Non-indigenous Communities Research Articles

Structural Genocide and Institutionalized Racism in Canada: The Department of Indian Affairs and Framing of Indigenous Peoples

This review problematizes the health and socio-economic disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, which I argue is due to the role of the Canadian government. Specifically, I analyse the continuous process of Indigenous administrative subjugation under Canadian rule to uncover the intrinsic racial predilections of Canadian government policy toward First Nations peoples in Canada’s Prairie West provinces through the application of diagnostic frame analysis as a multidisciplinary research method to analyse how people understand situations and activities. My research results reveal the racialized marginalization of First Nation peoples through the administrative regimes in Canada as a continuous contemporary process established in the late nineteenth and twentieth century. In exposing the structural discrimination of First Nations peoples, my research introduces the reader to the concept of political master narratives, or ‘imaginaries’. These imaginaries foster the health and socio-economic disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups in Canadian society. The critical analysis of these historically structural government instituted imaginaries and the indirect, exponentially higher chances of tuberculosis and related diseases and deaths among Indigenous peoples’ challenge conclusions of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on cultural genocide. This study proposes structural genocide as a more accurate and inclusive term for the continuous institutional marginalization of not only Indigenous peoples as seen in this case study of the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) but for all Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Epistemic injustice in a settler nation: Canada’s history of erasing, silencing, marginalizing

ABSTRACTThis paper examines an application of epistemic injustice not fully explored in the literature. How does epistemic injustice function in broader contexts of relationships within countries between colonizers and colonized? More specifically, what can be learned about the ongoing structural aspects of hermeneutical injustice in Canada’s settler history of the forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples and the resultant erasing and marginalizing of Indigenous histories, languages, laws, traditions, and practices? In this paper, I use insights from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission report to challenge dominant understandings of reconciliation, reciprocity, respect for agency, and the rule of law in settler nations. In its retrieval of the richness and diversity of Indigenous collective interpretive resources, both past and present, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission draws on a broad and full account of relationships that have shaped Indigenous lives and communities, non-Indigenous lives and communities, the interactions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and communities, and the relationships of all of these to and through the state.

Environmental predictors of forest change: An analysis of natural predisposition to deforestation in the tropical Andes region, Peru

The spatial patterns of deforestation are usually non-randomly distributed across the landscape. While anthropogenically driven processes are often addressed in land-use regulation policies and deforestation research, less attention is given to the environmental factors that influence tropical deforestation. This study investigates to what extent climate conditions (temperature and precipitation) and biophysical landscape characteristics (elevation, slope, soil type, forest type, and distance to rivers) facilitate or mitigate deforestation processes in Peru's tropical Andes. A Random Forest regression model was constructed for the entire Peruvian tropical Andes, and separate models were developed for some of the known direct deforestation drivers in the region (coca production, gold mining, and land-use by indigenous and non-indigenous communities). Soil type and precipitation were identified as the most important deforestation predictors when the entire Peruvian tropical Andes was considered, whereas distance to rivers was associated with deforestation by mining activities, and elevation and temperature with coca cultivation areas. Using the regression results, a Random Forest classification model was constructed to locate areas where the composition of environmental factors could either facilitate or mitigate deforestation processes. It was found that almost 85% of the forests classified as having high to very high probability to deforestation were located outside current protected areas. In order to increase conservation impacts, the results suggest that greater consideration should be given to the distribution of environmental factors when designing land-use regulation policies and establishing protected areas.

Price of the Soil: Property Values of Leaseholds and Certificates of Possession

This paper presents the empirical analysis of property values across a sample of 228 leaseholds and 79 Certificates of Possession (CP) on 34 First Nation Reserves. The property values were benchmarked against a sample of 338 fee simple property sales in 34 comparable non-Indigenous communities. The results were that leaseholds were discounted 17-75% (with a mean of 24%) and CPs were discounted 65-98% (with a mean of 88%). Data across 14 factors was used to analyze trends in property values. Three trends were noteworthy: (1) Leasehold values were higher in communities where the community housing score (estimate of the quality of housing) was higher; (2) CP values were higher in communities where the ratio of informality was lower (estimate of the proportion of properties held by formalized rights under the Indian Act); and (3) Property values were higher when Chief and Council remuneration was higher. The steep discounts observed here must spur research into the viability of existing land tenure/registration systems on First Nation Reserves and into the merits of new institutions to serve First Nations.

