Indigenous Struggles for Epistemic Justice

2019 ◽  
pp. 637-653
Author(s):  
Robert Nichols
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Critical Survey ◽  
Epistemic Justice ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Settler Colonization ◽  
Anglophone World

This chapter explores how questions of epistemic justice are expressed in the context of indigenous struggles against settler colonization in the anglophone world. It focuses specifically on how indigenous peoples in the Anglo-settler world (1) tend to preserve and transmit knowledge about their societies and the history of their struggles against colonization through various oral traditions, rather than the text-based or scriptural traditions of many other societies, and (2) have been subject to a particular form of eliminatory violence that has sought not only to subordinate and exploit them, but also to erase and replace them altogether with neo-European settler societies. This chapter considers how these two features articulate as problems of epistemic justice. Part I introduces a specific case study—the 1997 Supreme Court of Canada decision Delgamuukw v. British Columbia—as a means of clarifying the stakes and contours of the first problem. Part II offers a critical survey of work that has developed in the twenty years since Delgamuukw, which has increasingly linked the two highlighted issues.

Assimilation and Partition: How Settler Colonialism and Racial Capitalism Co-produce the Borders of Indigenous Economies

2020 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-324
Author(s):  
Shiri Pasternak
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Critical Material ◽  
Aboriginal Rights ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
Racial Capitalism ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
Settler Colonization

The history of colonialism in Canada has meant both the partition of Indigenous peoples from participating (physically, politically, legally) in the economy and a relentless demand to become assimilated as liberal capitalist citizens. Assimilation and segregation are both tendencies of colonization that protect the interests of white capital. But their respective prevalence seems to depend on the regime of racial capitalism at play. This paper examines the intersection of settler colonization and racial capitalism to shed light on the status of Indigenous economic rights in Canada. I ask, to what extent are Indigenous peoples understood to have economic rights—defined here as the governing authority to manage their lands and resources—and, how we can we analyze these rights to better understand the conjoined meanings of colonialism and capitalism as systems of power today? In this paper, I look at two sites to address this problem: first, I examine how the Supreme Court of Canada has defined the “Aboriginal right” to commercial economies since the patriation of Aboriginal rights into the Constitution in 1982; and, second, I examine how these rights are configured through state resource revenue-sharing schemes with First Nations, in particular from extractive projects, over the past few years. Each case study provides critical material for analyzing the economic opportunities available to First Nations through democratic channels of state “recognition,” as well as when and why tensions between state policies of segregation and assimilation emerge.

COMBINING ORAL TRADITIONS AND BAYESIAN CHRONOLOGICAL MODELING TO UNDERSTAND VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT IN THE GULF OF PAPUA (PAPUA NEW GUINEA)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Chris Urwin ◽  
Quan Hua ◽  
Henry Arifeae
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Spatial History ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gulf Of Papua ◽  
The Village

ABSTRACT When European colonists arrived in the late 19th century, large villages dotted the coastline of the Gulf of Papua (southern Papua New Guinea). These central places sustained long-distance exchange and decade-spanning ceremonial cycles. Besides ethnohistoric records, little is known of the villages’ antiquity, spatiality, or development. Here we combine oral traditional and 14C chronological evidence to investigate the spatial history of two ancestral village sites in Orokolo Bay: Popo and Mirimua Mapoe. A Bayesian model composed of 35 14C assays from seven excavations, alongside the oral traditional accounts, demonstrates that people lived at Popo from 765–575 cal BP until 220–40 cal BP, at which time they moved southwards to Mirimua Mapoe. The village of Popo spanned ca. 34 ha and was composed of various estates, each occupied by a different tribe. Through time, the inhabitants of Popo transformed (e.g., expanded, contracted, and shifted) the village to manage social and ceremonial priorities, long-distance exchange opportunities and changing marine environments. Ours is a crucial case study of how oral traditional ways of understanding the past interrelate with the information generated by Bayesian 14C analyses. We conclude by reflecting on the limitations, strengths, and uncertainties inherent to these forms of chronological knowledge.

