Indigenous Cultural Values Research Articles

Democratising the Music Curriculum: Integrating Ubuntugogy for the Africanisation of South African Higher Education

In recent years, there has been an ongoing debate about the need for redress in South African higher education which is largely informed by Western perspectives, and the music curriculum is no exception. Even though there is growing progress, music education continues to be dominated by the Western classical canon. Therefore, the purpose of this article was to provide a comprehensive investigation of how ubuntugogy can be successfully and effectively merged into the South African higher education music curriculum. The researcher used ubuntugogy as a theoretical framework to advocate for the integration of ubuntugogy—a teaching philosophy rooted in African values and communal learning—to democratise and Africanise the music curriculum in South African higher education. This article used a qualitative content analysis grounded in examining existing literature on a similar subject under the guidance of the research questions developed earlier. The findings of this study show that ubuntugogy provides an approach that can Africanise the curriculum and pedagogy by incorporating indigenous musical practices, oral traditions, and cultural values into the teaching and learning process. The results of this article revealed that applying ubuntugogy as a method of teaching and learning can help in preparing music education students to engage with the world from a culturally informed and empowered perspective. This article concludes by affirming that ubuntugogy as a method of teaching and learning provides a transformative framework for Africanising music education in South African higher education.

Technological Culture and the Challenge of Erosion of Yorùbá Moral Values

The advent and rapid evolution of technology have significantly impacted global cultures, including the culture of Yorùbá people, an ethnic group primarily located in southwestern Nigeria. The Yorùbá people are known for their rich cultural heritage, which includes a strong emphasis on communal living, respect for elders, and a deep sense of spirituality and moral uprightness. However, the pervasive influence of technological advancements, such as the internet, social media, and mobile technologies, has posed a significant challenge to the preservation of these values. Social media platforms, in particular, have played a role in reshaping perceptions of morality, success, and identity, often promoting values that conflict with traditional Yorùbá principles. This paper examines how technological culture contributes to the erosion of Yorùbá moral values, traditionally passed down through generations. A self-structured questionnaire grounded in the Ọmọlúàbí Code of Ethics was used as instrument. One hundred Yorùbá youths in Ede community, Osun State, Nigeria were sampled across the three major religious groups in Nigeria and copies of the questionnaire given to them. The findings reveal a significant relationship between the increasing use of technology and the perceived erosion of Yorùbá moral values. The younger generations, who are more engaged with digital platforms, exhibit a noticeable shift in moral perspectives, often aligning more with globalized digital culture than traditional Yorùbá ethics. Now, while technological culture poses challenges to the preservation of Yorùbá moral values, it also offers opportunities for innovative cultural engagement and education. The study, therefore, recommends a balanced approach, advocating for the integration of traditional values within modern technological frameworks. This study also recommends that film censoring should be taken more seriously by the government in order to disallow contents that seem to downplay good moral values and that broadcasting houses should promote/project indigenous cultural and moral values.

The need for a socioecological harm reduction approach to reduce illegal wildlife trade.

The burgeoning illegal trade in succulents in southern Africa presents a critical conservation and social development challenge. Drawing parallels with the trajectory of the response to rhinoceros poaching, we considered the consequences of conservation law enforcement measures, particularly the militarization of antipoaching efforts. The response to rhinoceros poaching not only resulted in so-called green militarization, but also led to extrajudicial killings, human rights abuses, and the disproportionate targeting of low-level poachers. The nature of wildlife trade prohibition is complex and often contested, and many actors operating in illegal wildlife trades dispute the label of illegal for socioeconomic, cultural, historical, or political reasons. This contestation is crucial when considering Indigenous cultural and medicinal values of succulents, with Indigenous Peoples and local communities questioning the criminalization of traditional plant harvesting practices. As the illegal trade in succulents continues to grow, it is imperative for conservationists to consider a nuanced approach. We call for a socioecological harm reduction approach that emphasizes community engagement, sustainable use, and codesigned interventions. Such an approach could help balance the scales of ecological conservation and human dignity in the face of growing wildlife trade challenges.

