tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/indigenous-55/articlesIndigenous – The Conversation2024-03-28T15:07:45Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2260872024-03-28T15:07:45Z2024-03-28T15:07:45ZColonialists used starvation as a tool of oppression<p>In this episode of <em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em>, we <a href="https://theconversation.com/starvation-is-a-weapon-of-war-gazans-are-paying-the-price-226086">continue our conversation about forced famine</a> and its use as a powerful tool to control people, land and resources. Starvation has, for centuries, been a part of the colonizer’s “playbook.” </p>
<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/9789ad83-396b-4720-91fa-bfba743d6577?dark=true"></iframe>
<p>We speak with two scholars to explore two historic examples: the decimation of Indigenous populations in the Plains, North America, which historian David Stannard has called the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/american-holocaust-9780195085570?cc=ca&lang=en&">American Holocaust</a> and in India, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/29/winston-churchill-policies-contributed-to-1943-bengal-famine-study">1943 famine in Bengal</a>. According to a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-68311520">recent BBC story</a>, the Bengal famine of 1943 killed more than three million people. It was one of the worst losses of civilian life on the Allied side in the Second World War. (The United Kingdom lost 450,000 lives during that same war.) </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=698&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584865/original/file-20240327-24-2vsfp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=877&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plains Cree Chief Mistahimaskwa resisted signing a treaty with the ‘Crown,’ until starvation of his people propelled him to sign Treaty 6 in the hopes of gaining access to food.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Library and Archives Canada/C-001873.</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although disease, environmental disasters and famine were features of life before colonialism, decades of research has shown how <a href="https://holodomor.ca/empire-colonialism-and-famine-in-comparative-historical-perspective-international-symposium/">these occurrences were manipulated by colonial powers to prolong starvation and trigger chronic famine.</a> In other words, starvation has been effectively used by colonial powers to control populations, acquire land and the wealth that comes with that. This colonization was accompanied by an <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32827/chapter-abstract/275134412?redirectedFrom=fulltext">“entitlement approach”</a> and the belief that Indigenous populations are inferior to the lives of the colonizer. </p>
<p>According to scholars, prior to the arrival of colonialists, both populations at the heart of today’s episode were thriving with healthy and wealthy communities. And although disease and famine existed before the arrival of Europeans, it cannot be denied colonial powers accelerated and even capitalized on chronic famine and the loss of life due to disease and malnutrition.</p>
<p>As the famous economist <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32827">Amartya Sen has said</a>, famine is a function of repression. It springs from the politics of food distribution rather than a lack of food. Imperial policies such as the Boat Denial Policy and Rice Denial Policy meant that, as <a href="https://www.documenta14.de/en/south/888_so_many_hungers">curator Natasha Ginwala wrote</a>: “freshly harvested grain was set on fire, or even dumped into the river.”</p>
<p>Joining on this episode were two experts on the North American and Bengal famines.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584491/original/file-20240326-24-kwv3yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cover of ‘Clearing the Plains’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(University of Regina Press)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>James Daschuk is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina. He is the author of <em>Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation and the Loss of Aboriginal Life</em>. </p>
<p>We also spoke with Janam Mukherjee, an Associate Professor of History at Toronto Metropolitan University, and the author of <em>Hungry Bengal: War, Famine and the End of Empire</em>. Mukherjee was recently a primary historical advisor on the BBC Radio 4 series “Three Million,” a five-part documentary on the Bengal famine of 1943.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/584490/original/file-20240326-18-es47ox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1180&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cover of ‘Hungry Bengal’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Oxford University Press)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Listen and follow</h2>
<p>You can listen to or follow <a href="https://dont-call-me-resilient.simplecast.com/"><em>Don’t Call Me Resilient</em></a> on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/dont-call-me-resilient/id1549798876">Apple Podcasts</a> <a href="https://www.apple.com/ca/newsroom/2024/03/apple-introduces-transcripts-for-apple-podcasts/">(transcripts available)</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/37tK4zmjWvq2Sh6jLIpzp7">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_mJBLBznANz6ID9rBCUk7gv_ZRC4Og9-">YouTube</a> or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. </p>
<p><a href="mailto:dcmr@theconversation.com">We’d love to hear from you</a>, including any ideas for future episodes.</p>
<p>Join the Conversation on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dontcallmeresilientpodcast/">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ConversationCA">X</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/theconversationcanada">LinkedIn</a> and use #DontCallMeResilient.</p>
<h2>Resources</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/when-canada-used-hunger-to-clear-the-west/article13316877/">“When Canada used hunger to clear the West”</a> (by James Daschuk, July 19, 2013)</p>
<p><a href="https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Clearing-the-Plains"><em>Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation and the Loss of Indigenous Life</em></a> (by James Daschuk, 2013)</p>
<p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1353/his.2013.0015">“Administering Colonial Science: Nutrition Research and Human Biomedical Experimentation in Aboriginal Communities and Residential Schools, 1942–1952” </a>(in <em>Social History</em> by Ian Mosby, 2013) </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/proposed-class-action-seeks-damages-for-intergenerational-trauma-from-residential-schools-1.7136548">“Proposed class action seeks damages for intergenerational trauma from residential schools”</a></p>
<p><a href="https://goodminds.com/products/ashes-and-embers-stories-of-the-delmas-indian-residential-school"><em>Ashes and Embers: Stories of the Delmas Indian Residential School</em> by Floyd Favel</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/madhusree-mukerjee/churchills-secret-war/9780465022601/?lens=basic-books"><em>Churchill’s Secret War</em></a> (by Madhusree Mukerjee, 2010)</p>
<p><em><a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/2861">Hungry Bengal: War, Famine and the End of Empire</a></em> (by Janam Mukherjee, 2015)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hd7scf">“Three Million”</a> (The documentary podcast by the BBC)</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1470412919879067">“Witnessing famine: the testimonial work of famine photographs and anti-colonial spectatorship”</a> (<em>Journal of Visual Culture</em> by Tanushree Ghosh, 2019)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/21/we-are-about-to-witness-the-most-intense-famine-since-world-war-ii-in-gaza">“We are about to witness in Gaza the most intense famine since the second world war” (<em>The Guardian</em>, March 21, 2024, by Alex de Waal)</a></p>
<h2>From the archives - in The Conversation</h2>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-our-food-fairer-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-12-171554">Making our food fairer: Don't Call Me Resilient EP 12</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/colonialism-was-a-disaster-and-the-facts-prove-it-84496">Colonialism was a disaster and the facts prove it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-most-powerful-democracies-were-built-on-the-suffering-of-others-208443">The world's most powerful democracies were built on the suffering of others</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/john-a-macdonald-should-not-be-forgotten-nor-celebrated-101503">John A. Macdonald should not be forgotten, nor celebrated</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/churchill-and-india-imperial-chauvinism-left-a-bitter-legacy-36452">Churchill and India: imperial chauvinism left a bitter legacy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
For centuries, colonial powers have used starvation as a tool to control Indigenous populations and take over their land and wealth. A look back at two historic examples on two different continents.Vinita Srivastava, Host + Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientAteqah Khaki, Associate Producer, Don't Call Me ResilientLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2236172024-03-27T20:52:22Z2024-03-27T20:52:22ZUpdated U.S. law still leaves Indigenous communities in Canada out of repatriations from museums<p>A new amendment to the United States’ <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/12/13/2023-27040/native-american-graves-protection-and-repatriation-act-systematic-processes-for-disposition-or">Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)</a> came into effect in January 2024. The amended law now has some teeth to penalize museums who have thus far been <a href="https://theconversation.com/museums-are-returning-indigenous-human-remains-but-progress-on-repatriating-objects-is-slow-67378">very slow to engage</a> with Indigenous communities. It puts pressure on them to create and share inventories of the remains and artifacts they hold.</p>
<p>NAGPRA regulates the repatriation of Native American human remains, funerary and sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony from federally funded agencies to lineal descendants, Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian Organizations. </p>
<p>Museums must now get prior and informed consent from Indigenous communities before displaying and studying cultural objects. They must also <a href="https://theconversation.com/kennewick-man-will-be-reburied-but-quandaries-around-human-remains-wont-59219">incorporate Native American traditional knowledge</a> in the storage, treatment and handling of remains and cultural items. The act now gives museums and other federal agencies five years to “<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/12/13/2023-27040/native-american-graves-protection-and-repatriation-act-systematic-processes-for-disposition-or">consult and update inventories of human remains and associated funerary objects</a>.”</p>
<p>NAGPRA is an important step in a long history of Indigenous Peoples’ struggle to govern their heritage. However, its authority stops at the U.S. border.</p>
<p>We are First Nations historians and professors working in Canada. Our communities are also impacted by the loss of cultural patrimony to museums in the U.S. and the laws covering repatriation. Mary Jane Logan McCallum is a member of the Munsee Delaware Nation and Susan M. Hill is a Haudenosaunee citizen and resident of the Grand River Territory.</p>
<p>The U.S. law provides Indigenous communities in lands claimed by Canada no legal or financial support to repatriate human remains, funerary and sacred objects and objects of cultural patrimony held in U.S museums. These institutions <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/object-lives-and-global-histories-in-northern-north-america-products-9780228003984.php">hold many items</a> purchased or obtained by anthropologists and others from communities north of the border.</p>
<h2>NAGPRA</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.doi.gov/ocl/nagpra">NAGPRA became law in 1990</a>, after decades of lobbying from hundreds of Indigenous communities. The law states that museums and institutions receiving federal funding must produce detailed inventories of their collections and notify Native American tribes regarding items connected to their communities.</p>
<p>While those who called for the legislation were undoubtedly aware of the daunting task it would mandate, it is unlikely any would have predicted the extremely slow pace at which it has progressed in the three decades since.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, some museums have unilaterally decided to <a href="https://www.amnh.org/about/statement-new-nagpra-regulations">cover or close displays</a>. This is intended as a first step towards repatriation, however with ongoing limited resources, it is also a tactic to remain compliant with the law and avoid having funding cut.</p>
<p>The newly revised law still upholds inherent inequities in the relationships between Indigenous people and the agencies holding our materials. There is a lack of consistent and adequate funding for Indigenous communities wishing to repatriate items. There is also a lack of expert knowledge of the holdings of museums across the U.S. and human resources and infrastructure for long-term handling of repatriated objects. </p>
<p>In this context of ongoing inequity, museums can continue to hold Indigenous objects, but away from public view, and inadvertently create a narrative of history centred on white stories and white voices with little or no Indigenous content.</p>
<h2>Indigenous communities outside the U.S.</h2>
<p>For Indigenous communities outside of the U.S., the act does not compel museums and institutions to work in good faith to facilitate repatriations, regardless of how much evidence Indigenous communities are able to provide supporting the origins and sacredness of those items. </p>
<p>Indigenous communities in Canada are impacted by the law because these items are important to community-based research of material culture and its connection to intellectual, social and political histories of our nations.</p>
<p>Museums make platitudes about strong commitments to <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-as-museums-grapple-with-repatriation-a-cultural-historian-warns-of/">working with and educating about Indigenous Peoples and cultures</a>. However, they are still the ones choosing what gets displayed without consultation with Indigenous communities. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/repatriation-native-american-remains_n_64b97d77e4b0ad7b75f7dd15/amp">the burden is placed on tribes to make requests and pay for repatriation</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, the public loses important opportunities to learn about Indigenous Peoples and the colonial legacies that dispossessed them of the land upon which museums are built and the artifacts they house.</p>
<h2>Indigenous labour</h2>
<p>A further issue with NAGPRA is that it perpetuates an assumption that <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7109072">Indigenous labour should be discounted or free</a> and reasserts the inequity faced by Indigenous people when dealing with government.</p>
<p>Small, piecemeal grants covering costs like transportation are available through NAGPRA, but are restricted to federally recognized tribes in the U.S. and Indigenous people are responsible for finding and applying for them.</p>
<p>In Canada, community-based Indigenous scholars can apply for federal funding from the <a href="https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/index-eng.aspx">Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada</a>, however grant applications can be long and difficult, funds received are administered by universities and the grants often do not provide enough money.</p>
<p>Museums have full-time paid staff to make inventories and seek descendant individuals and communities. On the other hand, the Indigenous labour, knowledge and skill that goes into identifying and making meaning of lost cultural patrimony, often goes unpaid and unappreciated. </p>
<p>In addition, those doing this hard work <a href="https://histanthro.org/notes/decolonizing-or-recolonizing/">contend with the anti-Indigenous racism and white supremacy that dominate museums and other cultural institutions</a>. Some museums have prioritized hiring Indigenous staff, but they have not made structural changes that address ongoing systemic racism and colonialism nor made space for Indigenous people. As a result, several have left or <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/investigates/decolonizing-museums-museum-decolonization-part-2-investigations/">resigned in protest</a>. </p>
<p>In 2022, the <a href="https://museums.ca/uploaded/web/TRC_2022/Report-CMA-MovedToAction.pdf">Canadian Museums Association delivered a report</a> that acknowledged Indigenous cultural heritage professionals are often required to work for free or at a very low cost through one-off honorariums. It recommended that museums take on the legal and financial responsibility of new positions for those undertaking this work. We have yet to see this in practice. </p>
<p>The new U.S. regulations still do not address another form of theft from Indigenous people — this time not of Indigenous cultural patrimony, but of Indigenous labour. This should be considered by the <a href="https://osi-bis.ca/">Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools</a> as it considers a new federal legal framework that will govern the treatment of graves and burial sites.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>U.S. laws on the repatriation of Indigenous artifacts and remains still uphold inequities in the relationships between Indigenous people and the agencies holding their materials.Mary Jane Logan McCallum, Professor of History, University of WinnipegSusan M. Hill, Director of the Centre for Indigenous Studies; Associate Professor, Indigenous Studies and History, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2244862024-03-20T19:25:08Z2024-03-20T19:25:08ZHow a first-year university writing course for Indigenous students fostered skills and belonging<p>Academic writing courses have historically served as a kind of <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/gatekeepers-or-greeters-we-must-demystify-university-firstgen-students">gate-keeping measure</a>. In North America and other settler colonial societies, such courses have traditionally imparted skills and knowledge for succeeding in university as an <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-universities-relate-with-students-changed-in-the-past-century-but-a-duty-of-care-remains-211255">institution that has privileged Eurocentric forms of knowledge and served elite members of society</a>. </p>
<p>As anti-racist educators like George Sefa Dei and colleagues explain, settler colonialism “imposed colonial theories of knowledge that privileged and superiorized Eurocentric knowledges <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84201-7_3">and denied, denigrated and invalidated Indigenous knowledges …</a>.” Eurocentric educational ideology “continues to inform what is considered formal education in Canada.”</p>
<p>Since fall 2021, the University of Victoria (UVic) has offered a section of a foundational <a href="https://www.uvic.ca/humanities/atwp/index.php">introduction to writing course</a> specifically for Indigenous students. The general foundational writing course meets UVic’s <a href="https://www.uvic.ca/humanities/atwp/program/academic-writing-requirement/index.php">academic writing requirement</a>, so most students will take it in their first or second year.</p>
<p>We designed a specific academic writing course that introduces Indigenous students to the conventions of academic writing and the <a href="https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/iipj/article/view/7418">skills they need to navigate the institution</a>. When we identified <a href="https://teachanywhere.uvic.ca/teach-a-course/intended-learning-outcomes">“learning outcomes” for this course</a> — what we wanted the outcome of students having taken the course to be — among these, we envisioned that at the end of the course, students would feel a sense <a href="https://diversity.cornell.edu/belonging/sense-belonging#:%7E:text=Belonging%20is%20the%20feeling%20of,their%20authentic%20self%20to%20work">of belonging</a> at the university. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-taken-thousands-of-years-but-western-science-is-finally-catching-up-to-traditional-knowledge-90291">It's taken thousands of years, but Western science is finally catching up to Traditional Knowledge</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why a writing course?</h2>
<p>Loren Gaudet, the lead author of this story, is a rhetoric and writing studies white settler scholar who teaches first-year students writing. She focuses on teaching students to understand academic writing as a <a href="https://universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/from-combat-to-conversation-and-community-reimagining-university-writing/">scholarly conversation</a> they’re entering. </p>
<p>First-year writing courses provide a <a href="https://theconversation.com/writing-is-a-technology-that-restructures-thought-and-in-an-ai-age-universities-need-to-teach-it-more-219482">necessary introduction into the world of academic communication</a>. They equip students with the skills and confidence to add their voices to scholarly discourse.</p>
<p>By leveraging an existing academic writing course that meets the academic writing requirement, the writing course for Indigenous students provided a space to cultivate belonging for Indigenous students who have historically been and continue to be systematically <a href="https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/">excluded from post-secondary education</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation-universities-and-schools-must-acknowledge-how-colonial-education-has-reproduced-anti-indigenous-racism-123315">National Day for Truth & Reconciliation: Universities and schools must acknowledge how colonial education has reproduced anti-Indigenous racism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Creating the course</h2>
<p>Lydia Toorenburgh, the co-author of this story, worked with many Indigenous students through their studies and staff roles at UVic. Toorenburgh is a mixed settler and Bungi-Metis Two-Spirit person who has served as an Indigenous Resurgence Coordinator at UVic and is a PhD student in anthropology and Indigenous governance. </p>
<p>Toorenburgh learned many Indigenous students struggle to navigate post-secondary education because these institutions require skills, knowledge and ways of knowing that are not intuitive, not readily taught <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/jamerindieduc.54.1.0154">and stem from a colonial orientation</a>. </p>
<p>Toorenburgh wondered how to deliver to Indigenous students:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the <a href="https://www.sciedupress.com/journal/index.php/jnep/article/view/17306">knowledge of campus supports and confidence to access these supports</a>;</p></li>
<li><p>the skills needed to meet the academic and administrative demands of university;</p></li>
<li><p>the feeling that they belong on campus and are valued members of the community. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>All of these factors <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/jamerindieduc.54.1.0154">support Indigenous student success</a>. </p>
<p>Toorenburgh recognized the potential of the first-year writing course to deliver these learning outcomes because it is a requirement and a foundational skills course.</p>
<h2>‘Belonging’ as learning outcome</h2>