The Black Diamonds of Sydney Harbour

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 645-664
Author(s):  
Ann Elias
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Mining Company ◽  
Pastoral Area ◽  
The Sublime ◽  
Sydney Harbour ◽  
History Of ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The City

This article explores the case study of a coal mine that was first tunneled under Sydney Harbour in 1897 but closed in 1931. Specifically, it examines how the history of the mine intersects with aesthetics, race, colonialism, and Indigenous dispossession. Centered on the story of an English mining company that first sought a mine site in a pastoral area of the city, but under public pressure was forced to select instead a grimy working class suburb on the opposite harbor shore, the article argues that environmental aesthetics and tastes in beauty collaborated with extractivism. The argument emerges that economics, art, and aesthetics are inextricably linked in this history and further, that while the mine excited the industrial imagination through the aesthetic of the sublime, and associations with darkness and vastness, it conflicted with colonial settler tastes for the pastoral imagination defined by the aesthetics of the beautiful and its associations with light. The article discusses the context of a settler economy in lands stolen from Indigenous peoples, and how conceptualizations of the sublime and beautiful, as well as dark and light, were aligned with the racialization of the properties of coal and space above and below ground.

Segeju and Daisũ: A Case Study of Evidence from Oral Tradition and Comparative Linguistics

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 175-208
Author(s):  
Derek Nurse
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Comparative Linguistics ◽  
Tana River ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Northeast Africa

The history of “the” Segeju has been the subject of lengthy published debate. The discussion has been based almost entirely on interpretation of oral traditions as recounted by Segeju informants to various scholars. A newcomer with a linguistic bias is struck by certain aspects of much of this debate:a] the linguistic implausibility apparently involved. Baker, for example, recording fairly literally what he was told, started the history of “the” Segeju in the Middle East: this would presumably involve a community speaking Arabic or Persian. There follows reference to “segeju” travels and sojourns in mainland northeast Africa: linguistic affiliation unknown. This period terminates with their arrival at Shungwaya, in southern Somalia: linguistic affiliation unstated. Later “they” are found on the Upper Tana River: Kamba is mentioned. Finally “they” settle in their present location on the northern Tanzanian coast, where today the language affiliations of people referring to themselves as “Segeju” are various (see below).

A History of the Rio Pongo: Time for a New Appraisal?

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 329-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce L. Mouser
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Guinea Coast ◽  
Extensive Documentation ◽  
Clear Link ◽  
History Of ◽  
Northern Rivers ◽  
Comprehensive History

Forty-five years ago (1965), when some of us were beginning our studies of the history of the Upper Guinea coast, there existed only a few published general histories of Guinea-Conakry or region-based models to guide us. André Arcin's substantial works (1907 and 1911) provided original but awkward structures from which we could commence our work, but his monographs tended to be based heavily upon a colonial presence, a necessity to make sense of a complex colony, and a reliance upon oral traditions or other uncitationed sources, many of which could not be tested a half century later. Christopher Fyfe's comprehensive history of Sierra Leone had just been published in 1962. Fyfe's foremost emphasis was to chronicle the development of the Sierra Leone settlement and chart that colony's progress, but his extensive documentation was extraordinary in that it demonstrated the clear link between the “Northern Rivers” and British enterprise from Freetown and opened Britain's archives as sources of information about the history of these rivers in new and profound ways.Earlier works by Lucien Marie Francois Famechon, Jules Machat, Fernand Rouget, Laurent Jean B. Bérenger-Férand, Ch. Bour, and others, centering upon the peoples, economies, and terrain of coastal rivers, continued to be instructive, but these authors were writing at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, and they tended to treat the histories of indigenous peoples as interesting and exotic and at the same time relatively unimportant to the colony's regional development.