Studying Landscape Diverse for Tourism Development in the Tay Nguyen Region, Vietnam

Landscape has long been recognized as an invaluable resource for tourism development and the foundation for the sustainable development of an entire territory. However, in-depth research on landscape diversity for tourism development from the perspective of landscape science has not received much attention. Applying landscape analysis, field survey, and remote sensing methods, the study has shown diversity in the landscape formation components that determine the diversity of tourism types and products in the Central Highlands. Each landscape unit contains tourism resources, the vertical structure of the landscape unit represents the specificity and tourism potential, and the horizontal structure of the landscape represents the connection of tourism resources along the route. , landscape changes over time demonstrate seasonality in tourism. The landscape structure component is both an object resource for enjoyment and at the same time a place where the tourism process takes place. This is a solid basis for developing many types of tourism such as eco-tourism, cultural tourism, resort tourism, and adventure tourism... and creates the foundation for organizing tourist territories. sustainable history, exploiting and honoring indigenous cultural and historical values, protecting the environment, and ensuring the region's long-term development.

Investigating servant leadership and Ubuntu in Nigerian private sector enterprises: A parallel conceptual analysis

ABSTRACT This paper provides an analysis of the relationship between servant leadership as described in the contemporary literature and Ubuntu, which is generally described as a type of African leadership behavior. Previous studies of leadership and management in African enterprises have very often overlooked the significance of culture and indigenous philosophies like Ubuntu which underpin the practical application of certain behaviors in doing business and employee relations. In this paper, the analysis of data collected through the use of semi-structured interviews with business leaders working in a diverse range of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) within the Nigerian private sector, has revealed that the practice of Ubuntu is a unique form of African leadership behavior that does not equate to but incorporates some characteristics of servant leadership found in many other countries. The study of servant leadership in relation to the African concept of Ubuntu is particularly interesting because it draws attention to a number of philosophical, religious, mythical and mystical as well as cultural and managerial/organizational issues. Thus, it is expected to advance our understanding of leadership and management from an African perspective, bringing into dimension, the significance of indigenous philosophies and cultural values in leading and managing enterprises.

Strengthening the concordance between entrepreneurship orientation with indigenous cultural values

Strengthening the concordance between entrepreneurship orientation with indigenous cultural values

Mental health implementation research in Indigenous communities: creating culturally safe space to enhance collective strengths

In this article, we discuss the construct of cultural safety in relation to the ethics, politics, and practice of implementation research in Indigenous communities. We convened a 3-day workshop, bringing together 23 Indigenous and non-Indigenous collaborators from First Nation communities and universities across Canada to reflect on experiences with implementing an Indigenous youth and family mental health promotion program in First Nation communities. Participants identified three dimensions central to achieving culturally safe space in implementation research: (1) interpersonal dynamics of collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners; (2) structural and temporal arrangements necessary for collaborative work; and (3) the systematic recognition and incorporation of Indigenous cultural knowledge, values, and practices. Within implementation research, attention to cultural safety can mitigate the epistemic injustice that arise from research frameworks and methodologies that exclude Indigenous perspectives and values. Cultural safety can increase the likelihood that the research process itself contributes to mental health promotion.