<p>By including belonging as a learning outcome, we signalled to ourselves and our students that building community was a valued part of our class time together — and an intentional and deliberate undertaking. We intentionally fostered belonging and community-building in varying ways. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-voices-new-grade-11-english-courses-can-support-reconciliation-and-resurgence-by-centring-indigenous-literature-199292">First Voices: New Grade 11 English courses can support reconciliation and resurgence by centring Indigenous literature</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We began every class with a “round”: we sat in a circle together and each person had a chance to share how they were feeling. In an institution that can often be unfriendly and is full of overt and covert <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/indigenous-students-systemic-barriers-higher-education">barriers for Indigenous students</a>, it is radical to create a class environment built on personal connection and belonging.</p>
<p>We brought representatives for Indigenous-specific supports into the classroom to meet the students and talk with them, rather than just offering links to resources <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320959979">in the syllabus</a> or course. In other words, we prioritized proximity and access to supports and relationships as essential factors in cultivating a sense of belonging for our students. </p>
<p>We also <a href="https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/labor/">adopted an anti-oppressive grading practice</a>. For us, this meant that student grades were <a href="https://journals.sfu.ca/dwr/index.php/dwr/article/view/975/873">determined by how many assignments the students completed over the term</a>. Students earned an “A” by <a href="https://www.uvic.ca/humanities/atwp/current-students/grading/index.php">exceeding expectations</a> and proposing their own additional projects. For example, two of our students created a podcast, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5L3Ux6InOxmYS9f0TzwQWs">“The Power of Indigenous Kinship</a>.” </p>
<h2>Student responses</h2>
<p>To measure the impact of this course, we surveyed the students at the end of each term. Ninety-one per cent of students strongly agreed or agreed that being in this course section with other Indigenous students made them feel more comfortable in the classroom. Ninety-three per cent strongly agreed or agreed that this made them more comfortable at UVic. </p>
<p>In response to the question: “What worked?” one student wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I loved having the community that was created in our classroom. I felt a lot of support and love, a very safe space for me.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>These results show that making time and space for belonging has had a direct impact on these Indigenous students.</p>
<h2>Dedicated spaces</h2>
<p>Spaces that are dedicated to <a href="https://www.univcan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/enhancing-indigenous-student-access-at-canadian-universities-june-2016accessible-1.pdf">Indigenous students enhance their learning and success</a>. <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/aboriginalpeoples/events/sfu-news--aboriginal-editions-/2022-aboriginal-peoples-supplement/new-burnaby-and-surrey-spaces-enhance-student-experience-work.html">Many institutions</a> are creating dedicated spaces like <a href="https://www.uvic.ca/services/indigenous/house/index.php">UVic’s First Peoples House</a>, where the writing course serving Indigenous students has been held, but we argue that we can extend this work beyond resource centres. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-decolonize-education-where-classes-are-held-matters-165937">Want to decolonize education? Where classes are held matters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A writing course for Indigenous students, as both a first-year and requirement-satisfying course, provides the opportunity <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-universities-need-homerooms-106299">for a homeroom-style class</a>. </p>
<p>Here, instructors can deliver essential curriculum (including practices to foster belonging), introduce students to key resources — and identify and intervene in student struggles. </p>
<p>Finally, we encourage collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff, instructors and administrators to be innovative. In so doing, it’s possible to work with present (and often restricted) resources to design and implement creative initiatives for decolonization.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s possible to work with restricted resources to design and implement creative initiatives to serve the particular needs of Indigenous students at university.Loren Gaudet, Assistant Teaching Professor, Academic and Technical Writing Program, University of VictoriaLydia A. I. Toorenburgh, PhD Student, Anthropology, University of VictoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2257422024-03-20T15:40:03Z2024-03-20T15:40:03ZIndigenous consultation is key to the Ring of Fire becoming Canada’s economic superpower<p>Many of the 30,000 attendees of the March 2024 <a href="https://www.pdac.ca/convention">Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention</a> harbour a “wild desire” to extract the mineral riches of <a href="https://www.wsj.com/story/fight-heats-up-over-canadas-ring-of-fire-where-67-billion-of-rare-minerals-is-buried-07f56a23">Canada’s $67 billion Ring of Fire</a>, in the words of Johnny Cash’s well-known song of the <a href="https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/johnny-cash/ring-of-fire">same name</a>.</p>
<p>While some might be attracted by the desire to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/ring-of-fire-trillion-dollar-claim-1.6778551">make money</a>, others could be driven by concern for our planet and the belief that the region’s minerals can help reduce carbon emissions and support a <a href="https://www.pentictonherald.ca/spare_news/article_58422893-2145-5a9d-a077-b2410dee4b4a.html">just energy transition</a>.</p>
<p>As some Indigenous groups have pointed out, however, the construction of roads and mining in the Ring of Fire represents a significant disruption to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ring-of-fire-mining-may-not-benefit-first-nations-as-hoped-1.1374849">traditional ways of life and fragile ecosystems</a>. </p>
<p>Some environmental groups have argued that mining activities in the region could result in a net increase of carbon emissions due to the removal or severe degradation of the vital <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/06/canada-mining-push-puts-major-carbon-sink-and-indigenous-lands-in-the-crosshairs/">carbon sinks sustained by peat lands and trees</a>. </p>
<p>Despite the significant economic and environmental impacts surrounding the development of the Ring of Fire, this focus overlooks another crucial issue: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14662043.2017.1422418">the potential for Indigenous/non-Indigenous conflict in northern Ontario</a>.</p>
<h2>The importance of Indigenous treaties</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17449057.2022.2157105">recent study</a> on the prospects for Indigenous/non-Indigenous conflict in relation to Québec’s <a href="https://www.environnement.gouv.qc.ca/communiques_en/2012/c20120205-nord.htm">Plan Nord</a> has compelling parallels with Ontario’s <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontarios-ring-fire">Ring of Fire</a>. </p>
<p>Both regions are located in the mineral-rich and ecologically sensitive northern reaches of the provinces that are home to numerous Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>Like Ontario, Québec’s Indigenous groups have a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/oka-crisis-timeline-summer-1990-1.5631229">fraught history with government interventions</a> and are often suspicious of plans to develop natural resources. </p>
<p>Our study reveals that if an Indigenous group has signed a modern treaty, there is a reduced risk of conflict related to proposed resource developments since there’s less uncertainty surrounding land tenure rights. Given the fundamental importance of land to Indigenous Peoples, threats to these rights — perceived or real — represent an understandable source of grievance that can spark conflict.</p>
<p>Although there will likely be procurement of services from local Indigenous communities and companies in the Ring of Fire region, the vast majority of its development activities will attract non-Indigenous workers and businesses to the area. </p>
<p>Our study also demonstrates that an influx of non-Indigenous workers can produce tensions with Indigenous groups that can rapidly escalate and lead to contentious interventions by the RCMP.</p>
<h2>Uncritical media coverage</h2>
<p>Given the potential economic windfalls associated with the development of the Ring of Fire, it’s easy to assume support among local residents. Politicians at all levels have called for the rapid development of the region as part of a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-ev-battery-materials-plant-1.6519260">broader investment strategy</a> to cast Canada as a critical minerals leader.</p>
<p>These political leaders highlight the dangers of climate change to encourage companies and consumers to embrace energy sources that reduce carbon emissions. In 2020, the Canadian government announced its <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/innovation/greening-government/strategy.html">Greening Government Strategy</a> aimed at achieving net-zero operations by 2050. </p>
<p>Reducing carbon emissions is also a key element of Canada’s <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-minerals-in-canada/canadian-critical-minerals-strategy.html">Critical Minerals Strategy</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, media coverage of political pronouncements regarding mineral supply chains is often uncritical.</p>
<p>Another <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2021.2020663">recent study</a> of ours reveals that media coverage in Canada in both French and English rarely includes the perspectives of Indigenous people. Instead, reporters prefer to focus on the more sensational aspects of roadblocks and standoffs, which tend to marginalize the position of Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<p>Little consideration is given to assessing the complex impacts of natural resource development projects on Indigenous communities. </p>
<p>Take the case of the quip by Ontario Premier Doug Ford that “<a href="https://www.timminspress.com/news/local-news/you-will-see-me-on-that-bulldozer">you will see me on that bulldozer</a>” to underscore his government’s pledge to build road access to the Ring of Fire.</p>
<p>Although <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2021-0033">roads can certainly generate positive impacts for local communities</a> (for example, greater mobility and connectivity; better access to public services such as health care; lower prices for consumer goods), they can also lead to negative outcomes (for example, they can degrade the natural environment, they’re expensive to build and they can serve as a route for criminal networks). </p>
<p>Roads also lead to <a href="https://irpp.org/research-studies/affordable-safe-transportation-options-remote-communities/">greater inflows of people in these previously remote communities</a>. Federal and provincial environmental impact assessments of the proposed <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/northern-road-link-project">Northern Road Link</a> to the Ring of Fire are already underway, and there’s reason to believe that a regulatory green light could dramatically transform northern Ontario’s demographics — and thus increase probabilities for future conflict.</p>
<h2>Three recommendations</h2>
<p>What can be done to prevent conflict in the Ring of Fire? We propose three recommendations.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Respect existing treaties with Indigenous communities in the region. Where appropriate, negotiate side agreements that align with modern legal approaches to land use and property rights, thereby reducing uncertainty. Canadian governments could justify the investment in political capital to secure these agreements with Indigenous groups given the importance they’ve placed on promoting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (<a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/declaration/index.html#:%7E:text=The%20Action%20Plan-,The%20United%20Nations%20Declaration%20on%20the%20Rights%20of%20Indigenous%20Peoples,Assent%20and%20came%20into%20force">UNDRIP</a>) and <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/innovation/greening-government/greening-gov-fund.html">reducing carbon emissions</a> to facilitate a just energy transition.</p></li>
<li><p>The Ontario government should begin a new round of consultations with Indigenous communities and stakeholders that are inclusive, transparent, extensive and responsive. The previous round of consultations were <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/ring-of-fire-first-nations-queens-park/">criticized for being rushed and perfunctory</a>. Truly consultative engagement would reduce grievances and signal to the world that sub-national governments can be global leaders in forging positive relationships with Indigenous Peoples.</p></li>
<li><p>Although the environmental impact of road construction is already mediated by regulatory <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/preparing-environmental-assessments">impact assessment legislation</a>, the effects of an influx of workers must be addressed. Federal and provincial governments — together with input from relevant Indigenous groups and municipalities — should revise existing <a href="https://wcsringoffire.ca/regional-planning-new/">urban planning</a> and <a href="https://wcsringoffire.ca/communities/">zoning by-laws</a> so that hamlets and small towns that are sure to grow do so in an economically, socially, and politically sustainable fashion. Incorporating all levels of governments in producing thoughtful urban planning measures would go a long way toward mitigating the negative impacts associated with increased migration to the region. </p></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-environment-minister-is-headed-for-trouble-if-ottawa-doesnt-correct-course-on-the-ring-of-fire-175616">Canada's environment minister is headed for trouble if Ottawa doesn't correct course on the Ring of Fire</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Critical minerals can serve as Canada’s <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487522452/corporate-social-responsibility-and-canada-and-x2019s-role-in-africa-and-x2019s-extractive-sectors/">superpower</a>, generating economic benefits domestically and boosting its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12472">reputation as an environmental leader</a> in the just energy transition. </p>
<p>But if Canada fails <a href="https://opencanada.org/resources-and-canadas-first-nations/">in the governance</a> of the Ring of Fire, and ignores the real prospects for serious conflict around the projects, these critical minerals could become Canada’s kryptonite by jeopardizing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples and tarnishing its <a href="https://opencanada.org/canadas-long-legacy-of-multilateral-sustainable-development/">reputation abroad</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225742/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Grant has received grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Badriyya Yusuf has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She is a fellow for the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) Digital Policy Hub.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dimitrios Panagos has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew I. Mitchell receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Ontario’s Ring of Fire could make Canada a minerals superpower, but Indigenous consultation is essential to ensure doing so does not harm reconciliation or Canada’s global reputation.Andrew Grant, Associate Professor of Political Studies, Queen's University, OntarioBadriyya Yusuf, PhD Candidate/Researcher in International Relations, Queen's University, OntarioDimitrios Panagos, Associate Professor, Political Philosophy, Memorial University of NewfoundlandMatthew I. Mitchell, Associate Professor, Political Studies, University of SaskatchewanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2257802024-03-18T23:20:44Z2024-03-18T23:20:44Z‘Care is in everything we do and everything we are’: the work of Indigenous women needs to be valued<p>It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group.</p>
<p>Working with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner’s office, we worked with <a href="https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/caring-about-care">more than 100 Indigenous women across</a> Australia to talk about their interpretations and experiences of care. </p>
<p>“Mainstream” definitions and measures of care do not include the vast and complex ways care is defined by First Nations women. This includes care not only for people, but for communities, Country and culture. </p>
<p>It means important work goes unrecognised, uncompensated or misunderstood, leading to the marginalisation of this crucial work and the women who do it.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/definitions-are-often-very-western-this-excludes-us-our-research-shows-how-to-boost-indigenous-participation-in-stem-223465">'Definitions are often very western. This excludes us.' Our research shows how to boost Indigenous participation in STEM</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Redefining the concept</h2>
<p>The Australian Human Rights Commission’s <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-social-justice/publications/wiyi-yani-u-thangani">Wiyi Yani U Thangani</a> report illuminates the crucial importance of the care provided by First Nations women. Our work follows and builds on this report.</p>
<p>An Indigenous woman from the East Kimberley told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Well, care for me, as an Indigenous person, is not just caring for your family, it’s caring for your Country.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another woman from the ACT told us care is a disposition, and a means of respecting culture and heritage: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[Care is] enveloped in everything we do and everything we are and everything about where we are going and paying homage again to our ancestors and who’s come before us. That’s what care is.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This notion of care as a strength is an important insight from the women in this study. However, unpaid care is often unrecognised and undervalued in Australian policy, which while prioritising getting women into employment, has neglected funding and supporting the existing unpaid care work that women do. </p>
<p>What is evident from our study is that Indigenous women want more support for the care work they do, as well as better care services largely within Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to assist them in doing it.</p>
<h2>Care has consequences</h2>
<p>Women frequently linked their demanding care loads to ongoing colonisation, which continues to create damage to the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. A woman from greater Sydney said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s colonial […] It’s just not being able to do things in the way we should be doing them […] because of the colonial structure and things like that. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This includes the impacts of colonisation on gender roles, child removals, incarceration rates, poor health, poverty, racism and more. </p>
<p>It also includes the impacts of state institutions set up to “care”, but which are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/01/coalition-hails-success-of-cashless-welfare-card-and-says-kalgoorlie-will-be-next-site">often uncaring</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/first-nations-children-are-still-being-removed-at-disproportionate-rates-cultural-assumptions-about-parenting-need-to-change-169090">may be violent and harmful</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, this requires Indigenous people’s care to heal, adding extra demands on existing care loads. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/first-nations-women-dont-always-access-health-care-after-head-injuries-from-family-violence-heres-why-206084">First Nations women don't always access health care after head injuries from family violence. Here's why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Many of the women interviewed in this study were also tired, and often carers needed care too. Some were in, or had been through, periods of utter exhaustion and illness due to trying to carry their stressful care load. A Central Australian woman told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s hard. It’s draining. Every day just exhausted. Sometimes there’s days when I just can’t keep up with it. And I don’t want to listen, just go away. But those are days when they really need help. So yeah, it’s very exhausting.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Time is money, but no one gets paid</h2>
<p>Our research also included a time-use survey, which showed that all unpaid care activities accounted for, on average, 62% of our participant women’s time on a usual weekday (about 14.8 hours per day on average), with 48% of their time (around 11.5 hours) spent caring for others and/or caring for Country and culture specifically. </p>
<p>Because (lost) remuneration for this work was raised as a crucial point by Indigenous women during our interviews, we also calculated the approximate market value of this unpaid care work through using hourly award rates for corresponding care activities (sometimes called the replacement method, which understands the cost of this work in the paid market). </p>
<p>The estimated economic value of this work ranged between $223.01 and $457.39 per day (representing an estimated annual salary of between $81,175.64 and $118,921.40). This estimation is conservative as it does not include the multitasking of more than one care activity at the one time.</p>
<p>The estimation raises important questions as to what is owed to Indigenous women, not just because the economy free-rides on unpaid care, but also because much of this care work mops up the mess of colonisation. </p>
<p>Many of the women we spoke to also talked about how unpaid care and paid employment interact. </p>
<p>In addition to their unpaid care roles, most women in paid employment in this study had roles in the community sector which put them at the frontline of caring for community. They saw this work as part of their broader commitment to supporting their families, communities and advancing Indigenous peoples. It is therefore hard to draw a line for these women between paid and unpaid work, meaning it is rare to be able to “switch off”. </p>
<p>Often, employers didn’t realise the amount of unpaid care of this type women do in <a href="https://theconversation.com/during-naidoc-week-many-indigenous-women-are-assigned-unpaid-work-new-research-shows-how-prevalent-this-is-in-the-workplace-208454">their paid work roles</a>, even though this actually makes their paid employment successful. Women are also not paid adequately for these valuable skills.</p>
<h2>A new approach is needed</h2>
<p>Our research follows generations of Indigenous women who have long shown the strength of care, but also looks at how settler society makes this work harder. </p>
