From Hatuey to Che: Indigenous Cuba without Indians and the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Majority of the indigenous people who are the original inhabitants in Malaysia inhibit the remote area of tropical forest which is rich in natural resources. Their lives are separated from the outside community due to several factors such as geography, low literacy, negative perceptions of the surrounding community, and the closed-door attitude of the indigenous people. Consistent preaching activities have changed the faith of the indigenous people from animism orientation towards believing in the Oneness of God. The practice of Islam as a way of life in the lives of indigenous peoples is found to be difficult to practice because the fiqh approach presented to them does not celebrate their local condition. In this regard, this study will examine the socio-cultural isolation of indigenous peoples and their impact on the interpretation of Islamic law. To achieve this objective, the researchers have applied the library research method by referring to the literatures related to the discussion of Islamic scholars in various disciplines of fiqh and usūl al-fiqh. The research found that there is rukhsah and taysir approach given to isolated people as well as with local background to facilitate the religious affairs of the indigenous people. Abstrak Majoriti masyarakat Orang Asli yang merupakan penduduk asal di semenanjung Malaysia mendiami kawasan pedalaman di hutan hujan tropika yang kaya dengan khazanah alam. Kehidupan mereka terasing daripada masyarakat luar disebabkan beberapa faktor seperti geografi, kadar literasi yang rendah, pandangan negatif masyarakat sekitar dan sikap tertutup masyarakat Orang Asli. Gerakan dakwah yang dijalankan secara konsisten telah membawa perubahan kepercayaan sebahagian masyarakat Orang Asli daripada berorientasikan animisme kepada mempercayai Tuhan yang Esa. Pengamalan Islam sebagai cara hidup dalam kehidupan masyarakat Orang Asli didapati agak sukar untuk dipraktikkan lantaran pendekatan fiqh yang disampaikan kepada mereka tidak meraikan suasana setempat mereka. Sehubungan itu, kajian ini akan meneliti keadaan isolasi sosio-budaya masyarakat Orang Asli dan kesannya terhadap pentafsiran hukum Islam. Bagi mencapai objektif tersebut, pengkaji menggunakan kajian kepustakaan sepenuhnya dengan menelusuri literatur berkaitan dengan perbincangan sarjana Islam dalam pelbagai disiplin ilmu fiqh dan usul fiqh. Hasil kajian mendapati terdapat rukhsah dan pendekatan taysir diberikan kepada mereka yang hidup terasing serta berlatar belakang budaya setempat bagi memudahkan urusan keagamaan masyarakat Orang Asli.

Download Full-text

Peering Beyond the Imperial Gaze: Using Digital Tools to Construct a Spatial History of Conquest

International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing ◽

10.3366/ijhac.2017.0177 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 39-54 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jeremy M. Mikecz

Keyword(s):

Indigenous People ◽

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Narrative Analysis ◽

Digital Tools ◽

Spanish Conquest ◽

Digital Maps ◽

Spatial History ◽

Colonial Texts ◽

History Of ◽

Spatial Narrative

Ethnohistorians and other scholars have long noted how European colonial texts often concealed the presence and participation of indigenous peoples in New World conquests. This scholarship has examined how European sources (both texts and maps) have denied indigenous history, omitted indigenous presence, elided indigenous agency, and ignored indigenous spaces all while exaggerating their own power and importance. These works provide examples of colonial authors performing these erasures, often as a means to dispossess. What they lack, however, is a systematic means of identifying, locating, and measuring these silences in space and time. This article proposes a spatial history methodology which can make visible, as well as measurable and quantifiable the ways in which indigenous people and spaces have been erased by colonial narratives. It presents two methods for doing this. First, narrative analysis and geovisualization are used to deconstruct the imperial histories found in colonial European sources. Second it combines text with maps to tell a new (spatial) narrative of conquest. This new narrative reconstructs indigenous activity through a variety of digital maps, including ‘mood maps’, indigenous activity maps, and maps of indigenous aid. The resulting spatial narrative shows the Spanish conquest of Peru was never inevitable and was dependent on the constant aid of immense numbers of indigenous people.

Download Full-text

Ethnocratic Policies and Indigenous Resistance: Bedounin Arabs and the Israeli Settler State

Holy Land Studies ◽

10.3366/hls.2003.0002 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 161-191 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Oren Yiftachel

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Nation Building ◽

Arab Population ◽

Land Planning ◽

Indigenous Resistance ◽

Development Policies ◽

Economic Strategies ◽

Basic Services ◽

The Impact ◽

Structural Conflict

This article examines the evolving relations between Israel and the indigenous Bedouin Arab population of the southern Beer-Sheba region. It begins with a discussion of theoretical aspects, highlighting a structural conflict embedded in the ‘ethnocratic’ nature of nation-building typical of ‘pure’ settler states, such as Israel. The place of the Bedouin Arab community is then analyzed, focusing on the impact of one of Israel's central policies—the Judaization of territory. The study traces the various legal, planning and economic strategies of Judaizing contested lands in the study area. These have included the nationalization of Arab land, the pervasive establishment of Jewish settlements, the forced urbanization of the Bedouin Arabs, and the denial of basic services to Bedouins who refuse to urbanize. However, the analysis also finds a growing awareness among indigenous Arabs of their being discriminated against on ethnic grounds, and the emergence of effective resistance. In recent years, this has resulted in a deadlock between state authorities and the indigenous peoples. The case of the Bedouin Arabs demonstrates that the ethnocentric settler state is weakening and fragmenting, partially at least, due to its own expansionist land, planning and development policies.

Download Full-text

Oregon’s K–12 Ethnic Studies Bill

Explorations in Ethnic Studies ◽

10.1525/esr.2019.42.2.180 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (2) ◽

pp. 180-195

Author(s):

Shirley A. Jackson

Keyword(s):

Civil Rights ◽

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Ethnic Studies ◽

Original Intent ◽

Racial And Ethnic Minorities ◽

Protected Group ◽

Social Minorities ◽

K 12 ◽

Racial Ethnic ◽

Do So

In 2017, Oregon passed House Bill 2845 requiring Ethnic Studies curriculum in grades K–12. It was the first state in the nation to do so. The bill passed almost fifty years after the founding of the country’s first Ethnic Studies department. The passage of an Ethnic Studies bill in a state that once banned African Americans and removed Indigenous peoples from their land requires further examination. In addition, the bill mandates that Ethnic Studies curriculum in Oregon's schools includes “social minorities,” such as Jewish and LGBTQ+ populations which makes the bill even more remarkable. As such, it is conceivable for some observers, a watered-down version of its perceived original intent—one that focuses on racial and ethnic minorities. Similarly, one can draw analogies to the revision of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 when it included women as a protected group. Grounded in a socio-political history that otherwise would not have been included, this essay examines the productive and challenging aspect of HB 2845. Framing the bill so it includes racial, ethnic, and social minorities solved the problem of a host of bills that may not have passed on their own merit while simultaneously and ironically making it easier to pass similar bills.

Download Full-text