Philosophy of Egek Culture from the Moi Tribe of Papua in Exposing the Concept of Environmental Accounting: A Phenomenological Study

Recent sustainability concerns have extended their influence into the realm of accounting. Previously, annual financial reporting held primary importance for companies, but now, in response to these concerns, a settlement report has been introduced, reflecting the emergence of environmental accounting. Researchers employed the Egek Culture from Moi Tribe phenomenological philosophy study method to uncover how green accounting is rooted in cultural values. Data analysis involved interviews with seasoned experts in environmental accounting to gather insights from informants. The selection of divided methods reveals the values of indigenous Papua culture in the concept of environmental accounting. The study found that green accounting has not received serious optimal development in Indonesia. To apply green accounting effectively, there is a need to align the proposed concept with existing international guidelines. The Egek philosophy offers insights into resolving key issues in green accounting since it strives to fulfill the social and environmental responsibilities of an entity to the utmost extent possible. Applying green accounting via the phenomenological approach of Egek philosophy enhances understanding comprehensively

SUSTAINABILITY OF CULTURAL VALUES, INHERITANCE, AND LITERACY IN STRENGTHENING HUMAN RESOURCES IN MINANGKABAU

Objective: To obtain an overview of the reality of the concept and construction of original cultural values in the lives of the Minangkabau indigenous people in Tiga Luhak, and their integration into sustainable development and strengthening of human resources. Methods: This research uses a qualitative approach with an ethnographic method based on the Post-Positivism paradigm of Interpretive Phenomenology, a holistic study, searching for the essence, and implicating moral values in observation, analysis and making conclusions regarding the disclosure of social facts of the Minangkabau indigenous people. Results: In line with the global issue of sustainability in the Sustainable Development Goals program where the mandate is to preserve the Culture of Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Peoples of an area, this research becomes important when changes have impacted shifting indigenous cultural values in indigenous peoples. The construction of indigenous knowledge and Minangkabau cultural values has been used and developed for a long time in the social structure of their society. Minangkabau custom contains values and knowledge, something that is original and inherent as a worldview and outlook on life. Minangkabau's original cultural values and knowledge are inherited and become clothing in the daily order of indigenous peoples. The concept of Surau and Silek became the starting point for the development of science. It became the center for studying an in-depth understanding of the natural surroundings which has inherited the wisdom, reason and local wisdom of the Minangkabau people. Minangkabau indigenous cultural values and knowledge have become social and intellectual capital in developing and strengthening human resources. Conclusions: Minangkabau customs and culture are a construction of a series of values, beliefs, knowledge, local wisdom and collective agreements based on the concept of Minangkabau scientific studies, namely epistemology which departs from an understanding of the philosophy of Alam Takambang Jadi Guru. Traditional and cultural values are the foundation in the construction of knowledge in Minangkabau, and these values are the guidelines and way of life for the community. Minangkabau cultural values and indigenous knowledge which have been the basis for the Minang people's life goal.

Translating Global Environmental Constitutionalism in the Indonesian Context: Pancasila vs. Liberalism

The translation of global environmental constitutionalism into local contexts presents a complex interplay between universal principles and indigenous values. This paper investigates this dynamic within the Indonesian context, juxtaposing the principles of Pancasila, the state ideology, with liberal environmental constitutionalism. While global environmental constitutionalism emphasizes individual rights, liberal democracy, and market mechanisms, Pancasila is rooted in collective welfare, harmony, and indigenous cultural values. The analysis begins by delineating the core tenets of liberal environmental constitutionalism, highlighting its focus on individual rights to environmental protection and the centrality of democratic governance. It then contrasts these principles with the philosophical underpinnings of Pancasila, which prioritize collective well-being, socio-cultural harmony, and state intervention for sustainable development. Furthermore, the paper examines the implications of translating liberal environmental constitutionalism into the Indonesian context. It identifies potential points of convergence and divergence between liberal ideals and Pancasila-based governance structures. Challenges such as reconciling individual rights with collective welfare, integrating indigenous knowledge into environmental policymaking, and navigating the tensions between state intervention and market mechanisms are discussed. Through this analysis, the paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on global environmental constitutionalism by emphasizing the importance of contextual adaptation. It underscores the need for flexible frameworks that accommodate diverse cultural, political, and economic realities. Ultimately, it argues for a nuanced approach that recognizes the value of both universal principles and indigenous wisdom in shaping effective environmental governance systems within specific national contexts.