<p>This research underlines the importance of a new approach to supporting Indigenous women, in which their voices, ideas and needs are central, and where care is placed at the heart. This is different to just “fitting” Indigenous care into various settler models, policies and measures already in circulation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225780/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elise Klein receives funding from the Gender Institute at the Australian National University. She is a member of the Anti-Poverty Centre, the Accountable Income Management Network and a Co-Director of the Australian Basic Income Lab.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chay Brown receives funding from the Office of Gender Equity and Diversity at the Northern Territory Government. She is affiliated with ANU, Tangentyere Council, and Her Story Mparntwe. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kayla Glynn-Braun is a First Nation Wiradjuri Women whom is a project coordinator at The Equality Institute and Co-Foundered Her Story Consulting and lead on U Right Sis? project, Indigenous Knowledge</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janet Hunt and Zoe Staines do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To First Nations women, ‘care’ is more broad and all-encompassing than traditional definitions. We need a new approach to capturing, and appreciating, their work, paid and unpaid.Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National UniversityChay Brown, Managing Director, Her Story Consulting & Postdoctoral fellow, Australian National UniversityJanet Hunt, Honorary Associate Professor, CAEPR, Australian National UniversityKayla Glynn-Braun, Director of Her Story, project coordinator at The Equality Institute, lead on U Right Sis? project, Indigenous KnowledgeZoe Staines, Senior Lecturer, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2251562024-03-15T12:31:02Z2024-03-15T12:31:02ZHow ‘Dune’ became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement − and a rallying cry for the new science of ecology<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581996/original/file-20240314-18-4kv29v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C26%2C5983%2C3967&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Oregon's Umpqua Dunes inspired the desert planet Arrakis in Frank Herbert's 'Dune.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sand-dunes-at-umpqua-dunes-oregon-dunes-national-recreation-news-photo/1150491467?adppopup=true">VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/AU8/dune/">Dune</a>,” widely considered one of the <a href="https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/g39358054/best-sci-fi-books/">best sci-fi novels of all time</a>, continues to influence how writers, artists and inventors envision the future. </p>
<p>Of course, there are Denis Villeneuve’s visually stunning films, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160419/">Dune: Part One</a>” (2021) and “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15239678/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_7_nm_1_q_dune">Dune: Part Two</a>” (2024).</p>
<p>But Frank Herbert’s masterpiece also helped Afrofuturist novelist <a href="https://www.salon.com/2015/08/13/dune_climate_fiction_pioneer_the_ecological_lessons_of_frank_herberts_sci_fi_masterpiece_were_ahead_of_its_time/">Octavia Butler</a> imagine a future of conflict amid environmental catastrophe; it inspired <a href="https://www.inverse.com/article/46547-elon-musk-is-running-tesla-spacex-like-the-plot-of-dune">Elon Musk</a> to build SpaceX and Tesla and push humanity toward the stars and a greener future; and it’s hard not to see parallels in <a href="https://screenrant.com/star-wars-dune-story-concepts-ideas-lucas-copy/#people-survive-the-desert-the-same-way">George Lucas’</a> “Star Wars” franchise, especially their fascination with desert planets and giant worms.</p>
<p>And yet when Herbert sat down in 1963 to start writing “Dune,” he wasn’t thinking about how to leave Earth behind. He was thinking about how to save it. </p>
<p>Herbert wanted to tell a story about the environmental crisis on our own planet, a world driven to the edge of ecological catastrophe. Technologies that had been inconceivable just 50 years prior had put the world at the edge of nuclear war and the environment on the brink of collapse; massive industries were sucking wealth from the ground and spewing toxic fumes into the sky.</p>
<p>When the book was published, these themes were front and center for readers, too. After all, they were living in the wake of both the Cuban missile crisis and the publication of “<a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/story-silent-spring">Silent Spring</a>,” conservationist Rachel Carson’s landmark study of pollution and its threat to the environment and human health.</p>
<p>“Dune” soon became a beacon for the fledgling environmental movement and a rallying flag for the new science of ecology.</p>
<h2>Indigenous wisdoms</h2>
<p>Though the term “ecology” had been coined almost a century earlier, the first textbook on ecology was <a href="https://www.bioexplorer.net/history_of_biology/ecology/">not written until 1953</a>, and the field was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/search?dropmab=false&endDate=1966-01-01&query=ecology&sort=best&startDate=1963-01-01">rarely mentioned</a> in newspapers or magazines at the time. Few readers had heard of the emerging science, and even fewer knew what it suggested about the future of our planet. </p>
<p>While studying “Dune” for a book I’m writing on the history of ecology, I was surprised to learn that Herbert didn’t learn about ecology as a student or as a journalist. </p>
<p>Instead, he was inspired to explore ecology by the conservation practices of the tribes of the Pacific Northwest. He learned about them from two friends in particular. </p>
<p>The first was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Ternyik">Wilbur Ternyik</a>, a descendant of Chief Coboway, the Clatsop leader who welcomed explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark when <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Lewis-and-Clark-Expedition">their expedition</a> reached the West Coast in 1805. The second, <a href="https://funerals.coop/obituaries/2018-obituaries/july-2018/howard-hansen.html">Howard Hansen</a>, was an art teacher and oral historian of the Quileute tribe.</p>
<p>Ternyik, who was also an expert field ecologist, took Herbert on a tour of Oregon’s dunes in 1958. There, he explained his work to build massive dunes of sand using beach grasses and other deep-rooted plants in order to prevent the sands from blowing into the nearby town of Florence – <a href="https://www.earth.com/earthpedia-articles/terraforming/">a terraforming technology</a> described at length in “Dune.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Beach grasses planted in sand dunes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582000/original/file-20240314-24-jn6atf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582000/original/file-20240314-24-jn6atf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582000/original/file-20240314-24-jn6atf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582000/original/file-20240314-24-jn6atf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582000/original/file-20240314-24-jn6atf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582000/original/file-20240314-24-jn6atf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582000/original/file-20240314-24-jn6atf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beach grasses and other plants help secure the sand dunes of Oregon’s coasts.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dune-grass-along-the-coast-of-oregon-usa-news-photo/687657578?adppopup=true">Edwin Remsburg/VW Pics via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As Ternyik explains <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/3147/Turnyik.USDA_SCS.DunesManual.pdf?1710454532">in a handbook</a> he wrote for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, his work in Oregon was part of an effort to heal landscapes scarred by European colonization, especially the large river jetties built by early settlers. </p>
<p>These structures disturbed coastal currents and created vast expanses of sand, turning stretches of the lush Pacific Northwest landscape into desert. This scenario is echoed in “Dune,” where the novel’s setting, <a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dune-planet-climate-plausible-science-sandworms">the planet Arrakis</a>, was similarly laid to waste by its first colonizers.</p>
<p>Hansen, who became the godfather to Herbert’s son, had closely studied the equally drastic impact logging had on the homelands of the <a href="https://quileutenation.org/history/">Quileute people</a> in coastal Washington. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/23/opinion/culture/dune-frank-herbert-native-americans.html">He encouraged Herbert</a> to examine ecology carefully, giving him a copy of Paul B. Sears’ “<a href="https://archive.org/details/wherethereislife0000paul/page/n7/mode/2up">Where There is Life</a>,” from which <a href="https://www.oreilly.com/tim/herbert/ch03.html">Herbert gathered</a> one of his favorite quotes: “The highest function of science is to give us an understanding of consequences.”</p>
<p><a href="https://screenrant.com/dune-movie-2021-fremen-origin-explained/">The Fremen</a> of “Dune,” who live in the deserts of Arrakis and carefully manage its ecosystem and wildlife, embody these teachings. In the fight to save their world, they expertly blend ecological science and Indigenous practices. </p>
<h2>Treasures hidden in the sand</h2>
<p>But the work that had the most profound impact on “Dune” was Leslie Reid’s 1962 ecological study “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Sociology_of_Nature.html?id=Ag22AAAAIAAJ">The Sociology of Nature</a>.”</p>
<p>In it, Reid explained ecology and ecosystem science for a popular audience, illustrating the complex interdependence of all creatures within the environment. </p>
<p>“The more deeply ecology is studied,” Reid writes, “the clearer does it become that mutual dependence is a governing principle, that animals are bound to one another by unbreakable ties of dependence.”</p>
<p>In the pages of Reid’s book, Herbert found a model for the ecosystem of Arrakis in a surprising place: the guano islands of Peru. As Reid explains, the accumulated bird droppings found on these islands was an ideal fertilizer. Home to mountains of manure described as a new “<a href="https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/27727">white gold</a>” and one of the most valuable substances on Earth, the guano islands became in the late 1800s ground zero for a series of resource wars between Spain and several of its former colonies, including Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador. </p>
<p>At the heart of the plot of “Dune” is a battle for control of the “spice,” a priceless resource. Harvested from the sands of the desert planet, it’s both a luxurious flavoring for food and a hallucinogenic drug that allows some people to bend space, making interstellar travel possible. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pencil drawing of two men standing in a sea of birds." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581978/original/file-20240314-23-fbl8im.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581978/original/file-20240314-23-fbl8im.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581978/original/file-20240314-23-fbl8im.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581978/original/file-20240314-23-fbl8im.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581978/original/file-20240314-23-fbl8im.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581978/original/file-20240314-23-fbl8im.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581978/original/file-20240314-23-fbl8im.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the 19th century, guano from Peru was a valuable commodity used for fertilizer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-illustration-of-birds-and-guano-on-an-island-off-the-news-photo/615336378?adppopup=true">Corbis Historical/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is some irony in the fact that Herbert cooked up the idea of spice from bird droppings. But he was fascinated by Reid’s careful account of the unique and efficient ecosystem that produced a valuable – albeit noxious – commodity.</p>
<p>As the ecologist explains, frigid currents in the Pacific Ocean push nutrients to the surface of nearby waters, helping photosynthetic plankton thrive. These support an astounding population of fish that feed hordes of birds, along with whales. </p>
<p>In early drafts of “Dune,” Herbert combined all of these stages into the life cycle of the giant sandworms, football field-sized monsters that prowl the desert sands and devour everything in their path. </p>
<p>Herbert imagines each of these terrifying creatures beginning as small, photosynthetic plants that grow into larger “sand trout.” Eventually, they become immense sandworms that churn the desert sands, spewing spice onto the surface.</p>
<p>In both the book and “Dune: Part One,” soldier Gurney Halleck recites a cryptic verse that comments on this inversion of marine life and arid regimes of extraction: “For they shall suck of the abundance of the seas and of the treasure hid in the sand.”</p>
<h2>‘Dune’ revolutions</h2>
<p>After “Dune” was published in 1965, the environmental movement eagerly embraced it.</p>
<p>Herbert spoke at Philadelphia’s first Earth Day in 1970, and in the first edition of the <a href="https://wholeearth.info/">Whole Earth Catalog</a> – a famous DIY manual and bulletin for environmental activists – “Dune” was advertised with the tagline: “The metaphor is ecology. The theme revolution.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of beareded man sitting in a chair and posing for the camera." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581973/original/file-20240314-20-zaaj5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581973/original/file-20240314-20-zaaj5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581973/original/file-20240314-20-zaaj5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581973/original/file-20240314-20-zaaj5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581973/original/file-20240314-20-zaaj5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581973/original/file-20240314-20-zaaj5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581973/original/file-20240314-20-zaaj5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Frank Herbert spoke at Philadelphia’s first Earth Day in 1970.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/FrankHerbert/c8e4e5b356c240aaac0b6ff27fe17c33/photo?Query=frank%20herbert&mediaType=photo&sortBy=creationdatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the opening of Denis Villeneuve’s first adaptation, “Dune,” Chani, an indigenous Fremen played by Zendaya, asks a question that anticipates the violent conclusion of the second film: “Who will our next oppressors be?”</p>
<p>The immediate cut to a sleeping Paul Atreides, the white protagonist who’s played by Timothée Chalamet, drives the pointed anti-colonial message home like a knife. In fact, both of Villeneuve’s movies expertly elaborate upon the anti-colonial themes of Herbert’s novels. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the edge of their environmental critique is blunted. But Villeneuve has <a href="https://theplaylist.net/dune-messiah-denis-villeneuve-says-florence-pugh-anya-taylor-joy-give-him-the-will-do-another-one-20240311/">suggested that</a> he might also adapt “<a href="https://prhinternationalsales.com/book/?isbn=9780593098233">Dune Messiah</a>” for his next film in the series – a novel in which the ecological damage to Arrakis is glaringly obvious.</p>
<p>I hope Herbert’s prescient ecological warning, which resonated so powerfully with readers back in the 1960s, will be unsheathed in “Dune 3.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225156/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Devin Griffiths does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When Frank Herbert sat down in 1963 to start writing ‘Dune,’ he wasn’t thinking about how to leave Earth behind. He was thinking about how to save it.Devin Griffiths, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246172024-03-06T20:42:39Z2024-03-06T20:42:39ZCanada should provide Indigenous languages with constitutional protection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580006/original/file-20240305-22-2727ek.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=104%2C65%2C4239%2C2826&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A book written in Inuktitut. A lack of concrete constitutional guarantees, community credibility and long-term funding has rendered the government's efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages largely ineffective.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Funding for the Canadian government’s legislation supporting Indigenous languages is set to expire in 2024, and so far, there has been no serious mention of extending or renewing the funding in Parliament.</p>
<p>In 2019, the federal government passed <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/charter-charte/c91.html">Bill C-91, An Act respecting Indigenous languages</a>, which aimed to revitalize and strengthen Indigenous languages in Canada and recognize their historic oppression. The government promised to allocate <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/beyond-94/enact-an-aboriginal-language-act">$334 million</a> over a five-year pay period.</p>
<p>As we approach the end of that funding period, doubts and pessimism surrounding the legislation’s efficacy continue to abound. And the lack of concrete constitutional guarantees, community credibility and long-term funding has rendered the government’s efforts largely ineffective. </p>
<h2>Legislation faces criticisms</h2>
<p>Bill C-91 was developed by the Department of Canadian Heritage in collaboration with the <a href="https://afn.ca/">Assembly of First Nations</a>, <a href="https://www.itk.ca/">Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK)</a> and the <a href="https://mnoc.ca/english/home/">Métis Nation of Canada</a>. </p>
<p>The purpose of the legislation was to affirm Indigenous Peoples’ rights through language preservation, recognized by <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-13.html">section 35 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a>. However, it has <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/CHPC/Brief/BR10365995/br-external/RichezEmmanuelle-e.pdf">faced criticism</a> from the beginning. </p>
<p>The ITK labelled the bill <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/itk-reverses-support-c-29-national-reconciliation-council-1.6669809">“colonial,”</a> saying it was largely unreliable with no mechanism to guarantee the allocation of funding by the federal government. </p>
<p>The organization withdrew from collaborating on the legislation, and <a href="https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/itk-slams-federal-indigenous-languages-bill/">ITK president Natan Obed said</a>: “the absence of any Inuit-specific content suggests this bill is, yet another legislative initiative developed behind closed doors by a colonial system and then imposed on Inuit.” </p>
<p>Experts have also criticized the legislation for <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/CHPC/Brief/BR10365995/br-external/RichezEmmanuelle-e.pdf">not clearly outlining Indigenous language rights</a>. Despite promoting the revitalization of Indigenous languages through community consultation, Bill C-91 lacks substantive guidelines on how to conduct Indigenous consultations for improving language initiative programs in Canada.</p>
<p>As a consequence, the legislation remains largely performative, and serves more to reconcile settler guilt and complicity for past linguistic oppression of Indigenous people, rather than create any substantive programs for Indigenous language revitalization. </p>
<h2>Inadequate funding</h2>
<p>Garry Anaquod from the <a href="https://www.nccie.ca/story/saskatchewan-indigenous-cultural-center/">Saskatchewan Indigenous Culture Centre</a>, said that even though Indigenous language programs are better funded than in past years, it is still <a href="https://www.mbcradio.com/2021/11/indigenous-languages-need-to-thrive-but-funding-isnt-there-say-language-educators#:%7E:text=The%20federal%20Indigenous%20Languages%20Act,that%20help%20Indigenous%20languages%20thrive.">“never quite enough.”</a> Anaquod argues that in order to revitalize Indigenous languages, funding needs to cover the wages of Indigenous language teachers, the production of Indigenous dictionaries and the extension of Indigenous immersion programs across Canada. </p>
<p>The 2017-2019 Indigenous Languages legislation promised to allocate <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/beyond-94/enact-an-aboriginal-language-act">89.9 million dollars</a>. By comparison, Bill C-91’s 334 million dollars certainly seems like a step up. </p>
<p>Even so, funding remains <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/chpc/meeting-147/evidence">scarce and insufficient</a> for wide-scale Indigenous language revitalization. Indigenous language programs across Canada still report experiencing financial undercuts and <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2019/05/09/how-canadas-proposed-indigenous-languages-act-fails-to-deliver/">institutional barriers</a> when it comes to applying for government funding. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.felcanada.org/initiatives-in-canada">Language Initiative Programs</a> are community programs, advocacy groups and non-profit organizations devoted to strengthening Indigenous languages in Canada. Currently, there are 33 prominent programs in Canada listed by the <a href="https://www.felcanada.org/">Foundation of Endangered Languages Canada</a>. </p>
<p>Examples include The <a href="https://bfcc.edu/about-us/">Blackfeet Community College</a> which provides access to educational programs, resources and skills training alongside the promotion and practice of Blackfeet culture and language. Another one is the <a href="https://www.gwichin.ca/">Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute</a> which holds annual language immersion programs to teach the Gwich'in language while providing training for traditional skills such as hunting, fishing, medicine and survival. </p>
<p>Online software such as <a href="https://www.atlas-ling.ca/">Algonquian Linguistic Atlas</a> provides a linguistic atlas of Algonquin languages in Canada. The above mentioned Language Initiative Programs are all prospective candidates for Bill C-91’s funding parameters.</p>
<h2>Overcoming institutional barriers</h2>
<p>In addition to insufficient funding, the legislation provides the government with a greater say than Indigenous communities when it comes to allocating money. Funding must be approved by the Ministry of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism. </p>
<p>Funding provided through Bill C-91 is on an application basis and must be approved by the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/funding/aboriginal-peoples.html">Department of Canadian Heritage</a>. While funding is conjointly reviewed alongside <a href="https://commissionforindigenouslanguages.ca/">The Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages</a> (an independent commission which aims to support Indigenous languages initiatives), the Government of Canada retains a heavy onus on how much and how long funding will sustain these language initiatives. </p>
<p>This can possibly lead to an asymmetrical version of language reconciliation as Indigenous organizations must reconcile themselves to the Crown’s power to obtain funding for the desired language program. The current government funding regime must be scrutinized as practical and bureaucratic constraints limit program output and mute the redistribution of financial instruments to support Indigenous languages and heritage.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VaQIlVJnsys?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A video on how to pronounce phrases from some Indigenous languages.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Future Indigenous language legislation must remove such barriers when distributing funding for language program initiatives. The government must work with Indigenous community leaders and language organizations on an equal footing to determine how and where money is allocated. </p>
<p>While the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has traditionally protected language rights in Canada, it has been drawn to favour official languages English and French. Indigenous languages have been relegated to receiving piecemeal support from small grant programs and excluded from receiving similar constitutional protections.</p>
<p>Since the Charter was implemented in 1982, it has gone through <a href="https://dsq-sds.org/index.php/dsq/article/view/3032/3060">several revisions</a>. Granting Indigenous languages constitutional protections under <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art25.html">section 25</a> of the Charter may be a starting point. That could provide a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3053790">strong legal foundation</a> to provide meaningful support that can preserve and revitalize Indigenous languages.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224617/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Di Rao does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Critics have said the government’s efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages are colonial and do not engage with Indigenous Peoples on an equal footing.Di Rao, PhD Student, Political Science, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2227032024-02-29T18:44:21Z2024-02-29T18:44:21ZTransportation equity: First Nation communities urgently need solutions now<p>In the vast expanse of Canada’s diverse landscapes, a critical issue persists, impacting the lives of Indigenous Peoples: the lack of safe and accessible transportation. </p>
