Designing Indigenous Lands in Amazonia: Securing indigenous rights and wildlife conservation through hunting management

This essay reveals the true history of my people. It demonstrates our highly developed social, spiritual, and political governance structures. Our use of the water systems underscores the ecological integrity of sustainable development that we fostered for thousands of years. Yet, due to colonization and oppressive policies designed to destroy Indigenous identity, culture, and history, Indigenous knowledge and governing systems have been put in jeopardy. Colonial policies intended to dispossess and oppress First Nations by depriving us from Indigenous lands, controlling all aspects of our lives, which created dependence by limiting Indigenous peoples’ abilities to provide for themselves. Furthermore, these policies had no Indigenous input or representation and were designed to eradicate or eliminate Indigenous rights, titles, and the right to self-determination to easily gain access to Indigenous lands for development and industrialization, such as in the case of the massive hydroelectrical dams that continue to alienate my home community today.

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Mercury-Based Mining in Yanomami Indigenous Lands and Accountabilities

Ambiente & sociedade ◽

10.1590/1809-4422asoc20180326r2vu2020l5ao ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 ◽

Author(s):

Alan Robson Alexandrino Ramos ◽

Keyty Almeida de Oliveira ◽

Francilene dos Santos Rodrigues

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Rights ◽

Qualitative Approach ◽

State Agencies ◽

State Action ◽

Mining Areas ◽

Indigenous Lands ◽

The World ◽

Interdisciplinary Nature ◽

Judicial Procedures ◽

Indigenous Land

Abstract Mercury-based gold exploitation in Amazonian indigenous lands is illegal and leads to socio-environmental impacts. Yanomami people living near mining areas in Uraricoera River are exposed to contamination by mercury, which is a metal with bioaccumulation properties. The aims of the current study are to analyze the interdisciplinary nature of mercury-based placer mining carried out in Yanomami Indigenous Land, Roraima State, as well as to evaluate State agencies’ responses to this phenomenon. Based on bibliographical and documentary survey of qualitative approach, which involved Yanomami’s accounts, as well as police, administrative and judicial procedures implemented from 2013 to 2017, it was possible perceiving intense use of mercury in, and damages caused by, this illicit activity, as well as insufficient state action. There are divergences between protection and responsibilities described in the Brazilian legal system and the herein investigated illegal phenomenon, which violates indigenous rights, as well as scientific and ethical imperatives that can lead to the end of the world and of the Yanomami people.

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Protecting Indigenous Rights from Mining Companies

Sibirica ◽

10.3167/sib.2019.180305 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 18 (3) ◽

pp. 92-108 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Violetta Gassiy

Keyword(s):

Economic Development ◽

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Indigenous Rights ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

The Arctic ◽

Mining Companies ◽

Indigenous Lands ◽

Compensation Methods ◽

Fair Compensation ◽

Regional Authorities

The Arctic is one of Russia’s treasures. However, Arctic economic development means that business is invading lands that are sacred to indigenous peoples. As a rule, regional authorities are interested in tax revenues from subsoil users, prompting them to decide the culture-or-mining dilemma in favor of the latter. But this does not mean that the price of this encroachment on indigenous lands remains uncalculated. Since its establishment in 2010, Yakutia’s Ethnological Expertise Committee has developed a tool for assessing the damage caused to indigenous communities by subsoil users. The problem of getting businesses to compensate indigenous communities has yet to be solved. This article seeks answers to the problem of fair compensation methods and explores modes of partnership and cooperation on traditional lands.

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A VIOLAÇÃO DO DIREITO INDÍGENA À TERRA E SUAS PRINCIPAIS IMPLICAÇÕES HISTÓRICAS, JURÍDICAS E SOCIAIS * THE VIOLATION OF INDIGENOUS RIGHT TO LAND AND ITS PRINCIPALS HISTORICAL, JURIDICAL AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS

História e Cultura ◽

10.18223/hiscult.v8i1.2889 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 183

Author(s):