Pancasila Legal System: Balancing The Fulfillment Of National Moral Values And Law Enforcement In Indonesia

This normative research delves into the Pancasila legal system in Indonesia, evaluating its impact on the nation's moral values and the enforcement of law. Pancasila, embodying the core principles of Indonesian society, encompasses values such as divinity, humanity, unity, democracy, and justice. Despite its significance, the study argues that the Pancasila legal system has yet to manifest substantially in the fabric of national life. The research, employing literature review methodology, positions Pancasila as a philosophy guiding law enforcement, urging a reevaluation of legal systems rooted in the wisdom of societal values. The imperative lies in bridging the gap between legal certainty and substantive justice, fostering a legal framework that resonates with the cultural richness of Indonesian society. This research advocates for a critical examination of the legal system, rooted in indigenous wisdom, to better align it with the aspirations of the nation and its people.
 Highlights:
 
 Cultural Foundations: The research critically examines the Pancasila legal system, emphasizing its role as a crystallization of Indonesia's cultural values, including divinity, humanity, unity, democracy, and justice.
 Guiding Philosophy: Pancasila is positioned as a guiding philosophy for law enforcement, highlighting its potential to shape the ethical foundation and moral compass of legal practitioners in Indonesia.
 Call for Reevaluation: The study advocates for a reevaluation of the legal system, urging a return to indigenous wisdom and cultural values to bridge the gap between legal certainty and substantive justice in Indonesian society.
 
 Keywords: Pancasila, Legal System, Moral Values, Law Enforcement, Indonesia

Risks in the current groundwater regulation approach in the Beetaloo region, Northern Territory, Australia

ABSTRACT Plans are underway to greatly increase rates of groundwater extraction from the Northern Territory’s Cambrian Limestone Aquifer (CLA), particularly above the Beetaloo sub-basin, to allow expansion of shale gas and agricultural industries. We analyse current groundwater regulations in the NT, and the state of knowledge regarding key aspects of the region’s hydrogeology and values sustained by groundwater. We find that the current rules governing the administration of groundwater licencing in areas without a Water Allocation Plan (WAP) – the Top End and Arid Zone rules – are poorly suited to protect ecological, Indigenous socio-cultural and other water use values. These rules (as currently applied) allow the depletion of substantial groundwater storage in areas that fall within the ‘arid zone’ (as defined in NT policy). Such depletion risks the reduction or loss of groundwater flows to ecosystems and stygofauna habitat and reduced throughflow of groundwater between different regions, within the highly connected CLA system. This may disrupt water flows that sustain local livelihoods and those that are integral to Indigenous peoples’ beliefs and cultural practices. The new WAP that applies over much of the Beetaloo sub-basin (Georgina-Wiso WAP) is also deficient in key areas. It has failed to comply with national water policy, in that no substantive steps have been taken to understand Indigenous cultural and ecological values sustained by groundwater prior to setting an Estimated Sustainable Yield. A more precautionary, inclusive approach to determining groundwater regulations would involve a) setting of conservative water extraction limits combined with trigger levels for ecosystem protection and b) co-management in partnership with Aboriginal peoples, with both consultation and decision-making processes that recognise their inherent rights and interests in water. This will be critical to avoiding long-term environmental and socio-cultural harm from over-extraction of groundwater.

Ecological and Cultural Balance in Traditional Agriculture: An Environmental Anthropological Approach


 
 
 
 This journal article employs an environmental anthropological lens to investigate the intricate equilibrium between ecological sustainability and cultural traditions within the context of traditional agriculture. Traditional agricultural practices have often proven to be highly sustainable, as they incorporate indigenous knowledge, community dynamics, and cultural values in the management of natural resources. This research explores the interplay between traditional agricultural systems, biodiversity conservation, and the preservation of cultural heritage. Using a multidisciplinary approach that combines ethnographic fieldwork, ecological assessments, and cultural studies, we delve into the ways in which traditional agricultural practices contribute to maintaining ecological balance and cultural continuity. The article highlights the importance of indigenous knowledge, sustainable land use practices, and the cultural significance of crop diversity, seed saving, and community-based natural resource management. Our findings reveal that traditional agriculture is not merely a means of subsistence but a holistic approach to life, deeply rooted in cultural values and respect for the environment. It provides insights into the resilience of traditional systems in the face of contemporary environmental challenges.
 