<p>This challenge is not merely about mobility. Intertwined with this narrative is <a href="https://highwayoftears.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Highway-of-Tears-Symposium-Recommendations-Report-January-2013.pdf">alarming rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women</a>, girls and two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual and all other sexual orientations and genders (MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ or MMMIWG2S+).</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/">The Reclaiming Power and Place</a></em> (RPP) report released in 2019 by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls shone a spotlight onto the pervasive violence and vulnerabilities disproportionately affecting Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit individuals. Among its 231 Calls for Justice was the call to immediately tackle limited mobility in rural and remote areas.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://actioncanada.ca/publications/improving-the-intercommunity-mobility-of-first-nation-peoples-in-canada-a-response-to-call-for-justice-4-8/">new report</a>, <em>Improving the Intercommunity Mobility of First Nation Peoples in Canada</em>, responds to this call.</p>
<p>I authored this report with my collaborators, Alexandra Nychuk, André Moreau, Dale Arcand-Morin and Deanna Starr. We are <a href="https://actioncanada.ca/community/#this-years-fellows">research fellows</a> and part of an all-Indigenous task force <a href="https://actioncanada.ca/about/">with Action Canada</a>, an independent, non-partisan and non-profit organization and charity. </p>
<p>Alongside the <a href="https://ppforum.ca/academy/action-canada-fellowship/">Public Policy Forum</a>, Action Canada delivers a 10-month leadership program that aims to enhance emerging leaders’ understanding of the country and public policy choices for the future. Our group is tackling the problem of MMMIWG2S+ and mobility because we see this as a pervasive issue — and we think the potential exists to influence real change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-needs-a-national-public-transportation-system-heres-why-161786">Canada needs a national public transportation system — here's why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Profound impacts</h2>
<p>A lack of mobility and transportation has a profound impact on the safety of Indigenous women and girls.</p>
<p>Transportation, or a lack of it, is a symbol of historical injustices. It is a continuation of the colonial legacy that sought to <a href="https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Clearing-the-Plains">expropriate Indigenous Peoples from land partly by</a> constraining their abilities to move freely.</p>
<p>In the case of First Nations communities, this is a structural issue. It’s deeply rooted in policies that threaten <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">First Nations’ inherent rights</a>. The lack of transportation has far-reaching consequences, affecting access to essential services, economic opportunities, social-cultural ties and educational pursuits.</p>
<h2>Termination of Greyhound service</h2>
<p>The termination <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/greyhound-canada-1.6025276">of Greyhound Canada</a> that served communities for nearly a century was a turning point. </p>
<p>When the company closed, it cited financial losses and declining ridership. The closure left many rural and remote areas without a convenient and affordable transportation option.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-needs-a-national-public-transportation-system-heres-why-161786">Canada needs a national public transportation system — here's why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It also affected <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/indigenous-rural-residents-left-more-isolated-after-greyhound-leaves-canada-1.5442354?cache=%2F7.634935">vulnerable and marginalized communities</a>, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7860104/greyhound-closure-disaster-communities/#">notably Indigenous populations</a>, exacerbating social and economic disparities.</p>
<p>One might wonder: Why is the absence of transportation a social justice issue? The answer lies in recognizing transportation as a fundamental right. When people are denied transportation and mobility, they are denied access to health care, education, employment opportunities and the basic ability to move safely from point A to point B. </p>
<p>The impact is particularly severe for Indigenous communities. Historical policies <a href="https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/indian-act-and-the-pass-system">like the Pass System restricted mobility</a> and hindered Indigenous Peoples’ economic participation, leaving lasting scars on the social fabric.</p>
<h2>Heightened vulnerability</h2>
<p>The absence of reliable and accessible transportation options exacerbates challenges related to MMMIWG2S+. </p>
<p>The vulnerability of Indigenous women and girls is heightened, <a href="https://doi.org/10.29173/cjs28261">rendering them more susceptible to exploitation and violence</a>. Limited mobility options impedes their ability to access support services, escape dangerous situations or seek refuge in times of crisis. </p>
<p>The lack of transportation further complicates the timely response of authorities and the conduct of thorough investigations, perpetuating a climate of impunity.</p>
<h2>Mobility justice, Indigenous agency</h2>
<p>The RPP report emphasizes the importance of “mobility justice,” a concept rooted in the belief that governments have a responsibility to provide adequate transportation so that all communities can access a safe, reliable and equitable transportation system. Governments have a responsibility to provide adequate transportation. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.cpha.ca/increasing-mobility-and-sustainability-demand-transit-service-powell-river-bc">innovative example comes</a> from Powell River, B.C., <a href="https://zungabus.ca/">where the Zunga Bus</a>, an app-based, on-demand transportation service, offers door-to-door service based on rider requests. </p>
<p>While this service was recently <a href="https://www.prpeak.com/in-the-community/zunga-bus-receives-reprieve-from-city-of-powell-river-council-8052966">threatened with being discontinued</a>, it has sought to address safety concerns associated with inadequate transportation. </p>
<h2>Indigenous-run services</h2>
<p>Importantly, the paradigm shift towards mobility justice calls for recognizing Indigenous agency and sovereignty. It also calls for countering paternalistic approaches imposed on Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>In Manitoba, <a href="https://www.krcrail.ca/">the Keewatin Railway Company</a> (KRC), owned by three partner Nations (<a href="https://www.mathiascolomb.ca/">Mathias Colomb</a> Cree Nation, Tataskweyak Cree Nation and the War Lake First Nation), stands as a beacon of hope. Following <a href="https://www.krcrail.ca/about-us">the closure of a mine</a>, the Nations collaborated to improve mobility in their communities. With support from the Government of Canada, KRC established a sustainable transportation line, creating jobs and boosting the local economy. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1548680537245630465"}"></div></p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.transportaction.ca/national-news/meeting-with-parliamentary-all-party-rail-caucus/">different levels of government discuss rail and other modes of transport</a>, the success story of the Keewatin Railway Company underscores the importance of community-led and self-determined solutions. Such solutions align with the principles of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s report and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<h2>Recommendations</h2>
<p>To truly address this multifaceted issue, we propose recommendations that emphasize holistic action and recognize the lack of transportation as rooted in colonization.</p>
<p>These include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>aligning with the <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/topics/sustainable-transport">UN’s definition of sustainable transport</a>, significantly investing in safe and affordable inter-community mobility, establishing measurable outcomes and conducting annual reviews to ensure progress.</p></li>
<li><p>addressing <a href="https://yellowheadinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/covid-19-and-fn-infrastructure.pdf">inadequate infrastructure</a>. We propose targeted federal funding initiatives tailored for First Nation communities. This includes establishing a grant funding call to create, sustain and monitor public transit. Calls should be considered using a gender-based analysis <a href="https://women-gender-equality.canada.ca/en/gender-based-analysis-plus/what-gender-based-analysis-plus.html">“plus” approach (meaning considering intersectional factors such as</a> disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion and sexual orientation).</p></li>
<li><p>enhancing transportation data through a gender-based analysis plus approach, and conducting research led by community advocates. These are vital steps toward informed decision-making and appropriate funding allocations. <a href="https://ikwesaferide.wordpress.com/">Ikwe Safe Rides</a> in Winnipeg is a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-safe-ride-service-ikwe-1.4621212">community initiative</a>, led by women volunteers, which provides Indigenous women and children with transportation by donation. But we must also question as a society whether safe mobility should be the responsibility of volunteers — or a public service with governmental responsibility.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Road to justice</h2>
<p>The road to justice for First Nation communities in Canada requires a paradigm shift in how we perceive transportation. It is not just about moving people from one place to another; it is about restoring agency, dignity and safety. </p>
<p>By embracing community-led solutions rooted in principles of reconciliation <a href="https://afn.bynder.com/m/7f110fc9e906357e/original/National-Asset-Management-Virtual-Conference-Pathways-to-Sustainability-Draft-Report-March-8-10-2022.pdf">and self-determination</a>, we can build a road that leads to a more equitable and inclusive future for all Canadians. </p>
<p>It is time to break down barriers, build bridges and ensure that no one is left behind on the journey to justice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffany Dionne Prete and her colleagues receive funding from Action Canada who are funded by Indspire, Secrétariat Aux Relations Canadiennes Quebec Government, Power Corporation of Canada, Public Policy Forum, and The Government of Canada. </span></em></p>Improving the intercommunity mobility of First Nation Peoples is a road to more inclusive and safer futures. This calls for recognizing Indigenous agency and sovereignty when developing solutions.Tiffany Dionne Prete, Assistant Professor, Sociology Department, University of LethbridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2196132024-02-18T22:46:53Z2024-02-18T22:46:53ZNZ is bound by international mental health agreements – statistics for Māori show we’re failing to uphold them<p>Aotearoa New Zealand ranks among the highest in youth suicide rates among <a href="https://www.oecd.org/els/family/CO_4_4_Teenage-Suicide.pdf">OECD countries</a> – and it is Māori youth at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/maori-suicide-rates-remain-too-high-involving-whanau-more-in-coronial-inquiries-should-be-a-priority-217254">forefront of this national crisis</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/our-health-system/data-and-statistics/suicide-web-tool">Recent statistics</a> show the number of suspected self-inflicted deaths for Māori males is nearly double the rate for non-Māori males. The rate for Māori females is around 1.8 times higher than the rate for non-Māori females. </p>
<p>The alarming discrepancy is most notable in the 15-24 age group, where the rate for Māori is about 2.6 times higher than for non-Māori.</p>
<p>Despite these concerning figures, there is no express right to health in New Zealand law, creating a gap in accountability. And by failing to ensure the health and wellbeing of young Māori, Aotearoa New Zealand is falling short of its international obligations.</p>
<h2>Progress and retreat</h2>
<p>Over the past five years, the government has taken some steps to tackle the country’s mental health crisis. But the priorities of the new government could threaten this already limited progress.</p>
<p>In 2019, NZ$2 billion was <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/taking-mental-health-seriously">injected into the mental health system</a> by the then Labour government. And the <a href="https://www.mhwc.govt.nz/">Mental Health Commission</a> was established in 2021 with the aim of contributing to better and equitable mental health and wellbeing outcomes for all people. </p>
<p>Te Aka Whai Ora, the Māori Health Authority, was established under the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2022/0030/latest/LMS575405.html">Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022</a>. But while the new coalition government has announced the country’s first ever <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/biography/matt-doocey">minister for mental health</a>, it has also announced plans to <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/507330/reti-confirms-transfer-of-decision-making-to-regions-is-among-health-priorities">scrap the authority</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/have-you-been-feeling-your-spirit-was-sad-culture-is-key-when-assessing-indigenous-australians-mental-health-119463">'Have you been feeling your spirit was sad?' Culture is key when assessing Indigenous Australians' mental health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://www.platform.org.nz/assets/WorkDetail/Cross-Party-Report-Under-One-Umbrella-MHAC-Web-Accessible-FINALv.pdf">Under One Umbrella</a> report, published by the cross-party <a href="https://www.mhwc.govt.nz/news-and-resources/priority-on-youth-mental-health-strikes-a-chord/">Mental Health and Addiction Wellbeing Group</a>, presents a comprehensive, integrated approach to mental health, alcohol and addiction for young people. Significantly, it advocates for a holistic “all-of-government” approach. </p>
<p>Submissions from a <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/mental-health-and-addiction/mental-health-legislation/repealing-and-replacing-mental-health-act">recent review</a> of the Mental Health Act show strong support for the new legislation to uphold rights in alignment with international conventions, with more focus on tangata whaiora (someone seeking health) and whānau (extended family). </p>
<p>Although these initiatives and pending legislative reform represent a step in the right direction, the statistics related to <a href="https://www.unicef.org.nz/media-releases/poor-mental-health-in-children-and-young-people-cannot-be-ignored-unicef">youth mental health</a> are still cause for concern. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1749650746629325045"}"></div></p>
<h2>International responsibilities to ensure health</h2>
<p>One strategy to address the national mental health crisis for Māori youth would be to embed the human right to health in local policy and law. This would also bring Aotearoa New Zealand’s legislation into line with its international obligations. </p>
<p>In 1946, the <a href="https://apps.who.int/gb/bd/PDF/bd47/EN/constitution-en.pdf?ua=1">World Health Organization</a> adopted a broad definition of health:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Health is a state of complete physical, mental, cultural and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Over the course of the next two decades, health was conceived as a human right (in the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a> and later in the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights">International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights</a>). </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-elimination-all-forms-racial">International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination</a> also obliged countries to eliminate race discrimination in public health and medical care. </p>
<p>For children, the right to health is further recognised in the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989</a>. And, specifically for Indigenous communities, in the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/equity-in-health-care-improves-peoples-health-114910">Equity in health care improves people's health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It is well established within <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">international law</a> that the right to health for Indigenous children and youth is linked to their distinct cultural, social and customary practices. </p>
<p>And various UN groups have <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/resources/educators/human-rights-education-training/e-general-comment-no-14-right-highest-attainable-standard-health-article-12-2000">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G16/177/09/PDF/G1617709.pdf?OpenElement">emphasised</a> that Indigenous people have the right to receive culturally appropriate healthcare services that respect their traditional practices and medicines. </p>
<p>These groups have also urged countries to provide Indigenous communities with the necessary resources to design, deliver and control their own healthcare services. </p>
<h2>The need for a legal framework</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/constitutional-issues-and-human-rights/human-rights/international-human-rights/">Aotearoa New Zealand is bound</a> by these international agreements, and the rights and obligations that flow from them. Yet the right to health <a href="https://tikatangata.org.nz/human-rights-in-aotearoa/right-to-health">does not appear in our laws</a>, which leaves a void in accountability and enforcement. </p>
<p>This hinders the implementation of effective health policies for tamariki and rangatahi Māori (children and young people), particularly as it limits the legal avenues available for recourse when the system fails. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-despair-not-depression-thats-responsible-for-indigenous-suicide-108497">It's despair, not depression, that's responsible for Indigenous suicide</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The disparities in mental health outcomes point to an immediate national challenge facing Aotearoa New Zealand, which is to formulate an effective mental healthcare framework. </p>
<p>The most appropriate starting point is to include the right to health in national policy and legislation. This would align New Zealand’s national policies and laws with international norms. </p>
<p>It would also mandate the government to take active steps to ensure that the highest attainable standards of mental health and wellbeing for tamariki and rangtahi Māori are met.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219613/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is no express right to health in New Zealand law. But international agreements protecting Indigenous rights to health and wellbeing set the standard New Zealand should follow.Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoRobert Joseph, Associate Professor of Law, University of WaikatoThilini Karunaratne, PhD candidate/ Lawyer, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2193632024-02-13T18:30:40Z2024-02-13T18:30:40Z‘Fortress’ conservation policies threaten the food security of rural populations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575435/original/file-20240213-28-bvlney.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5725%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pine trees reflected in smooth water of the lake. Waterlogged valley in the snowy Rocky Mountains.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Barriers created by “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08039410.2005.9666319">fortress conservation</a>” — as in the near-total sectioning off of land for conservation without human interference — are threatening important dietary diversity for the up to 1.5 billion people around the world <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00776-z">who rely on wild foods</a>, from bushmeat to wild vegetables and fruit. </p>
<p>Conservation, especially when modelled on notions of “pristine nature” — environments untouched by human influence — can create obstacles by limiting access to important food sources. We must shift from strict fortress conservation to more integrated, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104822">sustainable use of rural landscapes</a> if we are to achieve both biodiversity conservation and dietary outcomes. </p>
<p>Policymakers must take this into account and design policies that better inform global, regional and national commitments to food security and nutrition — especially in the context an ever-changing and unpredictable climate. </p>
<p>These policies must recognize people’s rights of access to these landscapes to ensure dietary diversity in rural settings. Policies for <a href="https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/hlpe/hlpe_documents/HLPE_Reports/HLPE-Report-11_EN.pdf">sustainable forestry</a> are also a key component of sustainable food systems.</p>
<h2>Settling down</h2>
<p>Human societies were nomadic for the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2019.102488">majority of our history</a>. In turn, traditional diets were mostly comprised of wild foods, both plants and animals, that were harvested from the surrounding environment. </p>
<p>However, over time, communities became increasingly sedentary and relied more and more on foods that were cultivated, rather than those collected from the wild. </p>
<p>This process dramatically accelerated in the last century with the <a href="https://www.treehugger.com/green-revolution-history-technologies-and-impact-5189596">Green Revolution</a> beginning in the 1940s, characterized by the increased dominance of monoculture agriculture. This shift is the greatest driver of forest and other habitat loss globally, resulting in the <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC64895">substantial simplification of our diets</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tractor sprays pesticides on a soybean field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575072/original/file-20240212-26-7iq9ai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575072/original/file-20240212-26-7iq9ai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575072/original/file-20240212-26-7iq9ai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575072/original/file-20240212-26-7iq9ai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575072/original/file-20240212-26-7iq9ai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575072/original/file-20240212-26-7iq9ai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575072/original/file-20240212-26-7iq9ai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tractor sprays pesticides on a soybean field. Monoculture farming can produce high yields, but at the cost of extreme fragility to external climatic and environmental shocks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, we have since learned that biodiverse wild and naturalized species are integral in rural food consumption, contributing to diverse diets, better nutrition and overall health and well-being, often for the poorest members of society. In other words, diversity in diets is linked with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00091-2">better nutrition and improved overall health</a>.</p>