Junia Fior Santos ◽

Paula Alves Santos

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Rights ◽

Theoretical Discussion ◽

De Re ◽

Present Essay ◽

Federal Constitution ◽

Indigenous Lands ◽

Legal Context ◽

The Social ◽

Current Scenario ◽

The One

O presente estudo é fruto de reflexões suscitadas a partir da tensão social entre indígenas e proprietários rurais, originada pelas últimas demarcações de terras indígenas no Brasil e devido a um contexto histórico-jurídico que vem passando por significativas transformações no que tange a sua aplicabilidade. As presentes considerações são um chamado à discussão sobre alguns fatos históricos de violação dos direitos indígenas às suas terras de origem, através de uma visão histórica, social e jurídica que cercam o presente tema. Por conseguinte, o presente estudo, com um viés crítico, ressalta as nuances do processo (re) interpretativo da Constituição Federal de 1988 acerca do direito indígena as suas terras de origem. Toda a conjuntura histórica das políticas indigenistas brasileiras, propostas e efetivadas ao longo de séculos, revela o descompasso entre previsão legal e as práticas governamentais e o descaso com o qual a garantia do direito vem sendo abordada. Neste contexto, muitos são os desafios na execução de direitos, considerando o atual cenário, por um lado reflexo de conformações e deficiências de discernimento e, por outro, fomentador de usos contra hegemônicos do direito, em defesa da emancipação social. Desse modo, pretende-se analisar a atual estratégia de (re)interpretação do texto constitucional por meio de estudos de casos e jurisprudências emblemáticas que envolvem o tema, visando assim demonstrar a fragmentação dos direitos indígenas pela adoção de medidas omissas por parte do poder judiciário.*The present essay is the result of reflections based on the social tension between indigenous and rural landowners, originated by the last demarcations of indigenous lands in Brazil and due to a historical-legal context that has undergone significant changes in its applicability. The considerations set out in this article are a call for discussion on some historical facts about the violation of indigenous rights to their lands of origin, through a historical, social and juridical view that surrounds the present theme. Therefore, the critical and theoretical discussion of this work highlights the nuances of the (re) interpretative process of the 1988 Federal Constitution regarding indigenous rights to their lands of origin. All the historical conjuncture of Brazilian indigenist policies proposed and enforced over the centuries reveals the mismatch between legal prediction and government practices, as well as the disregard for the guarantee of indigenous rights to land. In this context, there are many challenges in the implementation of rights, considering the current scenario, on the one hand reflecting conformations and deficiencies of discernment and, on the other, promoting counter-hegemonic uses of the law, in defense of social emancipation. In this way, the current strategy of (re)interpretation of the constitutional text was analyzed through case studies and emblematic jurisprudence that surround the theme, aiming to demonstrate the fragmentation of indigenous rights by the adoption of omission measures by the judiciary.

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Hunting for Justice

Environment and Society ◽

10.3167/ares.2018.090106 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 75-90 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Lauren Eichler ◽

David Baumeister

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Wildlife Conservation ◽

Settler Colonialism ◽

Indigenous Identity ◽

The North ◽

Indigenous Worldviews ◽

Seven Principles ◽

Indigenous Lands ◽

American Model ◽

Theoretical Apparatus

Within the mainstream environmental movement, regulated hunting is commonly defended as a tool for preserving and managing populations of wild animals for future generations. We argue that this justification, encapsulated in the seven principles of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, perpetuates settler colonialism—an institutional and theoretical apparatus that systemically eliminates Indigenous peoples, expropriates Indigenous lands, and disqualifies Indigenous worldviews— insofar as it manifests an anthropocentric ideology that objectifies hunted animals as “natural resources” to be extracted. Because this ideology is antithetical to Indigenous views, its imposition through hunting regulation interrupts Indigenous lifeways, contributing to the destruction of Indigenous identity.

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Mapping Dreams in Nicaragua's Bosawas Reserve

Human Organization ◽

10.17730/humo.62.4.exekjumfqej3vpx4 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 62 (4) ◽

pp. 344-356 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Anthony Stocks

Keyword(s):

Global Positioning System ◽

Biosphere Reserve ◽

Indigenous Rights ◽

Gps Technology ◽

Parallel Processes ◽

Institutional Strengthening ◽

The People ◽

Indigenous Lands ◽

Global Positioning ◽

Indigenous Land

The advent of geographic information Systems (giS) and global Positioning System (gPS) technology has occasioned a plethora of mapping processes throughout the world concerned with indigenous rights. Yet many of these projects and processes seem to end with the maps, occasionally to the detriment of the people subject to the mapping. this paper argues that mapping is a necessary but insufficient goal if the aim is to further indigenous land and resource rights, especially in a context in which there are many more powerful forces, hostile to the empowerment process. the paper uses the case of the Bosawas international Biosphere reserve to illustrate parallel processes of mapping (with appropriate documentation), protection, political harmonization, institutional strengthening, and appropriate scientific input that have been employed there. All of these processes together have begun to make a difference, and the colonist agricultural frontier that threatens indigenous lands within the reserve has been notably slowed, although secure land and resource rights have continued to evade Nicaragua’s indigenous people.