 
 

A property rights schema for cultural flows in the Murray Darling Basin, Australia

ABSTRACT Water management in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin is undergoing a highly-contested shift from single use management for irrigation, to multiple use management for irrigation and environmental flows. Despite a requirement to ‘take account’ of Indigenous values, multiple use management does not yet include cultural flows – water flows for Aboriginal groups to maintain Indigenous cultural values. Within the economics literature, cultural values are treated as a passive ‘use’ of place for spiritual or cultural activities, with cultural flows framed as flows of water delivered to particular sites for cultural ‘uses’. Aboriginal groups, however, argue for cultural flows to be defined in terms of water entitlements – a property right to water. Property rights have evolved within a specific historic and cultural context, and reflect a Western ontology that is very different to Aboriginal ontologies. This article explores whether a property rights construct might be compatible with Aboriginal ontologies, and whether water entitlements could deliver cultural benefits in ways hoped for by Aboriginal peoples. We find that cultural flows need to extend beyond rights to flows of water to encompass a broader bundle of rights including management and governance rights, if Aboriginal groups are to obtain beneficial cultural outcomes from those flows.

Establishing Core Content for Culturally Grounded Harm Reduction Intervention for Urban Indigenous After-School Youth in the Pacific Northwest

Indigenous adults (18 years or older) including parents, staff, and volunteers of an urban Indigenous youth after-school program participated in individual interviews (n = 10) as part of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) Indigenous harm reduction study to identify alcohol and other drug (AOD) content to include in prevention programming for youth participants. Adult findings were organized using a risk environment framework to identify culturally relevant social, physical, policy, and economic AOD risk factors for youth. We report where adult findings intersect with previously described youth results to establish a list of core content (i.e., culturally relevant AOD prevention activities and discussion topics) to guide program implementation. Core content includes intergenerational Indigenous perspectives (i.e., youth, adult, and elder) to reflect Indigenous cultural lifeways and values of protecting future generations. Findings may be highly relevant to other Indigenous after-school groups or others who wish to develop harm reduction prevention programming for urban Indigenous youth in the Pacific Northwest or beyond.

Indigenous culture and the decolonisation of feminist thought in Africa

The existence of current feminist thought in Africa is tainted by colonialism. Colonial and postcolonial anthropological thought and Eurocentric scholarship have misrepresented Africa as a society where social and gender roles were largely lopsided. Hence, current feminist thought (which are largely Western) on oppression of women, subjugation and suppression were imposed on the historicity of Africans. In this article, we argue that the misrepresentations of feminism of the indigenous societal order in Africa should be ignored. We bring to the fore some ideas that advance the view that precolonial African society was not anchored on biology or ordered by gender, but was organised by age or seniority, and provided both men and women a sense of equality. Furthermore, we contend that embracing indigenous cultural values in the 21st century provides, on the one hand, a valuable tool for solutions to issues that women face currently, and, on the other hand, a viable means of detaching feminism from Eurocentric misrepresentations.