<p>Up to 1.5 billion people globally <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2020.00029">depend on wild foods for nutrition and dietary diversity, particularly in the tropics</a>. Building policies that protect people’s rights to access these landscapes is of paramount importance to ensure such dietary diversity in many rural settings.</p>
<p>We must devote attention to people living in rural areas around the planet, where their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605322000916">access to wild foods</a> — including those found in forests — has become limited. That’s cutting off important sources of healthy food and nutrition.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-culturally-appropriate-diets-can-be-a-pathway-to-food-security-in-the-canadian-arctic-209575">How culturally appropriate diets can be a pathway to food security in the Canadian Arctic</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Global initiatives to set aside land for biodiversity conservation can compromise such access and thus significantly reduce dietary diversity. </p>
<p>Current commitments, such as the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02048-2">30 x 30 initiative</a>, in the name of conservation can result in the annexation of land and curtail the rights and access to diverse food sources by local people, despite <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0100-6">evidence that locally-led conservation can play an integral role in improving both ecological and human welfare</a>.</p>
<h2>Local stewards</h2>
<p>It is increasingly recognized that those who benefit from access — mostly Indigenous Peoples and local communities — are the best stewards of that land. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-food/about-right-food-and-human-rights">Food</a> is a fundamental human right, recognized by many international treaties and nation states. However, land annexation in the name of conservation, and loss of access to the natural resources they contain, continues unabated. </p>
<p>The major issue is that the notion of “pristine nature” does not exist in most landscapes, both tropical and temperate. Indeed, most environments are more a <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12322-260206">manifestation of human use and management than the product of natural forces alone</a>. The recognition of how humans have shaped and promoted biodiversity-rich landscapes is often missed in the implmentation of conservation. </p>
<p>It’s time for action on the evidence that forests and tree-based landscapes <a href="https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/publications/iufro-series/ws33/ws33.pdf">can (and must be) a small but integral part of the solution to the global problem of food security and nutrition</a>. In essence, forests and trees should play a role in global food security strategies.</p>
<p>The role of wild foods in contributing to the United Nations’ <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/55601EBA11ED5027EF2901A3AE017744/9781108486996c2_48-71.pdf/sdg_2_zero_hunger_challenging_the_hegemony_of_monoculture_agriculture_for_forests_and_people.pdf">Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger, has also been underscored</a> and there is considerable <a href="https://www.fao.org/interactive/sdg2-roadmap/en/">emerging evidence</a> on just how sustainable tree-based wild food systems could contribute to the overall 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. </p>
<p>Yet little real progress has been made in recognizing this at a functional or policy level, acknowledging the fundamental contribution of wild foods to dietary diversity. </p>
<p>The discourse of achieving global food security, with a focus on monoculture crops and industrial agriculture with all its environmental and nutritional deficiencies, remains dominant. This is resulting in continuing habitat loss, primarily within forests and other tree-based systems. </p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>The recent <a href="https://www.cop28.com/en/food-and-agriculture">Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action</a> at the COP28 climate summit goes some way to recognize the importance of “smallholders, family farmers, fisherfolk and other producers and food workers.” However, there is no mention of the role of wild foods in rural nutrition, nor the role that forests and trees play in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2017.01.012">supporting agriculture</a> through ecosystem service provision. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/flipping-indigenous-regional-development-in-newfoundland-upside-down-lessons-from-australia-218298">Flipping Indigenous regional development in Newfoundland upside-down: lessons from Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This must change to allow sustainable use initiatives to play a critical role in complementing and supporting diverse and nutritious diets for the rural poor — without compromising biodiversity goals or climate change mitigation strategies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219363/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Sunderland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Integrating local and Indigenous knowledge into conservation can help to support diverse diets without compromising biodiversity goals.Terry Sunderland, Professor in the Faculty of Forestry, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2216762024-02-08T17:54:55Z2024-02-08T17:54:55ZEncampment sweeps in Edmonton are yet another example of settler colonialism<p>It feels like housing is at a tipping point in the city of Edmonton. </p>
<p>There have been four main events highlighting the situation:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.nandalaw.ca/encampments">A case</a> that was brought against the City of Edmonton by the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights about encampment sweeps;</li>
<li><a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/edmonton-police-plan-massive-130-plus-homeless-encampment-sweep-ahead-of-holidays">Encampment sweeps</a> perpetrated by the Edmonton police days before a forecasted deadly cold snap;</li>
<li>A decision by Edmonton City Council to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-council-alberta-cabinet-homeless-housing-1.7085148">declare a housing and homelessness emergency</a>;</li>
<li>The <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10232393/alberta-government-edmonton-homeless-centre/">Alberta government’s announcement</a> that encampments will continue to be cleared out, while also arguing there’s sufficient shelter room. That contention <a href="https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2024/01/11/edmonton-mayor-declaring-housing-emergency/">has been refuted</a> by advocates, shelter workers and the province’s official housing critic. </li>
</ul>
<p>These events should be understood within ongoing settler colonialism and a housing crisis endemic in Canada’s broader housing system.</p>
<h2>Housing in Canada</h2>
<p>The state of housing both in Canada and globally <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-study-reveals-intensified-housing-inequality-in-canada-from-1981-to-2016-173633">is worsening</a>, but the <a href="https://thewalrus.ca/there-is-no-housing-crisis/">housing crisis is not new</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/two-thirds-of-canadian-and-american-renters-are-in-unaffordable-housing-situations-221954">Two-thirds of Canadian and American renters are in unaffordable housing situations</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/five-things-know-about-pre-1964-canadian-housing-policy">While affordable housing policies in Canada emerged following the Second World War</a>, colonialism is foundational to housing policy, evidenced by the <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/about-homelessness/population-specific/indigenous-peoples#:%7E:text=Research%20shows%20that%20Indigenous%20homelessness,%2C%20at%2011%2D96%25.">high rates</a> of housing vulnerability that Indigenous Peoples face. </p>
<p>For example, residential schools, <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/pass-system-in-canada#:%7E:text=Used%20in%20conjunction%20with%20policies,19th%20and%20early%2020th%20centuries.">the pass system</a> and other strategies to force relocation, outlined by history scholar <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/books/clearing-the-plains-by-james-daschuk-1.6863578">James Daschuk</a> in his book <em>Clearing The Plains</em>, have limited housing for Indigenous Peoples. Colonial policies are foundational to the current housing system and people’s housing experiences.</p>
<p>Under Canada’s <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/n-11.2/FullText.html">National Housing Strategy Act</a> passed in 2019, the federal government affirmed the human right to housing. This means governments of all levels have a responsibility to recognize this human right. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/clearing-the-plains-continues-with-the-acquittal-of-gerald-stanley-91628">'Clearing the plains' continues with the acquittal of Gerald Stanley</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Encampment sweeps violate human rights</h2>
<p>This isn’t happening, apparently, when it comes to encampments, which are both a site of <a href="https://make-the-shift.org/homeless-encampments/">human rights violations and of human rights claims</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://edmonton.citynews.ca/2024/01/16/edmonton-homeless-encampment-lawsuit-dismissed/#:%7E:text=In%20his%20decision%20Tuesday%2C%20Justice,an%20end%20to%20the%20lawsuit.">The Coalition for Justice and Human Rights was denied legal standing by the judge in its case against Edmonton</a> because he ruled it wasn’t the right group to represent the interests of people experiencing homelessness. </p>
<p>While that means this particular case will not proceed, it garnered significant media attention and does not refute the claims by the coalition, only its standing.</p>
<p>The coalition argued human rights were violated during encampment sweeps. It sought to maintain permanent restrictions on encampment evictions, and had been supported by many advocates in Edmonton, including those <a href="https://www.nandalaw.ca/encampments">who submitted affidavits</a>. </p>
<p>While the coalition’s claims are important, appealing to human rights does not necessarily identify the depth of colonialism’s role in the ongoing events. </p>
<p>Encampment evictions also happen in the context of treaty rights and the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>, which are violated when Indigenous people are forcibly removed from land. </p>
<p>In the case of the sweep of one Edmonton encampment, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9616641/edmonton-homeless-camps-response-change/">a sacred fire</a> was extinguished despite the agreement between an Elder and Edmonton police that a few tents and the fire could remain. </p>
<p><a href="https://jessethistle.com/">Jesse Thistle</a>, a Métis-Cree assistant professor at York University, <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/IndigenousHomelessness#:%7E:text=Indigenous%20homelessness%20is%20a%20human,ability%20to%20acquire%20such%20housing.">has developed a definition</a> of Indigenous homelessness that doesn’t just encompass structure and property rights, but also land, traditions, ancestors and family — all of which amplify how the loss of community and relationships that are present at an encampment entrenches homelessness.</p>
<p>Housing scholar and activist Andrew Crosby <a href="https://doi.org/10.22215/etd/2022-15310">uses the concept of domicide</a> — the destruction of home — to examine how settler colonialism is founded on the destruction of Indigenous homes and lives. </p>
<p>Domicide is applicable to the encampment sweeps in Edmonton, the historical domicide that enabled the settlement of Edmonton in the first place, and the laws that governed the unsuccessful lawsuit launched by the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights.</p>
<h2>Coming together in colonialism</h2>
<p>Removing unhoused people, who are disproportionately Indigenous, illustrates that public land is not for living on and is instead settler colonial space. When authorities make reference to “public safety” concerns about encampment, unhoused people are positioned as dangerous. </p>
<p>The destruction of those encampments simply drives people who are unhoused further to the margins. Sweeps do not end people’s experiences of homelessness; they move them out of public view.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1753084864440803470"}"></div></p>
<p>The actions of the City of Edmonton, the city’s police force and the government of Alberta — as well as the courts — have coalesced into an attack on the human and treaty rights of people who are unhoused, as well as the continuation of the removal of Indigenous Peoples from their land.</p>
<p>Homelessness in Edmonton has resulted in <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/frostbite-amputations-hit-10-year-high-in-edmonton-last-winter-new-data-show-1.6709778">increased amputations</a> due to exposure to extreme cold, while encampment sweeps lead to the overburdening of a shelter system that is already inadequate and the denial of rest for people who are unhoused.</p>
<p>This isn’t to suggest that encampments should be enshrined as a human rights housing achievement. But punitive approaches like encampment sweeps perpetuate settler colonialism and prioritize the perceptions and preferences of the ruling class.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221676/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katie MacDonald receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Encampment sweeps in Edmonton are a brutal attack on both human and treaty rights, as well as a continuation of the violent removal of Indigenous Peoples from their land.Katie MacDonald, Associate Professor of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Athabasca UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226162024-02-08T03:13:07Z2024-02-08T03:13:07ZFirst Nations people must be at the forefront of Australia’s renewable energy revolution<p>Australia’s <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003242499-10/getting-right-katie-quail-donna-green-ciaran-faircheallaigh">plentiful</a> solar and wind resources and proximity to Asia means it can become a renewable energy superpower. But as the renewable energy rollout continues, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must benefit. </p>
<p>Renewables projects can provide income and jobs to Aboriginal land owners. Access to clean energy can also help First Nations people protect their culture and heritage, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667095X23000296#bbib0060">remain on Country</a>. </p>
<p>This is not a new idea. Policies in the United States and Canada, for example, actively seek to ensure the energy transition delivers opportunities to Indigenous people.</p>
<p>The Australian government is developing a <a href="https://www.energy.gov.au/energy-and-climate-change-ministerial-council/working-groups/first-nations-engagement-working-group/first-nations-clean-energy-strategy">First Nations Clean Energy Strategy</a> and is seeking comment on a <a href="https://consult.dcceew.gov.au/first-nations-clean-energy-strategy-consultation-paper">consultation paper</a>. Submissions close tomorrow, February 9. If you feel strongly about the issue, we urge you to have your say.</p>
<p>We must get this policy right. Investing meaningfully in First Nations-led clean energy projects makes the transition more likely to succeed. What’s more, recognising the rights and interests of First Nations people is vital to ensuring injustices of the past are not repeated.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-juukan-gorge-how-first-nations-people-are-taking-charge-of-clean-energy-projects-on-their-land-213864">Beyond Juukan Gorge: how First Nations people are taking charge of clean energy projects on their land</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iziFTbt52Mw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A video by author Adam Fish exploring the Eastern Kuku Yalanji community of Wujal Wujal in Queensland and their struggle for renewable energy..</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Good for business, and people</h2>
<p>Indigenous peoples have recognised land interests covering around <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng-interactive/2021/may/17/who-owns-australia">26% of Australia’s landmass</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-aboriginal-communities-be-part-of-the-nsw-renewable-energy-transition-181171">Research</a> shows Aboriginal land holders want to be part of the energy transition. But they need support and resources. </p>
<p>This could take the form of federal grants to make communities more energy-efficient or less reliant on expensive, polluting diesel generators. Funding could also be spent on workforce training to ensure First Nations people have the skills to take part in the transition. Federal agencies could be funded to support grants for First Nations feasibility studies of renewable energy industry on their land.</p>
<p>As well as proper investment, governments must also ensure First Nations people are engaged early in the planning of renewable projects and that the practice of free prior and informed consent is followed. And renewable energy operators will also need to ensure they have capability to work with First peoples. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.firstnationscleanenergy.org.au/first_nations_can_help_australia_respond_to_the_united_states_inflation_reduction_act">First Nations Clean Energy Network</a> – of which one author, Heidi Norman, is part – is a network of First Nations people, community organisations, land councils, unions, academics, industry groups and others. It is working to ensure First Nations communities share the benefits of the clean energy boom.</p>
<p>The network is among a group of organisations calling on the federal government to invest an additional A$100 billion into the Australian renewables industry. The investment should be designed to benefit all Australians, including First Nations people.</p>
<p>In Australia, the Albanese government has set an emissions-reduction goal of a 43% by 2030, based on 2005 levels. But Australia’s renewable energy rollout is not happening fast enough to meet this goal. Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/get-to-yes-or-no-as-quickly-as-possible-bowen-wants-fast-decisions-on-renewables-20240111-p5ewmj.html">called for</a> faster planning decisions on renewable energy projects.</p>
<p>To achieve the targets, however, the federal government must bring communities along with them – including First Nations people.</p>
<p>As demonstrated by the US and Canada, investing <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003242499-10/getting-right-katie-quail-donna-green-ciaran-faircheallaigh">meaningfully and at scale</a> in First Nations-led clean energy projects is not just equitable, it makes good business sense.</p>
<h2>Follow the leaders</h2>
<p>The US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 made A$520 billion in investments to accelerate the transition to net zero. <a href="https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=123806">Native Americans</a> <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629623003845">stand</a> to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Inflation-Reduction-Act-Tribal-Guidebook.pdf">receive</a> hundreds of billions of dollars from the laws. This includes funding set aside for Tribal-specific programs.</p>
<p>Canada is even further ahead in this policy space. In fact, analysis <a href="https://climateinstitute.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ICE-report-ENGLISH-FINAL.pdf">shows</a> First Nations, Métis and Inuit entities are partners or beneficiaries of almost 20% of Canada’s electricity-generating infrastructure, almost all of which is producing renewable energy. In one of the most recent investments, the Canadian government in 2022 invested <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1481305379258/1594737453888">C$300 million</a> to help <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544222031735?casa_token=SXoJWgJwAikAAAAA:aQrTM16T_OPLQEgVk31foMzZt79T5YxOz9k3v2CEsWe8fIPPneIBw6Q0DRWIHQPzqzHNbZ0">First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples</a> launch clean energy projects.</p>
<p>Policymakers in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629623003031?casa_token=oA-q7QLSoi0AAAAA:ERC46yk_BCTFm5BnyPv9Nn2jFiFrc7XjRw_H0GKPRI_HsBq_0l8mZqxlYbim7l1zcQPAskA">both</a> <a href="https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/er-2018-0024?casa_token=H26U1EGKnakAAAAA%3ALnTYxXudwDujnWnyWqUbK9Mo4R9ekhETvW7g8dthacWDox3TFSi-Jm4B4A5qpIIo1KaWEpaCU2k">countries</a> increasingly realise that a just transition from fossil fuels requires addressing the priorities of First Nations communities. These investments are a starting point for building sustainable, globally competitive economies that work for everyone.</p>
<p>As the US and Canada examples <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X22004316">demonstrate</a>, the right scale of investment in First Nations-led projects can mean fewer legal delays and a much-needed social licence to operate.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/renewable-projects-are-getting-built-faster-but-theres-even-more-need-for-speed-221874">Renewable projects are getting built faster – but there's even more need for speed </a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Dealing with the climate risk</h2>
<p>First Nations people around the world are on the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652620306429?casa_token=AAadBFs9XWUAAAAA:eFX4w39-yt7SjqNVXgIbHF-bCGiHu-v4UyyEF6k7Fsl_wt85KdjFXkTYBGhvA6prSPD3DnU">frontline of climate change</a>. It threatens their homelands, food sources, cultural resources and ways of life.</p>
<p>First Nations have also experienced chronic under-investment in their energy infrastructure by governments over generations, both in <a href="https://theconversation.com/many-first-nations-communities-swelter-without-power-why-isnt-there-solar-on-every-rooftop-204032">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629621002280">abroad</a>.</p>
<p>Investing in First Nations-led clean energy projects <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/22/9569">builds climate resilience</a>. This was demonstrated by the federal government’s Bushlight program, which ran from 2002 to 2013. It involved renewable energy systems installed in remote communities in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland.</p>
<p>Bushlight’s solar power meant that communities were not dependent on the delivery of diesel. So they still had power if roads were closed by flooding or other climate disasters.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-aboriginal-communities-be-part-of-the-nsw-renewable-energy-transition-181171">How can Aboriginal communities be part of the NSW renewable energy transition?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australia must get moving</h2>
<p>The Biden government’s Inflation Reduction Act prompted a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-eyes-over-14-bln-green-transformation-spending-govt-2023-08-23/">swift</a> <a href="https://www.esade.edu/faculty-research/sites/default/files/publicacion/pdf/2023-05/The%20EU%20Response%20to%20the%20U.S.%20Inflation%20Reduction%20Act.pdf">reaction</a> from governments around the world. But after 15 months, Australia is yet to respond or develop equivalent legislation. </p>
<p>We must urgently <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-pushed-to-create-100b-australian-inflation-reduction-act-20230907-p5e2y7">develop our response</a> and seize this unique opportunity to become world leaders in the global renewables race. That includes ensuring First Nations participate in and benefit from these developments.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The First Nations Clean Energy Strategy consultation paper can be found <a href="https://www.energy.gov.au/energy-and-climate-change-ministerial-council/working-groups/first-nations-engagement-working-group/first-nations-clean-energy-strategy">here</a>. Feedback can be provided <a href="https://consult.dcceew.gov.au/first-nations-clean-energy-strategy-consultation-paper">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222616/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Fish volunteers research for the First Nations Clean Energy Network.
