Walking the story of my Indo-Mauritian indentured ancestry: An arts-based inquiry into voiced resistance and conflict with reconciliation

Reconciliation is a contested term often associated with postcolonial discourses, contending with global histories of injustice, racial discrimination and dispossession that affect diverse groups (slaves, indentures or Indigenous people). Reconciliation stories mainly encounter resistance when problematized by individual experiences. As a woman of Indo-Mauritian indenture descent, I explore my ancestral stories from gendered dimensions: hailed by hardships, discrimination and patriarchal norms from colonialization and its legacies. I discuss my perceived subalternity and disempowerment in defining my positioning and identity. From an arts-based inquiry, I use bricolage to combine art·I/f/act·ology, evocative auto-ethnography and emotional reflexivity in framing emotion-based writing. Intersectionality as a theoretical lens situates the influences of race, culture, ethnicity, caste, gender and identity processes within my narratives. The discussion emphasizes a voiced resistance and conflict with reconciliation. My visual narratives display and are rooted in the listening and co-ownership of ancestral stories as mine, wherein I find voice and agency.

Ethnomedicinal and traditional uses of the Ferns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Ferns are often used by indigenous people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This study was designed to collect the ethnomedicinal and traditional knowledge of these locals about this group of vascular plants. Forty taxa belong to nineteen genera and ten families are used in the treatment of different diseases. The Pteridaceae was the most representative family with twelve taxa (30%), followed by Athyriaceae and Dryopteridaceae with six taxa each (30%), and Thelypteridaceae with five taxa (12.5%). Regarding the genera, Adiantum, Asplenium and Dryopteris ranked first with four taxa each (30%), followed by Aleuritopteris, Diplazium, Pteris and Equisetum with three taxa each (30%), followed by Athyrium, Oeosporangium, Polystichum and Pseudophegopteris with two taxa each (20%). These taxa were commonly used in the treatment of respiratory disorders i.e. asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia; intestinal ulcer, stomach, urinary ailments and skin disorders by the methods of decoction and infusion. Traditional knowledge about ethnomedicinal plants is a valuable and essential source for the discovery of allopathic, herbal and homeopathic medicines.

Putting Policy into Practice: How Three Cancer Services Perform against Indigenous Health and Cancer Frameworks

Improving cancer outcomes for Indigenous people by providing culturally safe, patient-centred care is a critical challenge for health services worldwide. This article explores how three Australian cancer services perform when compared to two national best practice guidelines: the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Framework (Cancer Framework) and the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) User Guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (User Guide). The services were identified through a nationwide project undertaken to identify cancer services providing treatment to Indigenous cancer patients. A small number of services which were identified as particularly focused on providing culturally safe cancer care participated in case studies. Interviews were conducted with 35 hospital staff (Indigenous and non-Indigenous) and 8 Indigenous people affected by cancer from the three services. The interviews were analysed and scored using a traffic light system according to the seven priorities of the Cancer Framework and the six actions of the NSQHS User Guide. While two services performed well against the User Guide, all three struggled with the upstream elements of the Cancer Framework, suggesting that the treatment-focused Optimal Care Pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People with Cancer (Cancer Pathway) may be a more appropriate framework for tertiary services. This article highlights the importance of a whole-of-organisation approach when addressing and embedding the six actions of the User Guide. Health services which have successfully implemented the User Guide are in a stronger position to implement the Cancer Framework and Cancer Pathway.

Constitutional Provision in Protecting and Managing Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Methodologically, this study aligns with the analytical philosophy and the indigenous standpoint and cultural interface theory. This study found that the education system itself is contaminated with colonial legacy and historical ontology of ‘State'. The recommendations are the participation of indigenous people in deciding their education and making curricula. Although the location of this study is remote and rural, this phenomenon occurs in many countries. Therefore, this research would contribute to efforts in this regard over the world to merge humanity.

Supporting Indigenous Education From a Distance

As COVID-19 swept the globe, it transformed the way people access information. This has been both challenging and metamorphic for libraries worldwide, particularly those serving indigenous people. Indigenous education has been severely impacted by the pandemic. When the pandemic swept the globe and many countries went into “lockdown,” users were not allowed to visit the physical facilities of libraries and the collections become inaccessible. This chapter is a case study about the adjustment of collection strategies to serve the needs of students in an indigenous studies program during the pandemic. This chapter aims to capture the challenges encountered at a regional-focused collection, the impacts to an indigenous studies program, the adjusting collection strategies to meet the needs of the program, and key lessons learned. The selected case is a regional-focused collection in a research library on Guam.

Human Rights Literacy (HRL) to Promote and Sustain Attitudes and Behaviours Supportive of Social Justice

This chapter explores what Human Rights Literacy (HRL) involves and how it establishes and develops improved rights of the citizens supportive to social justice in the society. People with different cultural backgrounds have the fundamental right to be literate members of society. However, due to various cultural influences, this right is somewhat restricted to certain individuals. For example, girls' education has become controversial in some lands. There are still instances in some cultures where people of all walks of life, such as LGBTI, Blacks, Indigenous people, migrants, etc., are helpless in the face of their rights. Thus, legal literacy and its unique component of human rights literacy are essential to ensure the protection of human rights. A theoretical framework is eventually drawn up by summarising the findings of the study.