Perceptions of and barriers to family planning services in the poorest regions of Chiapas, Mexico: a qualitative study of men, women, and adolescents

BackgroundIn the poorest regions of Chiapas, Mexico, 50.2% of women in need of contraceptives do not use any modern method. A qualitative study was needed to design effective and culturally appropriate interventions.MethodsWe used purposive maximum-variation sampling to select eight municipalities with a high proportion of residents in the poorest wealth quintile, including urban, rural, indigenous, and non-indigenous communities. We conducted 44 focus group discussions with 292 women, adolescent women, and men using semi-structured topic guides. We analyzed the data through recursive abstraction.ResultsThere were intergenerational and cultural gaps in the acceptability of family planning, and in some communities family planning use was greatly limited by gender roles and religious objections to contraception. Men strongly influenced family planning choices in many households, but were largely unreached by outreach and education programs due to their work hours. Respondents were aware of many modern methods but often lacked deeper knowledge and held misconceptions about long-term fertility risks posed by some hormonal methods. Acute physical side effects also dissuaded use. The implant was a new and highly acceptable method due to ease of use, low upkeep, and minimal side effects; however, it was perceived as subject to stock-outs. Adolescent women reported being refused services at health facilities and requested more reproductive health information from their parents and schools. Mass and social media are growing sources of reproductive health information.ConclusionsOur study identifies a number of barriers to family planning that have yet to be adequately addressed by existing programs in Chiapas’ poorest regions, and calls for reinvigorated efforts to provide effective, acceptable, and culturally appropriate interventions for these communities.

Estudio piloto de preferencia y aceptabilidad de recetas con camote biofortificado: un estudio transversal a nivel comunitario

Background: Vitamin A deficiency persists as public health problem in Panamanian rural communities. Objective: To determine acceptability and preference of four recipes using biofortified sweet potatoes by Panamanian women in rural non-indigenous and indigenous communities. Materials and Methods: A descriptive and cross-sectional pilot study with 50 women from rural non-indigenous and indigenous communities of El Cope (Cocle Province) and Chichica (Comarca Ngabe Bugle), in Panama. Sensory acceptability and preference tests were applied using hedonic scale to evaluate four local recipes (sweet potato pesada, sweet potato drink, sweet potato tamale, and roasted sweet potato). Sociodemographic data, diversity of diet and frequency of vitamin A food sources were collected. Additionally, vitamin A composition analysis were used to evaluate the content in the biofortified sweet potato. Results: A total of 50 women, 62 % in Chichica, 52 % in 34-49 years range. Significant difference was observed in diet diversity for roots/tubers and vegetables groups in Chichica 81 % y 48 %, respectively) and El Cope (42 % y 11 %, respectively) (proportional test (prtest), p<0.05); as well as for orange colored fruits, meats and milk/ dairy groups in Chichica (55 %, 42 % y 58 %, respectively) and El Cope (84 %, 74 % y 79 %, respectively) (prtest, p<0.05). High acceptability for all recipes, pesada (94 %), sweet potato drink (98 %), tamale (100 %), and roasted sweet potato (84 %). Preference is high for sweet potato tamale in both communities as a savory recipe; and sweet potato pesada in El Cope (74 %) and sweet potato drink in Chichica (61 %) as sweet recipes (prtest, p=0.0163). Vitamin A content in the biofortified sweet potato is 1000μg/100g. Conclusion: The four recipes are accepted. Preference for tamale in both communities; preference for pesada in El Cope and sweet potato drink in Chichica.