He received funding from the Digital Grid Future Institute at the University of New South Wales.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heidi Norman receives funding from Australian Research Council and James Martin Institute. </span></em></p>Australia lags the US and Canada when it comes to involving Indigenous people in projects on their land. With the growth of renewable energy we have an opportunity to make a fresh start.Adam Fish, Associate Professor, School of Arts and Media, UNSW SydneyHeidi Norman, Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2204592024-01-29T23:20:17Z2024-01-29T23:20:17ZWhat’s unsettling about Catan: How board games uphold colonial narratives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567624/original/file-20240102-19-2tzi0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C254%2C5121%2C3165&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Catan experienced a revival over the pandemic. However, the most potent and painful relationship between Catan and our world today remains largely unexamined.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/whats-unsettling-about-catan-how-board-games-uphold-colonial-narratives" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The death of <a href="https://www.catan.com/catan-fans/news/we-mourn-passing-klaus-teuber">Klaus Teuber, creator of popular board game Catan</a>, marked the passing of a board game giant. </p>
<p>Teuber died on April 1, 2023, after a brief illness. The German-born <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65194096">dental technician-turned-game designer</a> invented the game, originally called Settlers of Catan, in 1995 while <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/05/business/klaus-teuber-dead.html">managing a dental lab</a>. That same year <a href="https://www.polygon.com/23669496/settlers-of-catan-creator-klaus-teuber-dead-70-obituary">Catan won</a> one of board gaming’s most prestigious awards, the German <a href="https://www.polygon.com/22583960/spiel-des-jahres-2020-winner-micromacro-crime-city-in-stock">Spiel des Jahres</a>.</p>
<p>He once recalled in an interview <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/07/897271885/families-stuck-at-home-turn-to-board-game-catan-sending-sales-skyrocketing">how the idea began to percolate in 1963 as an 11-year-old in post-war Germany</a>. According to Teuber, Catan was <a href="https://www.polygon.com/23669496/settlers-of-catan-creator-klaus-teuber-dead-70-obituary">inspired by tales of Viking exploration</a>, and it places players together on a remote island, where they must competitively collect and cultivate territory through resource extraction, trade and expansion by building roads and settlement.</p>
<p>Since 1995, the game has sold <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65194096">more than 40 million copies and has been translated into more than 40 languages</a>. It fundamentally changed the board game industry, with dozens of spinoffs and new editions, including electronic versions.</p>
<p>In 2010, <em>The Washington Post</em> named Settlers of Catan the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/24/AR2010112404140.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_13">“board game of our time,”</a> and this is true in many regards. For example, during the early months of the pandemic, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/04/898853332/sales-of-settlers-of-catan-skyrocket-during-coronavirus-crisis">Catan experienced a revival as sales skyrocketed</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, the most potent and painful relationship between Catan and our world today remains largely unexamined.</p>
<h2>Settler colonialism</h2>
<p>In interviews, Teuber said he started creating games in the 1980s to help deal with the stress of his dental career. <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-man-who-built-catan">“I developed games to escape,” he said. “This was my own world I created.”</a> The Settlers of Catan — <a href="https://www.polygon.com/2015/6/23/8661435/the-settlers-of-catan-has-a-new-name-new-look-for-5th-edition">renamed Catan</a> in 2015 — wasn’t really Teuber’s own world, it was a <a href="https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/bgs-2020-0004">playable version of the American dream</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man wearing a suit holds the Settlers of Catan board game. The game map is on a table in front of him." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567612/original/file-20240102-25-uqfy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Klaus Teuber presents his game The Settlers of Catan in September 1995, in Frankfurt, Germany. Teuber created of the hugely popular board game in which players compete to build settlements on a fictional island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Bernd Kammerer, File)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ultimately, through a set of game mechanics that motivates resource extraction in the name of settling a supposed empty land, the connection between the in-game narrative and the political histories of North America and other parts of the world is clear. As historian Lorenzo Veracini says, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/18380743.2013.761941">“the Settlers of Catan is really about settler colonialism.”</a></p>
<p>The success of Catan also codified a certain kind of game play that has similarly proliferated worldwide, one that’s invested in the specific historical, economic and political factors of settler colonialism.</p>
<p>This gaming rhetoric quickly began to shape the game mechanics and narrative strategies of not only European games but also <a href="https://edspace.american.edu/davidsonwilbourne/colonial-discourse-and-cultural-memory-in-eurogames/">global tabletop gaming culture</a>.</p>
<p>The Settlers of Catan was not the first time a board game touched on colonial or imperialist discourses. Risk, invented by French film director Albert Lamorisse and originally released in 1957, is an early example of how <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/material-game-studies-9781350202719/">discourses of conquest emerged in tabletop games</a>.</p>
<p>Here, players conquer their enemies’ territories by building an army, moving their troops in and engaging in battle. </p>
<p>However, because players in Catan explicitly take on the roles of settlers, this particular board game’s engagement in the rhetoric of settler colonialism set new precedents. And unfortunately, games that incorporate colonial histories and strategies into their narratives or game mechanic normalize these discourses through their status as a popular pastime.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The board game risk with game pieces on a map of the world." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569422/original/file-20240115-25-qshucb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Risk, originally released in 1957, is an early example of how discourses of conquest emerged in tabletop games.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Decolonizing gameplay</h2>
<p>Since 1995, board games have continued to include themes of settler colonialism, with several games published globally that even concretely engage Indigenous presence during and after their first contact with colonial powers. </p>
<p>In these games, Indigenous identity, history, culture and sovereignty emerge as essential elements of world-building and game mechanics. In the game <a href="https://www.laboitedejeu.fr/en/neta-tanka/">Neta-Tanka</a>, for example, the Frostrivers tribe dwells along the Great Frozen River in harmony with nature, obeying the laws of the Four Elders and in turn, guided by the most venerable of the Elders, the Neta-Tanka.</p>
<p>However, these features often merge or misrepresent Indigenous cultures and traditions in problematic ways. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/260201/manitoba">In the board game Manitoba</a>, players become clan leaders of the Cree tribe and try to become the chieftain of them all. But the iconography associated with this already problematic playable version of Indigenous resource management and spiritual guidance are totem poles, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-board-game-controversy-1.4816975">which are not part of the cultures of Indigenous Peoples in Manitoba</a>.</p>
<p>These games seek to create a compelling story at the expense of Indigenous traditional knowledge and contemporary lived experience, ignoring the contribution of Indigenous voices through consultation while missing opportunities to engage concretely with issues that impact global Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<p>At the same time, a small group of Indigenous designers and board game enthusiasts have begun to develop counter-discourses through board game development. Board game designer and <a href="https://www.harrisburgu.edu/about/our-people/faculty-staff/gregory-loring-albright/">Assistant Professor of Interactive Media Greg Loring-Albright</a> has shown with <a href="https://analoggamestudies.org/2015/11/the-first-nations-of-catan-practices-in-critical-modification/">First Nations of Catan</a> that it is possible to modify and decolonize gameplay by drawing attention to issues of Indigenous sovereignty.</p>
<p>Another excellent example of this is <a href="https://radiussfu.com/sinulkhay-and-ladders/">Sínulkhay and Ladders</a> by <a href="https://nahaneecreative.com/bio">Ta7talíya Michelle Nahanee</a>, a Squamish decolonizing facilitator, creative director and Indigenous changemaker.</p>
<p>The design is based on Snakes and Ladders, but its goal is to teach players how to decolonize their actions and decision-making processes. </p>
<p>Similarly, the recent successes of the role-playing game <a href="https://coyoteandcrow.net/">Coyote and Crow</a>, by game designer Connor Alexander, and the board game <a href="http://nunamigame.com/index.php/en/">Nunami</a>, by Inuk graphic designer Thomassie Mangiok, demonstrate that board games can make valuable contributions to Indigenous self-representation in popular culture.</p>
<p>Players can also help to support Indigenous voices in the global game industry. For example, <a href="https://shop.pemetawe.com/">Pe Metawe Games</a> is an Indigenous-owned tabletop board game and roleplaying game store located on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton. They are dedicated to creating an inclusive space for anyone to enjoy the hobby.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220459/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Biz Nijdam does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Settlers of Catan codified a certain kind of game play based on the history of settler colonialism.Biz Nijdam, Assistant Professor, Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2183172024-01-28T13:53:44Z2024-01-28T13:53:44ZSport and physical activity alone can’t tackle health inequities in Indigenous communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571313/original/file-20240124-17-du4die.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C40%2C6679%2C4426&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While there are many benefits to sports participation, overstating those benefits can obscure systemic issues.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/sport-and-physical-activity-alone-cant-tackle-health-inequities-in-indigenous-communities" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Organized sport is often positioned as a remedy for the many health issues that Indigenous Peoples face. While there are many benefits to sports participation, overstating those benefits risks obscuring the systemic problems they endure in trying to create their own visions for health.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2007.51">research indicates that encouraging youth to be engaged in sport and physical activity</a> is essential for improving health outcomes, the relationship between sport participation and health in Indigenous communities is not so simple.</p>
<p>For instance, a recent literature review by the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health calls attention to a significant policy problem: <a href="https://www.nccih.ca/Publications/lists/Publications/Attachments/ISR/Indigenous_Sports_and_Recreation_EN_Web_2022-01-27.pdf">Indigenous youth are more physically active than non-Indigenous youth, and yet they self-report poorer health outcomes</a>. </p>
<p>This illustrates why using sport participation as a policymaking lodestar for affecting positive health outcomes is troublesome. Sport has historically failed to address the systemic issues that burden Indigenous Peoples and their communities. To address these deep-seated issues, a more comprehensive and culturally grounded approach to sport policy is needed. </p>
<h2>National sport policies</h2>
<p>National sport policies are important because they serve as a guide for how and why the federal government will invest in sport. Canada’s first sport policy, <a href="https://books.openedition.org/uop/699?lang=en">An Act to Encourage Fitness and Amateur Sport</a>, dates back to 1961. It mostly featured cost-sharing agreements with the provinces and territories to get people involved in sport for fitness and competition.</p>
<p>After that, the federal government began to focus increasingly on high performance sport. Since the 1970s, billions of dollars have been invested in athletes to win gold, silver and bronze medals, as if their accolades would stimulate greater physical activity among citizens. </p>
<p>The overall orientation of these policies is captured by the expression “<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/role-sport-canada.html">from playground to podium</a>” — a fitting summary of the reach and ambition of most of them. </p>
<p>Now, a new national sport policy is on the immediate horizon, and with it will come a renewed discussion regarding the connection between health and sport in Canada. The <a href="https://sirc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SIRC-What-We-Heard-Report-FINAL-1.pdf">consultation report that forms the basis for the new policy</a> refers to sport as an “integral component of health and culture in Canada,” with quotes throughout that describe it as a form of health care. </p>
<h2>Sport and health</h2>
<p>The relationship between sport participation and federal policymaking is longstanding and rooted in the conventional wisdom that <a href="https://www.publicworks.com/doc/physical-activity-sport-recreation-sector-applauds-canadian-sport-policy-0001">encouraging youth to be engaged in sport reliably leads to better health outcomes</a>.</p>
<p>For instance, the first goal of the <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2016/pch/CH24-46-2002-eng.pdf">2002 Canada Sport Policy aimed to significantly increase the number of Canadians participating in sport</a>, saying sports participation “contributes to healthier, longer, and more productive lives.” </p>
<p>The <a href="https://sirc.ca/wp-content/uploads/files/content/docs/Document/csp2012_en.pdf">2012 Canadian Sport Policy</a> continued to highlight the positive health benefits of sports participation, saying it “strengthens their personal development, provides enjoyment and relaxation, reduces stress, improves physical and mental health, physical fitness and general well-being, and enables them to live more productive and rewarding lives.” </p>
<p>Clearly the 2012 policy meant health in a wide sense. These were grand claims, considering <a href="https://cflri.ca/sites/default/files/node/1135/files/CFLRI-B1.Sport%20Participation_2011_12.pdf">only 34 per cent of Canadians participated in some form of organized sport in 2012</a>. By 2023, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/231010/dq231010b-eng.htm">that number rose to almost 50 per cent</a>, due in large part to return-to-play initiatives after the COVID-19 pandemic — <a href="https://jumpstart.canadiantire.ca/blogs/news/2023-state-of-sport-report-shows-rising-costs-threatening-access-to-sport">a trend that may be in reverse due to the rising cost of living</a>.</p>
<p>For Indigenous Peoples, there is <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5663/aps.v3i1-2.21707">no official survey that tracks Indigenous participation in sport in Canada</a>. This means assumptions about sport being a driver for Indigenous health may not be relevant for many segments of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit populations. It also means sport policy may exacerbate their existing health inequities, instead of addressing them.</p>
<h2>Social determinants of Indigenous health</h2>
<p>Although sport is an important and valued aspect of Canadian life, the relative impact it can have on the overall health of a community is tempered by many external factors — a point illustrated by the federal government’s public health resources.</p>
<p>Approaching sport from a <a href="https://www.nccih.ca/28/Social_Determinants.nccah">social determinants of Indigenous health perspective</a> would shed light on why and how this happens. The Canadian government currently uses <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/population-health/what-determines-health.html">the 12 social determinants of health and health inequalities</a> to guide its policies.</p>
<p>The social determinants of Indigenous health go beyond the government’s current approach to include assessments of other negative factors like settler colonialism, as well as positive factors like Indigenous culture and spirituality.</p>
<p>Likewise, <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524505883755/1557512006268">Call to Action 89 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> urges decision-makers to embrace a broader perspective of sport that engages health. It states: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We call upon the federal government to amend the Physical Activity and Sport Act to support reconciliation by ensuring that policies to promote physical activity as a fundamental element of health and well-being, reduce barriers to sports participation, increase the pursuit of excellence in sport, and build capacity in the Canadian sport system, are inclusive of Aboriginal peoples.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Dangers of sport evangelism</h2>
<p>Without critically considering how we frame sport’s role in Canadian life, any new policy risks the dangers of sport evangelism: the false belief that sport alone can provide a miraculous fix for social and structural issues. </p>
<p>The long list that makes up the social determinants of Indigenous health is a visible reminder of the need to understand sport in that complex matrix. </p>
<p>In both mainstream and Indigenous communities across Canada, sport is neither inherently good nor bad. Rather, it is a tool that must be used responsibly. This requires us to acknowledge both its potential and limitations for enriching the lives of its participants, especially those who we know face health inequities, as Indigenous Peoples do.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218317/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taylor McKee receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janice Forsyth is affiliated with the Aboriginal Sport Circle, a national non-profit that focuses on Indigenous sport development in Canada. </span></em></p>In both mainstream and Indigenous communities across Canada, sport is neither inherently good nor bad. Rather, it is a tool that must be used responsibly.Taylor McKee, Assistant Professor, Sport Management, Brock UniversityJanice Forsyth, Professor, School of Kinesiology, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2217432024-01-24T19:06:04Z2024-01-24T19:06:04ZWhat’s behind Woolworths, Aldi and Kmart distancing themselves from Australia Day?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571029/original/file-20240124-19-hrfn7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C613%2C4345%2C2448&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/aussie-thongs-beach-254045218">Kairosing/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Earlier this month, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-11/woolworths-big-w-shops-australia-day-merch-sales-decision/103309612">Woolworths</a> announced it would no longer stock merchandise promoting Australia Day on January 26, a date surrounded by controversy.</p>
<p>While observed as a national public holiday for more than 90 years, a 2021 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/17/conservative-politicians-stoking-australia-day-debate-online-with-paid-ads-analysis-finds">ABC social survey</a> found 55% of Australians supported changing the date.</p>
<p><a href="https://insiderguides.com.au/why-is-australia-day-so-controversial/">January 26</a> marks the beginning of the colonisation of Australia, bringing violence, theft and oppression to the First Nations peoples who had lived on the land for more than 50,000 years. It is also called Invasion Day, Survival Day or Day of Mourning.</p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/other-industries/more-aussie-businesses-adopt-woke-australia-day-stance/news-story/f31514b039e81173118174bf01215435">workplaces</a> including ANZ, Telstra and Woodside have encouraged the shift away from celebrating the date as Australia Day by offering employees an alternative day off.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-should-celebrate-australia-day-on-march-3-the-day-we-became-a-fully-independent-country-221015">Why we should celebrate Australia Day on March 3 – the day we became a fully independent country</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Woolworths is <a href="https://www.bandt.com.au/the-date-is-not-the-issue-kmart-jumps-on-board-australia-day-boycott/">not the only retailer</a> to distance itself from the date this year with Aldi announcing it will not stock Australia-themed products under its Special Buys promotion. Kmart has not sold items specific to January 26 since last year.</p>
<h2>The message the retailers are trying to send the community</h2>
<p>When corporations wade into sociopolitical activism, they commonly overplay social motivations and underplay expected gains to the bottom line. What is unusual about Woolworths’ position is that the company has defended this as a business decision first and foremost. </p>
<p>This raises questions about big retailers shying away from Australia Day merchandise for business rather than social reasons.</p>
<p>Why pursue a business-first, activism-second strategy? Does this appease shareholders? How does the public interpret “activism without activism” and is it authentic? Is this just a move to deflect away from exorbitant prices?</p>
<h2>A business case for activism</h2>
<p>Opposition leader Peter Dutton quickly labelled this as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/11/woolworths-big-w-australia-day-merchandise-dropped-sale-peter-dutton-boycott-calls">peddling woke agendas</a>”. But a Woolworths Group spokesperson cited a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-11/woolworths-big-w-shops-australia-day-merch-sales-decision/103309612">gradual decline</a>” in demand for Australia Day-themed products. They also acknowledged the broader discussion of January 26th’s significance to different communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Large group of men and women protesting against Australia Day" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571030/original/file-20240124-27-vlojmg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 2021 survey found 55% of Australians supported changing the date.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/australia-day-protest?image_type=photo">Shutterstock/Dave Hewison Photography</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A key reason to make a business case for corporate activism lies with <a href="https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/politics/shareholders-companies-yes-campaign-funding/">shareholders</a>. They typically oppose companies taking a stand on social justice issues believing businesses should “stay in their lane”.</p>
<p>Indeed, when Woolworths supported the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum, it resulted in a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/8e057289-2aa9-49b1-a1cf-e1de85c769a8">backlash</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022242920937000">Academic research</a> indicates a brand’s activist position can harm shareholder returns. Investors view this as a misallocation of resources that threatens profit maximisation. Perceived <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022243720947682">risk of corporate activism</a> is heightened for businesses with large market share, like Woolworths. They have more customers to lose and fewer to gain. </p>
<p>In this instance, Woolworths took a business-first, activism-second approach. This likely appeases shareholders because making merchandising decisions is well within Woolworths’ remit. Also, by the retailer cloaking its activism as profit maximisation, shareholders are less likely to be concerned. </p>
<p>As for customers, they increasingly understand the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0363811111001561">duality of a brand’s motives</a>. If there are perceptions of sufficient social impact, self-serving motives are also deemed acceptable. Woolworths illuminated the profit-making motive while subtly bringing to light the problematic history of Australia Day. </p>
<h2>Activism without activism?</h2>
<p>While Woolworths led with business reasons rather than support of First Nations peoples, it was interpreted by the public as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/15/peter-dutton-woolworths-australia-day-boycott-blamed-teneriffe-store-vandalism-metro-teneriffe">political act</a>, eliciting debate and grandstanding. </p>
<p>A company of this stature with significant marketing intelligence could have correctly predicted this reaction and made a calculated decision to take a stand on an issue at the front of the public’s mind. Yet this looks like activism without activism. Woolworths brought a sociopolitical issue to the fore but operated behind the curtain of dollars and cents. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/change-the-date-debates-about-january-26-distract-from-the-truth-telling-australia-needs-to-do-197046">'Change the date' debates about January 26 distract from the truth telling Australia needs to do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Consumers are discerning about corporate activism, requiring companies to move beyond marketing rhetoric and demonstrate meaningful actions. Usually activism attracts criticism when brands are perceived to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/post-gillette-other-brands-are-better-at-matching-practice-with-talk-but-dont-get-the-publicity-110595">woke washing</a> - that is, misleading consumers about prosocial corporate practices. Brand activism is therefore sometimes viewed as a “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016328722001793">fake marketing trick</a>” because brands are not backing up their stance on social justice issues.</p>
<p>Woolworths by contrast has taken concrete action - not capitalising on the “Australia Day” term and imagery in its marketing and merchandise on January 26.