Sensory Ecology, Bioeconomy, and the Age of COVID: A Parallax View of Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge

AbstractDrawing on original ethnobotanical and anthropological research among Indigenous peoples across the Amazon, we examine synergies and dissonances between Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge about the environment, resource use, and sustainability. By focusing on the sensory dimension of Indigenous engagements with the environment—an approach we have described as “sensory ecology” and explored through the method of “phytoethnography”—we promote a symmetrical dialogue between Indigenous and scientific understandings around such phenomena as animal–plant mutualisms, phytochemical toxicity, sustainable forest management in “multinatural” landscapes, and the emergence of new diseases like the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19). Drawing examples from our own and other published works, we explore the possibilities and limitations of a “parallax view” attempting to hold Indigenous and scientific knowledge in focus simultaneously. As the concept of “bioeconomy” emerges as a key alternative for sustainable development of the Amazon, we encourage a critical and urgent engagement between dominant Western conceptions and Indigenous Amazonian knowledge, practices, and cultural values. Cognitive science, which has long contributed to studies of Indigenous categorization and conceptualization of the natural world, continues to play an important role in building bridges of mutual communication and respect between Indigenous and scientific approaches to sustainability and biodiversity conservation.

Housing’s values: Housing as an ethical urbanism

Housing’s values are a key topic of public and policy debate, with discussions including the social value of housing in the form of human rights or care, rising property values, value-capture in infrastructure development, Indigenous values of land, and the value of housing for social reproduction. With this in mind, we engage with the various ways housing is valued, not as a reductive exercise to find ‘the value’ of housing but to recognise and engage with the ways various valuations of housing inform a situated and relational politics of value. The analysis is concerned with how people make valuations about housing as well as how these different housing valuations intersect to constitute a politics of housing values. It is a common reduction to associate housing with its economic value and home with social values. Attempts to reconcile these values typically involve proxy valuations to commensurate the social to the economic. However, value pluralists resist such easy reduction of social values to the market, holding that plural values are incommensurable. Our more-than-political economy approach draws on anthropology and moral philosophical theories of value to conceptualise an agonistic politics of housing value. To illustrate this conceptual case, we discuss three regimes of value in Australia, that is, capitalist regimes of real estate value as the dominant value regime, Indigenous cultural values tied to land and housing and care ethics and human rights as housing discourse. These cases highlight the processes of value realisation, not just within these regimes of value, but within and between them, to animate an agonistic tournament of housing’s value. We are interested in the politics within and between these different claims about value and argue the utility of value theory is to show how value is produced through the politics of competing value claims, rather than to try to show what the value of housing as-an-object is.

Lost for Words: Samoa’s Constitutional Crisis and the Case for a Public Theology

Abstract The Samoan election of 2021 provoked a constitutional crisis. It brought to an end sixty years of political stability that had been determined by the interweaving of democratic ideals with indigenous cultural values and Christian principles. The election had led to a tie on the night and led to various legal appeals, protests and the reluctance of the Prime Minister of more than twenty years refusing to stand down. With one exception – the Roman Catholic Archbishop – the churches were silent, ‘lost for words’. The crisis happened at a time when the first wave of localized and contextual public theologies were beginning to appear in theological research. Their particular focus was on a range of other issues (mainly due to timing). Their emergence, nevertheless, invites a consideration of what such a public theology might look like in a society where there is no history of a prophetic voice and the cultural system of fa’aSamoa relies upon a principle of respect (which was violated during the crisis).

Indigenous peoples and accounting: A systematic literature review

The purpose of this systematic literature review on ‘indigenous peoples and accounting’ is to identify major themes and derive insights to guide future research and policy agendas. We also investigate whether accounting has been used by the indigenous peoples for emancipation. Seventy-one peer-reviewed journal articles are categorised into three clusters (imperialism, accounting profession and need for emancipation) and analysed. This review positions accounting not as a mere neutral, benign, technical practice but as a racist and ethnocentric tool through the context in which it has been practised. Accounting was an integral part of imperial rule, inheriting colonial structures and separating and reducing indigenous peoples from their own cultures and structures. Indigenous accountants remain severely under-represented; indigenous autonomy, voice and participation are vital for transforming the ethnocentric systems that have led to the devaluation of indigenous peoples. For effecting change we identify a need to focus on forward-looking solutions and how indigenous cultural values can contribute to a more enabling accounting.