Calling in to Cut back: Settlers learning to listen for a decolonial future

Ethnicities ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 146879682110629
Author(s):  
Emily Beausoleil
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Listening Strategies ◽  
Learning To Listen ◽  
Specific Identity

Clearing the gorse, a particularly aggressive invasive plant, so that native plants can flourish has been used as a potent metaphor for decolonization ( Came, 2014 ), and described as labour appropriate for settlers to perform in the interest of just relations with Indigenous peoples. Yet, this labour is not simply one of negation, for it involves learning to bring one’s group difference alongside that of others rather than continuing to mistake that difference for the unmarked context of Indigenous-settler relations. Clearing the gorse is thus also connected to the labour of “gathering at the gate”: the requirement according to Māori protocols of encounter that visitors develop a sense of collective identity and purpose before any meeting can take place. Settler societies, as a rule, operate without a collective sense of the specific identity and history of being a settler people. How would these two forms of labour appropriate for tauiwi Pākehā to perform be connected, and how would performing them together serve broader projects of decolonization and honouring settler commitments in Te Tiriti o Waitangi? I reflect upon this question in light of insights from Tauiwi Tautoko, a recent nationwide anti-racism programme wherein tauiwi (non-Māori settlers) addressed anti-Māori racism online. Core to the programme’s novel anti-racism approach were listening strategies that both invited and modelled acknowledgment of the particular ground from which tauiwi Pākehā see and speak. These strategies have proven effective in creating openings and shifts regarding racist views in otherwise adversarial and toxic spaces. They offer innovative practical resources for the work settlers can and must do with our own people, if we are to contribute to a decolonial future.

A RUSSIAN BOURGEOIS'S ARCTIC ENLIGHTENMENT

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
ADRIAN JONES
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
White Sea ◽  
Pacific Islanders ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
History Of

Studies of Europe's Enlightenment have been enriched by attending to its real and imagined impacts on indigenous peoples and of indigenous peoples on Europeans. Applying these methods to new-settled eighteenth-century societies offers another standpoint on the Enlightenment. This study is a sample: a civic history of a relatively new – in European terms – place suggests the possibilities. In 1792, a bourgeois, Vasilii Krestinin, from Russia's White Sea shore, published a history of Archangel, founded in 1584. Krestinin's view from a new Arctic society is as far from Europe's elegant metropoles and eloquent lumières as the ship captains, Pacific Islanders, and cat killers in influential recent studies of the Enlightenment. Just as these studies – and others on readers and reading – transformed studies of the Enlightenment, historians can use sources from new societies to observe answers and actions of people casting themselves as Enlighteners. This study of enlightened sensibility in an Arctic society suggests how the Enlightenment – viewed from settler societies – became anxious, how it fanned nationalisms, and how it was ensnared by naïve presuppositions that progress was a prerequisite of power.

Decolonising Ethics: Considerations of Power, Politics and Privilege in Aotearoa/New Zealand

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amohia Boulton
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
History Of ◽  
Maori Health ◽  
Health And Well Being

Indigenous peoples across the world have a shared experience of colonisation; a process that has resulted in war, disease and the decimation of their lands, homes and peoples. In New Zealand, the effects of colonisation are still evident with Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand) experiencing poorer outcomes compared with non-Māori citizens across a range of social, health and well-being indicators. This paper is a case study of work being done in New Zealand, which may have resonance with work in South Africa, and other countries with a history of colonisation. It begins with a brief history of the impacts of colonisation on Māori before considering the concept of decolonisation. The author outlines the work her organisation does as an independent, tribally owned, Māori health research centre to advance a decolonisation agenda. Reflecting on their emancipatory and democratising ambitions as researchers provides the opening for a discussion about indigenous ethics. The paper presents a number of Māori ethical principles that guide their work, arguing that were such principles applied in the development and implementation of social policy and legislation, the effect would be a fairer, more equitable policy that better meets the needs of Māori as citizens. Recent legislation enacted to improve New Zealand’s care and protection system for children is discussed to illustrate the need for greater consideration of Māori values when developing legislation that directly impacts Māori. The paper concludes with a challenge to policymakers, practitioners, academics, and researchers alike to actively contribute to an agenda of liberation, emancipation and decolonisation for indigenous peoples.

scholarly journals O lugar dos povos indígenas na história do Brasil e em Alagoas: breves reflexões

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 415
Author(s):  
Taysa Kawanny Ferreira SANTOS ◽  
Inalda Maria dos SANTOS
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Indian People ◽  
History Of ◽  
Investigación Cualitativa