This move falls short of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743915620947359">authentic brand activism</a>.</p>
<h2>A deflection tactic?</h2>
<p>Australia’s fraught socioeconomic climate has put retailers in the spotlight. Currently, brands like Woolworths are facing media and political scrutiny for price gouging. In Queensland, there is a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-19/qld-grocery-prices-parliamentary-inquiry-woolworths-coles/103367088">parliamentary inquiry</a> into the discrepancy between prices paid to suppliers and those paid at the checkout. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Senate are also holding inquiries.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Signs promoting Aldi and Woolworths" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/571058/original/file-20240124-25-b1td3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is the stance against Australia Day a move to distract from the pricing inquiries?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rob1037/Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aside from making room for more profitable merchandise or advancing the reconciliation agenda, is Woolworths deflecting attention from its role in these problems? Changing the conversation to something time-bound (that is, likely to die down January 27th) may be beneficial. </p>
<p>Research speaks to such a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0363811194900558?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=849d29c54d921f66">values-based strategy</a>. Brands call on social initiatives to deflect from negative issues and improve future discourse about their business. In this case, directing discussion to their social responsiveness, even if secondary, enables Woolworths to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13563467.2021.1926954">divert attention away</a> from potentially exploitative practices. </p>
<h2>Corporate activism: an expanding and evolving strategy</h2>
<p>Woolworths’ approach to activism warrants examination. While the company took action that ostensibly opposes the celebration of Australia Day on January 26, they communicated a profit motive fitting for the largest grocery chain in Australia by market share. They skirted full-blown corporate sociopolitical activism, an approach that was possibly more digestible for shareholders and customers (politicians less so).</p>
<p>However, this approach is also less authentic. Woolworths states its <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/what-brands-can-learn-from-the-woolworths-australia-day-debacle-812136">commitment to reconciliation</a> through the support of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and the Uluru Statement from the Heart. So where in this most recent decision was the marketing rhetoric that embraces and respects Indigenous Australians? This represents a lost opportunity to elevate the brand and promote the <a href="http://changethedate.org/">Change the Date </a>movement.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/welcome-to-may-9-the-true-australia-day-204555">Welcome to May 9 – the true Australia Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221743/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Profits, not social justice, appear to be why the big grocers are dropping support for Australia Day. But creating a distraction when they’re being criticised for high prices is also possible.Amanda Spry, Senior Lecturer of Marketing, RMIT UniversityDaniel Rayne, Marketing lecturer, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2182982024-01-18T22:00:22Z2024-01-18T22:00:22ZFlipping Indigenous regional development in Newfoundland upside-down: lessons from Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570173/original/file-20240118-27-4y6ku6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4031%2C1816&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Newfoundland and Tasmania, Australia, have been described as 'mirror islands' with striking linkages. Site of one of the field excursions during the authors' 12-day exchange to Tasmania, Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Author Provided, Brady Reid)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/flipping-indigenous-regional-development-in-newfoundland-upside-down-lessons-from-australia" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In an era of <a href="https://www.activesustainability.com/climate-change/global-boiling/?_adin=02021864894">“global boiling”</a> the Canadian government has set ambitious targets to transition towards a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/net-zero-emissions-2050.html">net-zero future</a> with important caveats that this transition must be <a href="https://climateinstitute.ca/reports/canadas-net-zero-future/recommendations/">fair and inclusive</a>. </p>
<p>However, does this future include vibrant, self-determined Indigenous communities? Research shows that inadequate engagement between settler governments, corporations and Indigenous communities leads to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101897">poor indications of reconciliation</a>. </p>
<p>This is a troubling reality given the <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-people-economic-conditions">ongoing socio-economic challenges</a> imposed on Indigenous communities across the land now called Canada.</p>
<h2>Risk and uncertainty</h2>
<p>Everywhere in Canada has unique, and equally important, developmental considerations and climate risks.</p>
<p>For regional Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) Mi’kmaw communities in Nujio’qonik, (the St. George’s Bay region), the uncertainty of the future is complicated by large-scale, natural resource developments. </p>
<p>A clear example of one such development is Project Nujio’qonik, billed as the <a href="https://worldenergygh2.com/about/">world’s first large-scale green hydrogen project in western Newfoundland and Labrador</a>. </p>
<p>Mi’kmaw communities and leaders, such as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/calvin-white-powwow-qa-1.6907384">Elder Calvin White</a>, led the movement for recognition of the Mi’kmaq in Ktaqmkuk post-Confederation, and continue to do so today. </p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1319805325971/1572459825339">controversial</a> establishment of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation has hampered efforts by Mi’kmaw across the west coast of Ktaqmkuk to fully realize effective stewardship and control over decisions impacting communities and surrounding territories. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dR1EeEB2t2I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas are an important example of self-governance for Indigenous Peoples. Overview of IPCAs produced by the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The complexities behind the establishment of the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation continue to be <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/qalipu-enrolment-court-decision-1.6882390">challenged in court</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/outintheopen/stranger-in-your-own-land-1.4407020/mi-kmaq-communities-divided-over-federal-government-s-qalipu-band-membership-decisions-1.4407060">families remain divided to this day</a>. </p>
<p>While the situation may seem intractable there are surprising insights to be gained from the experiences of Indigenous groups halfway around the world. </p>
<h2>18,000 km away</h2>
<p>Despite being geographically poles apart, both Newfoundland and Tasmania have been described by locals and scholars as <a href="https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Artists_and_the_articulation_of_islandness_sense_of_place_and_story_in_Newfoundland_and_Tasmania/23240777">“mirror islands” with striking linkages and similarities throughout history</a>. </p>
<p>Indigenous groups in both regions have fought for decades to assert their rights and agency on traditional territory and continue to push back against a shared <a href="https://www.gov.nl.ca/publicat/royalcomm/research/Hanrahan.pdf">history of erasure</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-13/winning-indigenous-aboriginal-rights-in-tasmania/11202128">extinction myths</a>. </p>
<p>Inequalities continue to facilitate patterns of uneven growth and opportunity with real impacts upon local communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/closing-the-first-nations-employment-gap-will-take-100-years-205290">Closing the First Nations employment gap will take 100 years</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In response to growing concerns for the future of their communities Mi’kmaw leaders Chief Joanne Miles of the Flat Bay Band and Chief Peggy White of the Three Rivers Mi’kmaq Band travelled to Tasmania with PhD candidate Brady Reid. </p>
<p>The goal of the trip was to share knowledge and learn about advances in <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/connections-to-sea-country-cultural-fisheries-program-launched-for-tasmanias-aboriginal-people/ka7rfqm5f">sustainable and culturally-grounded economic development projects within Australia</a>. </p>
<p>The exchange took place between Nov. 4-16, 2023 in Hobart, the capital city of Tasmania, with some excursions to various locations around the southern part of the island. </p>
<p>At the invite of local Indigenous leaders, Professor Emma Lee of the National Centre for Reconciliation, Truth, and Justice at Federation University and Uncle Rodney Dillon of the <a href="https://www.ilsc.gov.au/">Land and Sea Aboriginal Corporation</a> — among others — shared Indigenous regional development and recognition initiatives. </p>
<h2>Shared lessons</h2>
<p>Recognizing, renewing and supporting Indigenous management and stewardship over traditional territories and resources is a key step in re-shaping settler-Indigenous relationships. This is especially true for Indigenous communities denied access to treaty resources and rights.</p>
<p>Though not without challenges, the Tasmanian and Australian governments have <a href="https://www.frdc.com.au/supporting-cultural-fisheries-research-aboriginal-tasmanians">supported Indigenous-led research and partnership development</a>. These efforts have helped to realize an economically viable and culturally significant fisheries industry. </p>
<p>Through Tasmanian Aboriginal efforts to align supportive federal policy with state regulations, top-down strategies have transformed local reluctance into regional development opportunities. </p>
<p>Lessons gleaned from discussions with federal and state representatives in Tasmania have helped shape future strategies to realize self-determined resource governance in Ktaqmkuk.</p>
<p>The shared experiences in colonial history — and the mutual legacy of marine industries — between the islands of Tasmania and Ktaqmkuk have led to similarities in actions Indigenous Peoples can take. </p>
<p>Actions which can serve to share knowledge, collectively strengthen self-determination rights, and develop social licence strategies that favour Indigenous-led regional development while re-shaping relationships across all levels of government.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-nature-agreement-underscores-the-need-for-true-reconciliation-with-indigenous-nations-217427">Canada’s Nature Agreement underscores the need for true reconciliation with Indigenous nations</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While change takes time, it is incredibly important that settler government, agencies and representatives support initiatives led by Indigenous communities and do not create barriers in bureaucratic policy or procedure, especially when strong business cases are evident. </p>
<h2>Moving forward</h2>
<p>Recommendations from the <a href="https://climateinstitute.ca/">Canadian Climate Institute</a> support green policy action that improve social and economic indicators, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-needs-to-set-its-businesses-up-for-success-in-the-clean-energy-transition-206276">business interests and opportunities</a>. </p>
<p>After learning more about the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/connections-to-sea-country-cultural-fisheries-program-launched-for-tasmanias-aboriginal-people/ka7rfqm5f">Tasmanian cultural fisheries pilot</a> we kept asking ourselves, why not assert Mi’kmaw communities as leaders in regional development over our own traditional territories? </p>
<p>In making clear statements that align traditional knowledge with renewable energy policies, Indigenous Peoples are <a href="https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/were-facing-extinction-as-a-people-in-our-territory-indigenous-leaders-from-bay-st-george-south-and-port-au-port-peninsula-say-wind-energy-project-is-needed-100914527/">creating the terms</a> for effective and fair transitions to a better future. </p>
<p>We saw this in Tasmania, where a groundswell of support for cultural fisheries operating within commercial quota led to a fascinating and consequential shift in relationship-building. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YT6aw8RPVSU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A report on the solar initiatives of the Métis Nation of Alberta produced by the CBC. Indigenous People have huge potential to create the terms of Canada’s renewable energy future.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Traditional institutions, such as universities and <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/fisheries.html">fishery statutory authorities</a>, remain the obvious places of collaboration. However, it was the non-traditional avenues, such as Indigenous procurement initiatives at <a href="https://www.govhouse.tas.gov.au/vice-regal-news/professor-emma-lee-national-centre-reconciliation-truth-and-justice-federation">Government House</a>, that were most surprising and fruitful. </p>
<p>Indigenous-led regional development, as a fair and equitable process, is about recognizing that Indigenous Peoples want Indigenous cultural innovation to advance all sectors of society. </p>
<p>In re-shaping settler-Indigenous relationships, the emphasis here is on how self-assertion of rights has mutual gains at its heart. If renewable energy can come together to support cultural fisheries for healthier relationships, then our unique island character is retained as a strength rather than a deficit.</p>
<p>We learned and shared invaluable knowledge from a variety of stakeholders in Tasmania that have sparked ideas and creative strategies for improved relations at home in Ktaqmkuk. </p>
<p>Importantly, we know that for effective transitions to a better future and more sustainable society, the only way forward is to respect the terms of Indigenous Peoples’ regional development goals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218298/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This article follows a two-week Indigenous exchange from Newfoundland, Canada to Tasmania, Australia that received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the University of Waterloo, and the Marine Biomass Innovation Project (<a href="http://www.mbiproject.ca">www.mbiproject.ca</a>). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chief Joanne Miles is the Chief of the Flat Bay Band.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chief Peggy (Margaret) White (BA, JD, LLM) is the Chief of the Three Rivers Mi'kmaq Band. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Lee is a board director of the Land and Sea Aboriginal Corporation Tasmania and is a current recipient of the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation.</span></em></p>The lessons from Tasmania are clear. Asserting Indigenous rights in Canada can be mutually beneficial for all.Brady Reid, PhD Student, Sustainabilty Management, University of WaterlooChief Joanne Miles, Chief of the Flat Bay BandChief Peggy (Margaret) White, Chief of the Three Rivers Mi'kmaq BandEmma Lee, Professor, National Centre for Reconciliation, Truth, and Justice, Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2213482024-01-18T12:53:46Z2024-01-18T12:53:46ZTrue Detective: Night Country’s indigenous representation offers hope for decolonising television<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjZNs9FEop4">True Detective: Night Country</a>, the fourth season of the HBO/Sky drama, is a twist on its familiar neo-noir mystery format, starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as the lead detectives. It’s the first time women have been at the show’s helm.</p>
<p>The season is set in Ennis, a fictional mining town in Alaska, during a polar night. The local indigenous community, <a href="https://kikiktagruk.com/shareholders/inupiat-people/">Iñupiat</a>, (a real group of indigenous Alaskans) have formed families and social ties with incomers over the years, but their coexistence is not without hurdles. </p>
<p>The investigation of the disappearance of a group of scientists from a local research lab brings to the fore a forgotten case of the murder of an indigenous woman. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WkL7cpG2UhE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">True Detective: Night Country trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The appeal of indigenous life</h2>
<p>Cinematic descriptions of indigenous communities are usually the domain of documentary films. But in recent years, more fictional films and television shows have included indigenous motifs. For example, the acclaimed films The Wind Journeys (2009) and The Embrace of the Serpent (2015), are both directed by Ciro Guerra. </p>
<p>Films and television shows that depict indigenous characters and cultures risk overly relying on stereotypes or exaggerations for the sake of narrative. These result in <a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/02/apocalypto.html">inaccurate depictions of indigenous life</a>.</p>
<p>Part of the appeal of seeing indigenous life represented on screen is the western viewer’s longing for discovering a “forgotten spirituality” which could remedy the worries of contemporary life. But characters in True Detective: Night Country often mock or disregard indigenous viewpoints. </p>
<p>The main investigator, Liz (Foster), constantly sneers at her detective partner, native Iñupiat state trooper Evangeline (Reis), about her “spirit animal” giving her clues. </p>
<p>Evangeline, in turn, resents the dismissal of the historic investigation of the brutal murder of Annie, a native Iñupiat woman. She claims that only the disappearances of “white boys” seem to matter. Evangeline sees the removal of Annie’s tongue as a symbol of “silencing the indigenous voice”.</p>
<p>At the bottom of the matter lies the question of land ownership (“We were here before”, indigenous activists shout in one scene) and environment protection – two things most indigenous communities across the world have in common. The two groups inhabiting Ennis distrust each other and do things behind each other’s back, although their lives are inevitably entangled. </p>
<p>Although the story and location are fictional, the <a href="http://icestories.exploratorium.edu/dispatches/big-ideas/the-people-of-the-arctic/the-inupiaq-people-of-barrow-alaska/index.html">Iñupiat</a> are a real community of Alaska (“Iñupiat” actually means “real people”). </p>
<h2>The politics of indigenous representation</h2>
<p>Indigenous communities on screen often serve the function of the “other”. This means they effectively help to define the identity of the non-indigenous protagonists and audiences by showing what they are not. </p>
<p>This “otherness” focuses on their differences, and it often follows the stereotype of an unrefined victim lacking the benefits of civilisation or a “noble savage” holding forgotten secrets to lost spirituality. </p>
<p>The often mysterious symbolism of indigenous culture is used to convey the fear of the unknown. Anna Lambe, an Inuk actress who is part of the True Detective cast, <a href="https://holrmagazine.com/holr-chats-anna-lambe/">says that</a> representations of indigenous life are frequently inaccurate and deeply grounded in stereotypes. True Detective contrasts local traditions with western law enforcement and science – although the solution comes from marrying the two. </p>
<h2>Decolonising the screen</h2>
<p>In 2012 the Berlin International Film Festival introduced a <a href="https://www.berlinale.de/en/2019/topics/decolonising-the-screen-native-2019.html">“NATIVe” section</a> for indigenous filmmakers. The section allowed indigenous cinema (both fiction and non-fiction) to be part of a large international film festival. The initiative was a breakthrough, offering a high profile opportunity to screen indigenous issues. Unfortunately the section was discontinued in 2019, having not been hugely attended. </p>
<p>My own <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/25741136.2022.2056791">filmmaking projects</a>, first with the Yanesha community from the Peruvian Amazon and then with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAYah05Udxo">Arhuaco</a> from Colombia, taught me something crucial: that my vision of their ways of life is just my interpretation, filtered through years of preconceptions about indigenous peoples. </p>
<p>Watching these indigenous peoples’ own films showed me not only who they really are, but also what they think about western filmmakers who think they know how to represent them. </p>
<p>What I am impatiently waiting for is to see more indigenous filmmakers making their own representation of their culture. After all, showing a couple of animal skins or native face tattoos is not enough to claim we have decolonised television and cinema. </p>
<p>But True Detective offers a nuanced portrays of the Iñupiat. They are not “bad” nor they are “good” – they are ordinary people just like everyone else, with their own problems and valuable heritage. The show’s creators have gone beyond cheap and overused stereotypes to allow for a more realistic depiction of contemporary indigenous lives: one which is not trapped in the past but still benefits from traditional values. Let’s hope this trend continues so that we see more representations of diversity across film and television.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221348/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Agata Lulkowska does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The show’s creators have gone beyond cheap and overused stereotypes to allow for a more realistic depiction of contemporary indigenous lives.Agata Lulkowska, Senior Lecturer in Film Directing and Producing, Staffordshire UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2185662024-01-09T23:08:30Z2024-01-09T23:08:30ZHearing the voices of Indigenous people with neurodevelopmental disabilities<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/hearing-the-voices-of-indigenous-people-with-neurodevelopmental-disabilities" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Indigenous Peoples with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs) and mental health challenges are among the most marginalized groups in the country. NDDs include things like autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). </p>
<p>Research points to <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/reports/canadian-index-wellbeing-national-report">persistent health inequities</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.01.021">mental health research</a> has tended to overemphasize suicide and substance use in Indigenous populations. </p>
<p>Although their stories also tell of strengths, struggles and important community contributions, the voices of Indigenous Peoples with NDDs often go unheard. </p>
<p>A report that includes immediate and long-term calls to action was developed to shed light on the experiences of this under-represented group and create meaningful change in their lives. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://brocku.ca/thomson-lab/wp-content/uploads/sites/209/Forming-the-Circle-Indigeneity-Neurodevelopmental-Disability-Mental-Health-Sept-2023-1.pdf">Forming the Circle: 2023 Gathering on Indigeneity, Neurodevelopmental Disabilities and Mental Health</a>” was informed by a community event held last spring that brought together Indigenous community members, Knowledge Keepers and Elders, service providers, researchers and non-Indigenous allies from across Canada. </p>
<p>The report was authored by researchers from Brock University (Kendra Thomson) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health - CAMH (Louis Busch) and reflects the findings from the event and recommendations for future actions. Attendees provided feedback on the report in focus groups after the event and before the report was released.</p>
<h2>The gathering</h2>
<p><a href="https://brocku.ca/thomson-lab/2023-gathering-on-indigeneity-neurodevelopmental-disabilities-and-mental-health-in-ontario/">The gathering</a> explored how colonization, systemic discrimination and determinants of health such as food insecurity, housing and access to cultural safe services impact individuals, families and communities. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fxv1za8arlw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">At the 2023 Gathering on Indigeneity, Neurodevelopmental Disabilities and Mental Health at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, people with lived experience, traditional Knowledge Keepers, clinicians and researchers from across Canada shared knowledge and expertise.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-an-indigenous-doctor-i-see-the-legacy-of-residential-schools-and-ongoing-racism-in-todays-health-care-162048">As an Indigenous doctor, I see the legacy of residential schools and ongoing racism in today's health care</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Gathering attendees concluded that the path forward should begin with establishing a national network on Indigeneity, neurodevelopmental disabilities and mental health to take action that will enhance the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples with NDDs and mental health challenges. </p>
<p>Some of the long-term recommendations within the report call for: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The creation of programs to promote and preserve culture;</p></li>
<li><p>Partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations, with training provided to enhance the cultural safety of programs;</p></li>
<li><p>The development of culturally appropriate assessment tools and supportive programs for Indigenous Peoples with NDDs;</p></li>
<li><p>Examination of the experience of Indigenous Peoples with NDDs within the criminal justice system, youth populations, child welfare system and those impacted by environmental issues; and </p></li>
<li><p>Evaluation of the impact of incorporating traditional teachings and medicines within educational, social and health-related programs.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>JJ’s story</h2>
<p>Among those in attendance was JJ Thunder Bear Man, an Anishinaabe man who travelled almost 2,000 kilometres from Dryden to Toronto to share his story at the gathering. </p>
<p>Born in the early 1980s in a community in northern Ontario, JJ was put into the foster-care system at age five as his parents faced the realities of their experiences at <a href="https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/">residential schools</a>. </p>
<p>Adolescence came with its own challenges, with JJ getting involved in a gang and struggling with addiction. His journey toward healing and recovery began when he joined Community Living in Dryden at the age of 18. His support team helped him to connect to his culture and to community.</p>
<p>The revelation of his spirit helper, the bear, and his spirit name, Thunder Bear Man, offered a powerful lens into JJ’s path to healing and connection to culture. </p>
<p>His heartfelt desire to reconnect with his family’s language, lost over time, also added a poignant layer to his story. He recalls having to ask his sister what his mother was saying when they finally got to visit years later, as she didn’t speak English, and he couldn’t speak Ojibwe. </p>
<p>JJ’s story, not unlike other young Indigenous Peoples living with NDDs and mental health challenges, highlights the <a href="https://afn.ca/community-services/languages/">dire need for preserving language and tradition</a>. </p>
<h2>Beautiful differences</h2>
<p>JJ’s story is one that contains experiences familiar to many Indigenous Peoples with neurodevelopmental differences and mental health challenges.</p>
<p>During the event, JJ issued a plea for kindness, understanding and companionship for neurodiverse individuals within Indigenous communities, reflecting on the impact acknowledgement and support can have. </p>
<p>The importance of a supportive “strength-based” approach was a theme that emerged again and again at the gathering, stressing the need to recognize individuals’ unique contributions, accomplishments and abilities. Many participants used the term “neurodevelopmental difference” rather than disability or disorder.</p>