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The judgment of the case Xucuru People v. Brazil: InterAmerican Court of Human Rights between consolidation and setbacks

Revista de Direito Internacional ◽

10.5102/rdi.v16i2.5958 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Gabriela Cristina Braga Navarro

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Indigenous Rights ◽

Primary Sources ◽

Court Case ◽

Human Rights Protection ◽

Rights Protection ◽

Indigenous Lands ◽

Protection Of Human Rights

The present article aims to analyse the recent decision against Brazil issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Xucuru indigenous people and its members v. Brazil, which was decided in February 2018. The decision is the most recent among the consolidated jurisprudence of the Court on indigenous peoples` rights, as well as the first one against Brazil. The case study is based mainly upon a bibliographic review of primary sources related to the case, as well to the Court´s jurisprudence on indigenous rights. To achieve the central objective, the article is composed of three sections: an analysis of the Court´s jurisprudence on indigenous territorial rights, a further analysis of the decision on the Xucuru case and, finally, an analysis of aspects that were absent in the decision. The article concludes that, in most aspects, the judgment consolidates the Court case law on the territorial protection of indigenous lands. However, the decision is considered flawed in regard to four aspects: the protection of human rights defenders, the mentioning of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, applied remedies and the recognition of the injured party. As the case is very recent, this is the first academic analysis on its content. The Court´s innovative jurisprudence on indigenous rights must be acknowledged, but flaws and limitations in the most recent decision must be pointed out and analysed in order to enable further development and, therefore, provide a most adequate human rights protection.

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Revival, Recognition, Restitution: Indigenous Rights in the Eastern Caribbean

International Journal of Cultural Property ◽

10.1017/s0940739116000096 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 167-190 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Amy Strecker

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Rights ◽

Negative Stereotypes ◽

State Recognition ◽

Post Colonial ◽

Cultural Rights ◽

Caribbean Islands ◽

Indigenous Lands ◽

Eastern Caribbean ◽

Scholarly Discourse ◽

Made In

Abstract:The idea that the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean islands became extinct has until recently dominated scholarly discourse and popular awareness. This “extinction” narrative served to justify the appropriation of indigenous lands during the colonial period, and its legacy continued into post-independence. In recent years, these misconceptions have been put under increasing scrutiny, not only by archaeological, historical, and ethnographic research but also, more importantly, by communities themselves. In Dominica, Saint Vincent, and Trinidad, communities are contesting negative stereotypes, reasserting their presence, and agitating for their human rights in the post-colonial islands states. This article discusses the acquisition of indigenous rights by descendant communities in the eastern Caribbean. It reveals the various degrees to which communities have gained state recognition and illustrates that while progress has been made in relation to recognition and cultural rights for communities in the islands, issues remain in relation to land security.

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Participation on the Edge: Prior Consultation and Extractivism in Latin America

Journal of Politics in Latin America ◽

10.1177/1866802x1801000302 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 29-58 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Gisela Zaremberg ◽

Marcela Torres Wong

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Indigenous Rights ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Multinational Companies ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

International Labor Organization ◽

State Repression ◽

International Labor ◽

Indigenous Groups ◽

Indigenous Lands

Violent conflicts between indigenous groups, multinational companies, and governments over the control of lands potentially containing valuable minerals and hydrocarbons are proliferating in Latin America, as well as elsewhere around the world too. In 1989 the International Labor Organization (ILO) approved ILO Convention 169, which mandates the implementation of prior consultation (PC) with indigenous peoples about any project that could potentially affect their territory. Many interpretations regarding the aims and scopes of PC exist. Some environmental sectors see PC as a mechanism to prevent the implementation of ecologically unsustainable projects in indigenous territories. Part of the indigenous rights sector, however, sees PC as a platform via which to negotiate financial resources for indigenous communities. On the side of governments and multinational companies, PC represents a means to diminish violence and advance projects under more stable political conditions. By examining mining and hydrocarbon projects in Bolivia, Peru, and Mexico, the authors compare cases in which PC takes place and ones where it is not applied. A typology of the outcomes in relation to 1) the prevention of industrialized resource extraction on indigenous lands, 2) redistribution of economic benefits produced by extractive projects, and 3) diminishment of the state repression associated with extractive projects is offered. Findings show that in many cases all three of these results are not simultaneously achieved; the authors explain why some outcomes might be obtained in certain instances and not in others. Finally, the article offers an overall assessment of PC results in light of participation theories.

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