Considering Ecological Métissage

This article reports on a study that examined the ecological identities and philosophies of Canadian experiential environmental educators who incorporate Western and Indigenous traditions into their pedagogical praxis. Guided by the overarching question, “Can Western and Indigenous knowledge of the natural world be blended theoretically and in practice?” notable findings include the clarification of the relationship between Western and Indigenous knowledge and philosophies of Nature as one with the potential for bricolage (integration) but not absolute métissage (blending) unless Western perspectives other than science, such as deep ecology and bioregionalism, are also considered.

The Lyrical Creation of Community: Song as a catalyst of social cohesion in Andean Peru

This article examines the performative role of waynu, a widespread song-genre in the Andes, in creating an “intersubjective community” among participants. The data-corpus comprises extracts from interviews which I conducted during a year's period of fieldwork (2010–2011) in Chiquián and Pomabamba, Ancash department, Peru. I couple my analysis of the extracts with congruent concepts in Quechua, the indigenous language, in order to show how indigenous philosophical orientations can provide as robust an analytical framework as concepts in formal scholarship. I conclude by suggesting that the application of an intersubjective analytical framework to the study of verbal art can constitute a productive agenda for future research on indigenous traditions.