Seeing Themselves: Jean Barman’s French Canadians, Furs, and Indigenous Women in the Making of the Pacific Northwest as a Resource for the Region’s People

Dr. Barman’s award-winning study is a resource to the Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of the Columbia River Plateau and the Pacific Northwest, an environmentally and culturally diverse region that now encompasses two countries, two provinces, three states, and many Indigenous communities. For Indigenous communities of the region, French Canadians, Furs, and Indigenous Women in the Making of the Pacific Northwest provides an important context of colonialism, global economics, and the complicated nature of cross-cultural encounters. For non-Indigenous communities, the book also encourages an appreciation for the complexities of history often overlooked by celebratory histories of colonization. French Canadians, Furs, and Indigenous Women in the Making of the Pacific Northwest is a resource in which people see themselves and their families in a complicated, accessible, and inspiring story of the past.

Practice of human resource management among teaching hospitals in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Background: Hospitals are important vehicles for the delivery of health care, and managers of these institutions are largely responsible for operationalizing the visions and objectives that policy-makers. Lack of competencies and skills of managers on the human resource management (HRM) practices in hospital consequently related to quality and outcome of health care services. The overall objective was to assess the practice of human resource management among teaching hospitals in Kathmandu, Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in two purposively selected hospitals in Kathmandu, Nepal. Data were collected using structured question among 212 managers and were selected using simple random sampling technique from October 2016 to March 2017. In-depth interview were taken among six corporate level managers. Descriptive analysis was performed. Results: Majority (80.2%) of managers were female, most of them were non-indigenous communities and were from nursing profession (90.1%). Effective management of HRM is spirited for the success of organization whereas half (50%) respondents it effects of all HR activities. Management of human resources is essential to enable the delivery of efficient and effective clinical services and achieve patient satisfaction. Consequently, all health providers, managers as well as health professionals have to know the patient evaluation on these aspects in order to remember how they are important for patients. Hospital HRM authority must be worked for quality of services to entire patients and address those who were not satisfied on currently offering services. This study showed significant differences in the assessment of both staff members and patients and level of offered services in the various departments within same hospital and between hospitals.

Dimensions of social capital of families with thalassemia in an indigenous population in Tamil Nadu, India \u2013 a qualitative study

BackgroundStudies have shown that social capital is positively associated with health, and the association is context-based. Indigenous populations with poor access to health care largely depend on social capital for their health care needs.This study was conducted to explore the dimensions and types of social capital and its utilization by families with thalassemia for their health and well-being in an indigenous population in Tamil Nadu, India.MethodsThe participants in the study were parents who had children with thalassemia, belonged to an indigenous community in Tamil Nadu, were poor and marginalized, and had poor access to health care. Different dimensions and types of social capital were examined with the help of qualitative in-depth interviews using a phenomenological approach. A total of 8 in-depth interviews were conducted and transcribed. Thematic analysis of the data was performed.ResultsThe social capital identified through the in-depth interviews consisted of various levels of family support, financial support from relatives and neighbors, the provision of information from formal and informal networks, and trust in the physician. Indigenous communities are close-knit due to their geographical remoteness and limited accessibility. Family ties were a form of social capital that encouraged bonding, and provided support and care to the children affected by thalassemia. The bonding also helped to meet the regular requirement of blood donation for the children. Relatives and neighbors were an asset that served as a bridge for the families affected, helping them in times of immediate and urgent financial need, making it easier to sustain long-term treatment and providing emotional support. There were informal networks that bridged parents belonging to indigenous and non-indigenous communities, with the latter providing the former with information to help them choose better health care at an affordable cost. The other formal links were the ties between the parents and nongovernmental organizations, such as the local thalassemia association, which connected members belonging to different areas. It was these ties that were of the greatest assistance to the families affected in coping with the disease, enabling them to sustain the treatment, and assisting them to choose and carry out the complicated bone marrow transplantation, which is the definitive treatment for this condition.ConclusionThe bonding, bridging, and linking dimensions of social capital help communities cope with thalassemia, the more so in indigenous and marginalized communities.