RESUMOEste texto busca evidenciar algumas reflexões sobre os povos indígenas na História do Brasil e em Alagoas. Neste sentido a pesquisa tem como objetivo analisar os processos de silenciamento ocorridos ao longo da História do Brasil e especificamente em Alagoas. Teve como abordagem metodológica a pesquisa qualitativa e ancorou-se nos pressupostos da fenomenologiahermenêutica porque objetivou evidenciar os significados atribuídos pelos sujeitos ao fenômeno pesquisado. Tratou-se de um estudo de caso em que se adotou uma postura etnográfica de pesquisa, na intenção de valorizar a escuta, as observações e o respeito às práticas culturais. Povos indígenas. História. Resistência. The place of indigenous people in the history of Brazil and in Alagoas: brief reflections ABSTRACT This text seeks to highlight some reflections on indigenous peoples in the history of Brazil and in Alagoas. In this sense, the research aims to analyze the silencing processes that occurred throughout the history of Brazil and specifically in Alagoas. The methodological approach was based on qualitative research and was based on the assumptions of phenomenology-hermeneutics because it aimed to highlight the meanings attributed by the subjects to the researched phenomenon. It was a case study in which an ethnographic research stance was adopted, with the intention of valuing listening, observations and respect for cultural practices. Indian people. History. Resistance.El lugar de los pueblos indígenas en la historia de Brasil y en Alagoas: breves reflexiones RESUMEN Este texto busca resaltar algunas reflexiones sobre los pueblos indígenas en la Historia de Brasil y en Alagoas. En este sentido, la investigación tiene como objetivo analizar los procesos de silenciamiento que ocurrieron a lo largo de la historia de Brasil y específicamente en Alagoas. El enfoque metodológico se orientó en la investigación cualitativa y se basó en los supuestos de la fenomenología-hermenéutica porque pretendía resaltar los significados atribuidos por los sujetos al fenómeno investigado. Fue un estudio de caso en el que se adoptó una postura de investigación etnográfica, con la intención de valorar la escucha, las observaciones y el respeto por las prácticas culturales. Pueblos indígenas. Historia. Resistencia. Il posto delle popolazioni indigene nella storia del Brasile e di Alagoas: brevi riflessioni SINTESE Questo testo cerca di evidenziare alcune riflessioni sulle popolazioni indigene nella storia del Brasile e in Alagoas. In questo senso, la ricerca mira ad analizzare i processi di silenziamento che si sono verificati nella storia del Brasile e in particolare ad Alagoas. L'approccio metodologico si basava sulla ricerca qualitativa e si basava sui presupposti della fenomenologia ermeneutica perché intendeva evidenziare i significati attribuiti dai soggetti al fenomeno indagato. È stato un caso di studio in cui è stata adottata una posizione di ricerca etnografica, con l'intenzione di valutare l'ascolto, le osservazioni e il rispetto delle pratiche culturali. Popoli indigeni. Storia. Resistenza.

Respecting water: Indigenous water governance, ontologies, and the politics of kinship on the ground

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 516-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole J Wilson ◽  
Jody Inkster
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Indigenous Studies ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Political Ontology ◽  
Living Entity ◽  
Settler Societies

Indigenous peoples often view water as a living entity or a relative, to which they have a sacred responsibility. Such a perspective frequently conflicts with settler societies’ view of water as a “resource” that can be owned, managed, and exploited. Although rarely articulated explicitly, water conflicts are rooted in ontological differences between Indigenous and settler views of water. Furthermore, the unequal water governance landscape created by settler colonialism has perpetuated the suppression of Indigenous ways of conceptualizing water. This paper thus examines the “political ontology” of water by drawing on insights from the fields of critical Indigenous studies, post-humanism, and water governance. Additionally, we engage a case study of four Yukon First Nations (Carcross/Tagish, Kluane, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, and White River First Nations) in the Canadian North to examine their water ontologies through the lens of a politics of kinship including ideas about “respecting water.” We also examine the assumptions of settler-colonial water governance in the territory, shaped by modern land claims and self-government agreements. We close by discussing the implications of Indigenous water ontologies for alternate modes of governing water.

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