Being Native American in business: Culture, identity, and authentic leadership in modern American Indian enterprises

Tribally owned American Indian enterprises provide a unique cross-cultural setting for emerging Native American business leaders. This article examines the manner in which American Indian leaders negotiate the boundaries between their indigenous organizations and the nonindigenous communities in which they do business. Through a series of qualitative interviews, we find that American Indian business leaders fall back on a strong sense of “self,” which allows them to maintain effective leadership across boundaries. This is highly consistent with theories of authentic leadership. Furthermore, we find that leaders define self through their collective identity, which is heavily influenced by tribal affiliation and tribal culture. We add to the literature on authentic leadership by showing the role that culture and collective identity have in creating leader authenticity within the indigenous community.

How does the media portray drinking water security in Indigenous communities in Canada? An analysis of Canadian newspaper coverage from 2000-2015

BackgroundDrinking water insecurity and related health outcomes often disproportionately impact Indigenous communities internationally. Understanding media coverage of these water-related issues can provide insight into the ways in which public perceptions are shaped, with potential implications for decision-making and action. This study aimed to examine the extent, range, and nature of newspaper coverage of drinking water security in Canadian Indigenous communities.MethodsUsing ProQuest database, we systematically searched for and screened newspaper articles published from 2000 to 2015 from Canadian newspapers: Windspeaker, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and National Post. We conducted descriptive quantitative analysis and thematic qualitative analysis on relevant articles to characterize framing and trends in coverage.ResultsA total of 1382 articles were returned in the search, of which 256 articles were identified as relevant. There was limited coverage of water challenges for Canadian Indigenous communities, especially for Métis (5%) and Inuit (3%) communities. Most stories focused on government responses to water-related issues, and less often covered preventative measures such as source water protection. Overall, Indigenous peoples were quoted the most often. Double-standards of water quality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, along with conflict and cooperation efforts between stakeholders were emphasized in many articles.ConclusionLimited media coverage could undermine public and stakeholder interest in addressing water-related issues faced by many Canadian Indigenous communities.

Acceptability of Human Papillomavirus Self-Sampling for Cervical Cancer Screening in an Indigenous Community in Guatemala.

PurposeCervical cancer rates in Latin America are higher than those in developed countries, likely because of the lower prevalence of screening. Specifically, less than 40% of women in Guatemala are regularly screened and even fewer women are screened in indigenous communities. Current screening strategies—Pap smears and visual inspection with acetic acid—might not be the most effective methods for controlling cancer in these settings. We thus investigated the potential of self-collection of cervical samples with testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) to help prevent cervical cancer in an indigenous community in Guatemala.Patients and MethodsA community representative random sample of 202 indigenous women age 18 to 60 years residing in Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala, were surveyed to assess knowledge of and risk factors for HPV and cervical cancer. Women were then invited to self-collect a cervical sample using HerSwab collection kits to assess the prevalence of HPV and the acceptability of self-sampling.ResultsOf 202 women who completed the survey, 178 (89%) provided a self-sample. In all, 79% of these women found the test comfortable, 91% found the test easy to use, and 100% reported they were willing to perform the test periodically as a screening method. Thirty-one samples (17%) were positive for at least one of 13 high-risk HPV types, and eight (4.5%) were positive for HPV 16/18.ConclusionHPV testing by using self-collected samples was well accepted, suggesting that it is a plausible modality for cervical cancer screening in indigenous communities. Further studies are needed to assess rates of follow-up after a positive test and to determine whether these findings extend to other indigenous and nonindigenous communities in Guatemala and Latin America.

Feasting for Change: Reconnecting with Food, Place &amp; Culture

This paper examines and shares the promising practices that emerged from an innovative project, entitled “Feasting for Change,” in promoting health and well-being. Taking place on Coast Salish territories, British Columbia, Canada, Feasting for Change aimed to empower Indigenous communities to revitalize traditional knowledge about the healing power of foods. This paper contributes to a growing body of literature that illuminates how solidarities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities can be fostered to support meaningful decolonization of mainstream health practices and discourses. In particular, it provides a hopeful model for how community-based projects can take inspiration and continual leadership from Indigenous Peoples. This paper offers experiential and holistic methods that enhance the capacity for intergenerational, land-based, and hands-on learning about the value of traditional food and cultural practices. It also demonstrates how resources (digital stories, plant knowledge cards, celebration cookbooks, and language videos) can be successfully developed with and used by community to ensure the ongoing process of healthful revitalization.

Perpetrators: specialization, willingness, group pressure and incentives. Lessons from the Guatemalan acts of genocide

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on the perpetrators of acts of genocide, and seeks to understand the construction of a willingness to kill. Based on interviews and archival research, it explores the historical context of the Guatemalan army high command as it planned and launched a series of operations that transformed counterinsurgency into acts of genocide. The research supports the chain of command arguments that were important in the verdict against General Ríos Montt, but also explores military policy and procedures that, from the mid 1970s, laid the groundwork for that transformation. How were young and mostly indigenous and illiterate soldiers, with a low level of indoctrination, transformed into genocidal perpetrators, committing massacres against indigenous peoples and other non-indigenous communities? I argue that the decisive factors were group dynamics, particularly specialization and a complex relationship between incentives and personal ambitions for a career inside the armed forces. There were also other factors, constant for all troops, which contributed to defining the adversary and constructing the willingness to kill, including racism, indoctrination, division of labour and the development of the guerrilla war. The article examines a complex set of interactions running in both directions along the chain of command, but focuses most intensely on the last step in that chain, on those actually involved in the massacres committed in the rural areas.

Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasitaemia among indigenous Batwa and non-indigenous communities of Kanungu district, Uganda.

BackgroundThe indigenous Batwa of southwestern Uganda are among the most highly impoverished populations in Uganda, yet there is negligible research on the prevalence of malaria in this population. Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasitaemia prevalence was estimated in an indigenous Batwa and a non-indigenous neighbouring population, and an exploration of modifiable risk factors was carried out to identify potential entry points for intervention. Additionally, evidence of zooprophylaxis was assessed, hypothesizing that livestock ownership may play a role in malaria risk.MethodsTwo cross-sectional surveys of Batwa and non-Batwa communities were carried out in Kanungu District, Uganda in July 2013 and April 2014 based on a census of adult Batwa and a two-stage systematic random sample of adult non-Batwa in ten Local Councils where Batwa settlements are located. A community-based questionnaire and antigen rapid diagnostic test for P. falciparum were carried out in the cross-sectional health surveys. A multivariable logistic regression model was built to identify risk factors associated with positive malaria diagnostic test. A subset analysis of livestock owners tested for zooprophylaxis.ResultsBatwa experienced higher prevalence of malaria parasitaemia than non-Batwa (9.35 versus 4.45 %, respectively) with over twice the odds of infection (OR 2.21, 95 % CI 1.23–3.98). Extreme poverty (OR 1.96, 95 % CI 0.98–3.94) and having an iron sheet roof (OR 2.54, 95 % CI 0.96–6.72) increased the odds of infection in both Batwa and non-Batwa. Controlling for ethnicity, wealth, and bed net ownership, keeping animals inside the home at night decreased the odds of parasitaemia among livestock owners (OR 0.29, 95 % CI 0.09–0.94).ConclusionA health disparity exists between indigenous Batwa and non-indigenous community members with Batwa having higher prevalence of malaria relative to non-Batwa. Poverty was associated with increased odds of malaria infection for both groups. Findings suggest that open eaves and gaps in housing materials associated with iron sheet roofing represent a modifiable risk factor for malaria, and may facilitate mosquito house entry; larger sample sizes will be required to confirm this finding. Evidence for possible zooprophylaxis was observed among livestock owners in this population for those who sheltered animals inside the home at night.

Active transportation to support diabetes prevention: Expanding school health promotion programming in an Indigenous community

BackgroundSchool-based physical activity (PA) interventions, including school active transportation (AT), provide opportunities to increase daily PA levels, improves fitness, and reduces risk of diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Based on a community-identified need, the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project, within an Indigenous community, undertook school travel planning to contribute to PA programming for two elementary schools. MethodsUsing community-based participatory research, the Active & Safe Routes to School’s School Travel Planning (STP) process was undertaken in two schools with an STP-Committee comprised of community stakeholders and researchers. STP activities were adapted for local context including: school profile form, family survey, in-class travel survey, pedestrian-traffic observations, walkability checklist, and student mapping. ResultsSTP data were jointly collected, analyzed and interpreted by researchers and community. Traffic-pedestrian observations, walkability and parent surveys identified key pedestrian-traffic locations, helped develop safe/direct routes, and traffic calming strategies. In-class travel and mapping surveys identified a need and student desire to increase school AT. The STP-Committee translated findings into STP-action plans for two schools, which were implemented in 2014–2015 school year. ConclusionsCombining CBPR with STP merges community and researcher expertise. This project offered evidence-informed practice for active living promotions. Experience and findings could benefit Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

Identifying Rights-Holders in Natural Resource Regimes: A Critical Assessment of the Peruvian Protected Areas Legislation

One way of improving natural resource regimes would be through a more careful and consistent identification of rights-holders, with more explicit attention for the relationship between the rights of indigenous peoples and other local non-indigenous communities. This argument is illustrated with a critical analysis of the protected areas legislation in Peru, focusing on the right to consultation prior to the establishment of a protected area, and the rights to use and sustainably manage natural resources within protected areas. On the basis of both international human rights law and empirical data, it is suggested that limiting subsistence-related rights in protected areas to indigenous peoples could endanger the enjoyment of the right to food of the local non-indigenous population. Moreover, the extension of certain human rights that are currently only or mostly granted to indigenous peoples to the broader local population affected by a protected area, should be considered.

ZANU (PF)'s Manipulation of the ‘Alien’ Vote in Zimbabwean Elections: 1980–2013

This article historicises how the post-colonial Zimbabwean government has maintained and consolidated its power through, among other tactics, the systematic manipulation of the ‘alien’ vote. The ‘aliens’ are residents in Zimbabwe who are either of foreign origin themselves or whose parents are originally from Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. Basing its findings on oral interviews, the paper engages power and coercion as analytical concepts to understand how non-indigenous communities are affected by state power through the reconfiguration of their citizenship/belonging and relentless violence during elections. It argues that since the 1980s migrant descendants have been used and abused by the hegemonic socio-political hierarchy for its electoral benefit. Migrants, who came into what was then Southern Rhodesia during the colonial labour migration system (1890s to 1970s), like other autochthonous Zimbabweans, were allowed to vote between 1980 and 1996. Yet all this changed in the post-2000 period, when the ZANU (PF) government complicated citizenship laws and initiated the land reform exercise to, among other aims, strip ‘aliens’ of their right to suffrage in subsequent elections. This on and off relationship has been dictated by the politics of power, patronage and coercion under which migrant descendants have constituted a critical swing vote which ZANU (PF) has either embraced for its benefit or marginalised it in the face of formidable opposition politics. This disenfranchisement has invariably affected the livelihoods of these foreign descendants through violence, intimidation and denial of socioeconomic leverage.

To Sell “Reconciliation”: 8th Fire, Idle No More and the Possibilities of Reconciliation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary series 8th Fire seems designed to reassure its imagined non-Indigenous audience that reconciliation with Indigenous peoples can emerge without challenges to hegemonic beliefs in the primacy of the individual pursuit of wealth and the commodification of land. Although the series gives some scope to positions that contest the hegemony of these driving principles of neoliberalism—positions held by Indigenous nations and their allies seeking decolonization—8th Fire contains the energy of such challenges within its own representation of the most viable terms for reconciliation. By marketing reconciliation to its audience as a pathway to a neoliberal sense of prosperity, 8th Fire risks constraining the possibilities of reconciliation to the most instrumentalized form.. The mobilization of Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities during recent months under the banner of Idle No More has demonstrated the potential for a form of reconciliation that is very different from that suggested by 8th Fire. Idle No More demands that Indigenous peoples’ right to a unique form of citizenship be respected and that resource development be sustainable. In offering its terms for reconciliation, 8th Fire similarly invites non-Indigenous viewers to witness and participate in representations of Indigenous cultural identity. In Canada, powwows occasion such gatherings of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people on Indigenous terms. In this article, I discuss the broadcast content of 8th Fire and also examine its digital platform alongside the Idle No More movement. While I argue that the content of the 8th Fire documentary risks constraining the possibilities of reconciliation within parameters set by neoliberal imaginings of prosperity, I will show how the 8th Fire website and Idle No More demonstrate the potential for an alternative form of reconciliation, one grounded in the inclusive celebration of Indigenous cultural continuity and the ceremony of kinship between Indigenous peoples and land occasioned by powwow.

Plant Use by Artisans Within the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve, Southern Mexico

Throughout Latin America, the manufacture of handicrafts for sale is an important economic resource for many indigenous and non-indigenous groups. The construction of many of these items involves the use of various parts of a diverse range of plant species found in remaining tropical rain forest areas. It is important to obtain information on the species used and to assess the impact of this activity on the native flora and fauna of these areas. Studies in tropical areas such as Nicaragua, Panama, Colombia, Brazil and India have documented the traditional use of plants and the effects on forest conservation and management (Santana et al. 2001; Shaanker et al. 2004; Runk et al. 2004; Cadena-Vargas et al. 2007; Frausin et al. 2008; Toribio et al. 2009; Estupinan-Gonzales and JimenezEscobar 2010; Gonzalez-Perez et al. 2013). Mexico is well known for its high biological-cultural diversity (Bye et al. 1993; De Avila 2008; Llorente-Bousquets and Ocegueda 2008). Along with this cultural diversity a broad selection of natural resources are used in the manufacture of handicrafts throughout the country. An inventory of plant and animal species used by artisans throughout Mexico documented 541 species of plants and 125 animal species (Bravo and Lopez 1999). A later study focusing on tropical areas of Mexico documented 58 species of plants used in the state of Veracruz (Cruz et al. 2009). However, for the Los Tuxtlas region, while there are accounts of medicinal plant use for some ethnic groups, little attention has been given to plant use in artisanal products (Leonti et al. 2003). The Los Tuxtlas rain forest region in the southeastern portion of the state of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico has long been exposed to anthropogenic activities with a marked acceleration of colonization in the 1950s in many rural areas by people from other parts of the country (Guevara et al. 1997). Two remaining ethnic groups (Nahuatl and Popoluca) are found in the extreme southern portion of the region. However, in 1998 through a multi-institutional effort an area of 155, 200 ha was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve known as Reserva de la Biosfera Los Tuxtlas (hereafter RBLT). The geographical location is between 18°05′; 18°45′ N and 94°35′; 95°30′ W. Today, there is a high level of population living in several urban centers and about 273 rural communities within the boundaries of the RBLT. The main economic activity is cattle ranching and agriculture. The remaining protected rain forest is found in three distinct areas and encompasses 29,720 ha. One of the main tasks of the federal government agency (CONANP/SEMARNAT) responsible for the management and conservation programs of this biosphere reserve is to address the many social and economic problems of the region by means of developing and implementing strategies to enhance local conservation awareness and encourage sustainable development in rural communities, as well as to provide economic alternatives for the rural population. One of the strategies adopted has been to provide workshops and training courses in various non-indigenous communities in the manufacture of handicrafts for sale in local markets and tourist * Armando Aguirre armando.aguirre@inecol.mx