<p>This report is intended to mark only the start of a broader discussion, new and strengthened relationships and a collective commitment across the country to take action to improve the lives of Indigenous Peoples with beautiful differences.</p>
<p><em>We would like to acknowledge JJ Thunder Bear Man for bravely sharing his moving story with us, and his helper, Lesley Barreira of Surrey Place, for supporting him in doing so.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218566/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kendra Thomson receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louis Busch receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).</span></em></p>Although their stories often tell of strengths, struggles and important community contributions, the voices of Indigenous people with neurodevelopmental disabilities often go unheard.Kendra Thomson, Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Disability Studies, Brock UniversityLouis Busch, Community Support Specialist, Shkaabe Makwa Centre for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Wellness at CAMH, Doctoral Student, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2174272024-01-04T21:49:56Z2024-01-04T21:49:56ZCanada’s Nature Agreement underscores the need for true reconciliation with Indigenous nations<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/canadas-nature-agreement-underscores-the-need-for-true-reconciliation-with-indigenous-nations" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In late 2023, the federal government, British Columbia and the First Nations Leadership Council signed a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2023/11/government-of-canada-british-columbia-and-the-first-nations-leadership-council-sign-a-historic-tripartite-nature-conservation-framework-agreement.html">$1 billion Nature Agreement</a> to protect 30 per cent of B.C.’s lands by 2030. </p>
<p>The agreement stressed the full collaboration of Indigenous Peoples in alignment with the <a href="https://social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples/united-nations-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a>. </p>
<p>The Nature Agreement follows a series of <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/conservation/nature-legacy.html">historic federal investments</a> in nature conservation over the <a href="https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2022/12/07/protecting-more-nature-partnership-indigenous-peoples">past several years</a>. Like the previous announcements, the 2023 Nature Agreement includes funding for <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/explainer-ipcas-canada/">Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas</a>, or IPCAs.</p>
<p>Environment <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-nature-agreement-2023/">Minister Steven Guilbeault</a> stated about the agreement:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think people will look at this agreement and say, ‘OK, this is how it needs to be done going forward now in Canada’… It’s nature, it’s conservation, it’s restoration, but it’s also about reconciliation.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, despite advances in Canadian conservation policy and practice, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2023.1286970/full?&utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Human_Dynamics&id=1286970">our research</a> has shown that First Nations advancing IPCAs can still face significant challenges. </p>
<p>Unless Canadian governments meaningfully address these challenges, the reconciliatory potential of IPCAs — and new funding agreements intended to support them — will be undermined.</p>
<h2>Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas</h2>
<p>IPCAs present vast opportunities for nature conservation and reconciliation. However, they also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108271">face multiple pressures</a>. Unlike regular parks and protected areas in Canada, IPCAs are established and maintained by First Nations, Métis and Inuit governments. </p>
<p>Indigenous governments establish IPCAs under their own Indigenous laws, while some also choose to <a href="https://www.landoftheancestors.ca/">pursue protection</a> under Canadian law.</p>
<p>IPCAs are varied, but typically support ecological restoration or protection and local economic development while centring Indigenous cultures, languages, knowledge and laws. At the heart of IPCAs is Indigenous governance over lands and waters for future generations.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qnhMlk0ykMI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An overview of the Mamalilikulla Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area produced by the Mamalilikulla First Nation.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Indigenous-led conservation movement in Canada is gaining momentum along with growing awareness of how wilderness conservation has disenfranchised Indigenous Peoples through <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/chr.89.2.189">displacement</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198177">criminalization</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12600">limiting access</a>. </p>
<p>Simultaneously, efforts <a href="https://nctr.ca/records/reports/#trc-reports">to advance reconciliation</a> in Canada <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/declaration/index.html">and recognize</a> inherent <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-13.html">Indigenous rights</a> are more widespread.</p>
<p>While a few First Nations in B.C. established the first <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10745-017-9948-8">tribal parks</a> in the early 1980s, IPCAs have been emerging across the country since 2018, some with support from federal funding programs. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop15s-global-biodiversity-framework-must-advance-indigenous-led-conservation-to-halt-biodiversity-loss-by-2030-195188">COP15's Global Biodiversity Framework must advance Indigenous-led conservation to halt biodiversity loss by 2030</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In 2018, the <a href="https://www.conservation2020canada.ca/s/PA234-ICE_Report_2018_Mar_22_web.pdf">Indigenous Circle of Experts</a>, a national Indigenous-led advisory group, advocated for IPCAs as a solution for Canada to achieve its nature conservation targets while advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>Since 2018, Environment and Climate Change Canada has funded <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/explainer-ipcas-canada/">59 Indigenous-led conservation proposals</a> and a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/news/2022/12/introducing-the-new-first-nations-guardians-network.html">First Nations National Guardians Network</a>.</p>
<h2>Roadblocks to reconciliation</h2>
<p>One of the biggest challenges for IPCAs is the pressure of <a href="https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.4716">resource extraction</a>. Even once an IPCA is declared, it may not be safe from resource extraction, as was the case with <a href="https://theconversation.com/tsilhqotin-blockade-points-to-failures-of-justice-impeding-reconciliation-in-canada-120488">Dasiqox Nexwagwezʔan</a>, an IPCA in B.C.</p>
<p>Canadian governments continue to grant tenures and licences to companies for logging, mining, fish farms and other impactful activities inside IPCAs against the wishes of Indigenous nations. </p>
<p>These actions go against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and its foundational principle of free, prior and informed consent. <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/declaration/index.html">Canada</a> and <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/indigenous-people/new-relationship/united-nations-declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples">B.C.</a> have both implemented legislation on the declaration. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/joEtIUQ1MuU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video produced by the Coastal First Nations articulating the importance of IPCAs for environmental protection and justice.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This dynamic is not surprising since many Indigenous nations establish IPCAs precisely because Canadian governments do not respect their governance and decision-making authority around extractive industry.</p>
<p>Indigenous governments are sometimes forced to compensate companies by <a href="https://www.trailtimes.ca/news/proposed-qatmuk-ipca-will-involve-buyout-of-glacier-resorts-ltd-s-jumbo-tenure-5040598">buying out tenures</a> to ensure protection of their IPCAs. </p>
<p>While there are examples of <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/jumbo-glacier-deal-enshrines-indigenous-protected-area-consigns-mega-resort-to-history">tenure buyouts</a> that enabled Indigenous nations to establish IPCAs, these are extremely costly, impractical and should not be considered the norm. </p>
<p>Another option is for <a href="https://www.conservation2020canada.ca/s/PA234-ICE_Report_2018_Mar_22_web.pdf">“cooling-off periods”</a> that pause resource extraction while IPCA planning and negotiations are underway.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-conservation-funding-must-reflect-canadas-true-debt-to-first-nations-inuit-and-metis-196772">Indigenous conservation funding must reflect Canada’s true debt to First Nations, Inuit and Métis</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These challenges are particularly acute in instances where IPCAs are not designated under Canadian protected area legislation. The vast majority of Canadian governments have not created new legislation or amended existing legislation to explicitly enable the designation and protection of IPCAs. </p>
<p>This means that Indigenous governments seeking additional legal protection for their IPCAs must make do with regular protected area designations that limit Indigenous authority, even under <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2022-0217">co-management</a> arrangements.</p>
<p>Indigenous governments establishing IPCAs also face financial struggles. Previous federal investments in Indigenous-led conservation revealed high demand for funds but resulted in only a small percentage of projects getting funding, sometimes due to IPCA visions <a href="https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.4716">clashing with resource extraction aims</a>. </p>
<p>A further issue is that funding is only for IPCA establishment and not ongoing stewardship.</p>
<p>At the core of these challenges are fundamental conflicts regarding the Crown’s continued assertion of its ultimate authority. This assertion is in spite of the <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/principles-principes.html">Canadian government’s own guidance</a> for reconciliation and <a href="https://www.bcli.org/wp-content/uploads/PRIMER-3-Legal-Pluralism-in-Canada.pdf">legal pluralism</a> — including the recognition of Indigenous rights and building equal relationships with Indigenous Peoples.</p>
<h2>Systemic change will advance reconciliation</h2>
<p>Canadian governments increasingly view IPCAs as a means of meeting their conservation targets under the Convention on Biological Diversity — especially the goal of protecting 30 per cent of Canada’s lands and waters by 2030. This requires roughly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2022-0118">doubling the total protected area</a> in Canada. </p>
<p>At the recent COP28 climate conference, parties underscored the need to take action on biodiversity loss, climate change and land degradation in a “<a href="https://www.cop28.com/en/joint-statement-on-climate-nature">coherent, synergetic and holistic manner</a>.” This includes <a href="https://unfccc.int/news/cop28-agreement-signals-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-fossil-fuel-era">cutting global greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent</a>, compared to 2019, by 2030 in order to keep global warming under 1.5 C.</p>
<p>While the most recent conservation funding announcement is commendable, it is unclear how the $500 million of new federal funding, which includes previously announced funds, will be distributed. Additionally, <a href="https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-nature-agreement-2023/">internal government records</a> allegedly show that B.C. may use the agreement to avoid federal efforts to protect species at risk in the province.</p>
<p>The challenges IPCAs surface can be embraced as catalysts for reconciliation. This involves <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2020-0083">changing mindsets</a>, behaviours, practices, policies and laws at multiple scales. It is the kind of transformative work that the <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> called for in all sectors of society.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-peoples-across-the-globe-are-uniquely-equipped-to-deal-with-the-climate-crisis-so-why-are-we-being-left-out-of-these-conversations-171724">Indigenous peoples across the globe are uniquely equipped to deal with the climate crisis – so why are we being left out of these conversations?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>IPCAs offer tremendous potential for addressing the biodiversity and climate crises and repairing relationships with Indigenous Peoples. </p>
<p>As such, how Canadian governments and the conservation sector respond to the roadblocks encountered by Indigenous governments advancing IPCAs is crucial. Our responses matter not just for the success of IPCAs in supporting nature conservation, but also for advancing reconciliation in meaningful ways.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217427/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Justine Townsend received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for her doctoral research. She is affiliated with the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership and the IISAAK OLAM Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robin J. Roth receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#895-2019-1019) and is the principal investigator and co-lead of the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership. </span></em></p>Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas face significant hurdles but nevertheless remain a key way to advance reconciliation and environmental goals.Justine Townsend, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, University of British ColumbiaRobin J. Roth, Professor, Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2046132024-01-02T20:03:17Z2024-01-02T20:03:17Z‘Indigenizing’ universities means building relationships with nations and lands<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/indigenizing-universities-means-building-relationships-with-nations-and-lands" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The move in Canadian academia to “decolonize” <a href="https://www.univcan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/UC-2023-Survey-Indigenous-Education-Reconciliation-EN.pdf">or “Indigenize,” and commit to broader frameworks of reconciliation</a>, pertains to how work is done within universities, as well as how universities engage with broader communities. </p>
<p>Commitments aim to increase the visibility of Indigenous academics, including hiring of Indigenous faculty members and staff, but they are also about the visibility of Indigenous ways of being and knowing. Until fairly recently, these ways of being and knowing have been largely absent in Canadian higher education structures.</p>
<p>As part of these plans, there is often an assumption that Indigenous scholars will be better equipped to interface with local Indigenous communities, both inside and outside of universities.</p>
<p>This has meant sustained and targeted recruitment of Indigenous students and the adoption of various “Indigenous plans” and related initiatives by institutions, including at the <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/indigenous/strategic-plan/index.html">University of Alberta</a>, the <a href="https://indigenous.ubc.ca/indigenous-engagement/indigenous-strategic-plan/">University of British Columbia</a>, the <a href="https://indigenous.utoronto.ca/initiatives-protocols/">University of Toronto</a>, and my own institution, the <a href="https://www.uvic.ca/services/indigenous/plans/index.php">University of Victoria</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-decolonize-education-where-classes-are-held-matters-165937">Want to decolonize education? Where classes are held matters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But while Indigenous scholars may share clusters of values with Indigenous communities, people should not equate that with complete compatibility of worldviews and practices. It’s also not the case that Indigenous scholars somehow have easier “access” to local Indigenous communities or that we have claim to be trusted more than non-Indigenous academics. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://maxliboiron.com/">Métis scholar Max Liboiron</a> (Memorial University) cautions against these assumptions. In a critique of “decolonizing syllabi,” they refer to “<a href="https://civiclaboratory.nl/2019/08/12/decolonizing-your-syllabus-you-might-have-missed-some-steps">adding Indigenous and stir</a>.” This applies to “Indigenizing” in the academy as well. Multiple changes are needed in universities across departments, related to all faculty members, to address “Indigenization.”</p>
<h2>Plans are points of pride</h2>
<p>Reconciliation and Indigenizing plans are often points of pride for their institutions, as our Indigenous Plan is at UVic. </p>
<p>I have the honour and the distinction of being the first tenure-track Indigenous hire in my department’s 60-plus year history. I moved from the United States, as I felt the university’s commitment to supporting Indigenous initiatives set it apart from other institutions as far as being a welcoming space for me as an Indigenous person. For the most part, that has held true. </p>
<p>However, when I arrived, I found myself having to tamp down expectations. Yes, I was, and still am, excited to bring Indigenous perspectives and to engage in meaningful work inside and outside of the academy. However, I also know a much broader scope of efforts are needed to bring Indigenization to the academy in a sustainable way.</p>
<h2>Indigenous academics outside own territories</h2>
<p>Liboiron’s 2021 book <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1jhvnk1"><em>Pollution is Colonialism</em></a>, is on its face a book about plastics pollution, yet it also yields insight into how people are in “good” or “bad” relation with land. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-pollution-is-as-much-about-colonialism-as-chemicals-dont-call-me-resilient-ep-11-170696">Why pollution is as much about colonialism as chemicals — Don't Call Me Resilient EP 11</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As an Indigenous geographer, I teach extensively about relationships with land. When it comes to my presence on these lands, or when it comes to any Indigenous academic’s presence on land that is not their own, I argue that relations, and more broadly, relationships are what’s important. I refer to scholars such as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40068538">Mishuana Goeman</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/amerindiquar.40.1.0001">William Langford</a> and <a href="https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/7499">Katharine Neale</a>, who talk about the ways that Indigenous identity can be shaped and reshaped in new or different places. </p>
<p>I am Ojibwe from the <a href="https://www.llojibwe.org/">Leech Lake Nation</a>, in the U.S. My people come from the Great Lakes region more generally, and live in a <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ojibwa">wide geographical range stretching from Michigan and Ontario in the east, to Saskatchewan in the west</a>, but originally migrated from the East Coast of Turtle Island (North America). In coming to Victoria, <a href="https://www.songheesnation.ca/community/l-k-ng-n-traditional-territory">particularly Lək̓ʷəŋən</a> and <a href="https://wsanec.com/">W̱SÁNEĆ lands</a>, I am an outsider myself. </p>
<h2>Cultural responsibilities, accountabilities</h2>
<p>Although the lands I live on are not my own, I have cultural responsibilities and accountabilities that I carry with me to be a good guest. I look to scholars such as Kasey Keeler, <a href="https://beltmag.com/home-lands-indigenous-diaspora-great-lakes/">who writes about being Indigenous yet not living in our own territories</a>. </p>
<p>In order to be a good guest, connecting to local Indigenous nations is important. However, these connections are not as simple as saying, “I’m Indigenous, you’re Indigenous, let’s work together.” Rather, they are multifaceted and complex. Such connections are built through slowly establishing trust and a working relationship that ultimately upholds the resurgence of local communities, and the lands these communities live upon. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"915624255051747328"}"></div></p>
<p>We must hold true to the ideas of scholars such as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.ctt1pwt77c">Leanne Betasamosake Simpson</a>, who argues that the resurgence of Indigenous ways of being and knowing are inherently tied to land. The best way to support this is to build meaningful, lasting relationships with Indigenous nations, even if it is not to the immediate benefit of scholars and universities. </p>
<p>There may not be a grant, or a peer-reviewed publication or an accolade that comes out of building and tending to these relationships. </p>
<h2>Everyone’s work</h2>
<p>I have organizational support in this regard, as my university has instituted new tenure standards that prioritize community-engaged work, particularly in Indigenous contexts. However, this isn’t the typical way job security and tenure can be obtained. This to me, is a major obstacle in the way of truly “Indigenizing.”</p>
<p>Community-based work and building and maintaining relationships with nations whose land we live upon is at the heart of what Indigenizing is. It is not simply hiring more faculty, or putting the titles “decolonizing” and “Indigenizing” on anything that might connect to Indigenous peoples. </p>
<p>It is recognizing that we do our work on Indigenous lands, and that we must involve the peoples on whose territories we reside in meaningful and impactful ways in the work we do. </p>
<h2>Meaningful consultation</h2>
<p>There are obvious answers as to how universities should do this, such as cluster hires, and increased funding for community-engaged work with local Indigenous communities (including honoraria for community participants in work). Although it is from an American institution, South Dakota State University’s <a href="https://www.sdstate.edu/wokini">Wokini Initiative</a> provides one potential framework other institutions might learn from or adapt.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-commonwealth-universities-profited-from-indigenous-dispossession-through-land-grants-185010">How Commonwealth universities profited from Indigenous dispossession through land grants</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Structural changes are also needed. These include recognizing community-engaged work and relationship building as rigorous academic activities that are viewed with the same merit as peer-reviewed articles or large research grants. They also mean including meaningful consultation with local Indigenous communities in ways that uplift their perspectives while not burdening them with extra time and labour — and fostering respectful relations with the land itself. </p>
<p>All of these things, to me, can bring lasting Indigenization to the academy in a sustainable way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204613/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deondre Smiles does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>‘Indigenization’ across departments implies the need for consultation with local Indigenous communities and a shift towards all departments and faculty recognizing we work on Indigenous lands.Deondre Smiles, Assistant Professor of Geography, University of VictoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2176142023-12-19T13:17:06Z2023-12-19T13:17:06ZGuatemala’s anti-corruption leader-to-be could be prevented from taking office, deepening migration concerns for US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566364/original/file-20231218-17-s6fipw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C416%2C4154%2C2319&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Guatemala's President-elect Bernardo Arévalo waves to supporters. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/guatemalas-president-elect-bernardo-arevalo-waves-to-news-photo/1735484556">Orlando Estrada/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Guatemala is in the <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/guatemala-prosecutors-claim-presidential-election-203740355.html">midst of a democratic crisis</a> so severe that it may prevent the new president from taking office, as planned, on Jan. 14, 2024.</p>
<p>On Dec. 8, 2023, prosecutors and the Guatemalan Congress <a href="https://twitter.com/lahoragt/status/1733196649005035932?s=20">called for the nullification</a> of the election results. A few weeks earlier, the attorney general’s office in Guatemala <a href="https://apnews.com/article/guatemala-election-bernardo-arevalo-f7a7537e15e7f8692de8dd62ee9b666b">tried to remove</a> President-elect Bernardo Arévalo’s immunity from prosecution. The attorney general alleged that the center-left politician, who won the election on an anti-corruption ticket, made posts on social media in 2022 that encouraged students to occupy the country’s public university. In an unprecedented attempt to prevent him from assuming power, officials accused Arévalo of complicity in the takeover of the university, illicit association and damaging the country’s cultural heritage.</p>
<p>During the presidential election in September, the Public Ministry <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/guatemalan-authorities-raid-electoral-facilities-open-boxes-of-votes">raided electoral offices</a>. These actions “appear to be designed to overturn the will of the electorate and erode the democratic process,” <a href="https://www.oas.org/en/about/speech_secretary_general.asp?sCodigo=23-0037">concluded</a> the Organization of American States, a group that represents 35 countries in the region and promotes human rights, fair elections, security and economic development. </p>
<p>These developments follow a democratic backslide in Guatemala that has been going on since 2019, when the government <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46789931">expelled an anti-corruption commission</a> backed by the United Nations. </p>
<p>Ordinary Guatemalans, meanwhile, are fed up with rampant corruption and electoral interference. On Oct. 2, 2023, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/guatemala-election-protest-bernardo-arevalo-07025036d506ec51be1d7426812be1ad">thousands of protesters</a> filled the streets of Guatemala City and blockaded more than 100 roads and highways to demand respect for the election. The demonstrators represented a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/10/1204800590/after-8-days-of-peaceful-protests-in-guatemala-demonstrations-turn-violent">broad cross-section</a> of urban and rural society, including both Maya and non-Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>As a professor of history who studies <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=y9TnHZkAAAAJ&hl=en">social movements in Latin America</a>, I see the current climate of protest as part of a long history of instability and political mobilization in Guatemala. As in the past, these anti-democratic actions will likely lead more Guatemalans to migrate to the United States.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563472/original/file-20231204-29-fqy8k7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Crowd of protesters waving Guatemala flag" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563472/original/file-20231204-29-fqy8k7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563472/original/file-20231204-29-fqy8k7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563472/original/file-20231204-29-fqy8k7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563472/original/file-20231204-29-fqy8k7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563472/original/file-20231204-29-fqy8k7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563472/original/file-20231204-29-fqy8k7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563472/original/file-20231204-29-fqy8k7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protesters demand the attorney general’s resignation on Oct. 9, 2023, in Guatemala City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-demonstrate-to-demand-the-resignation-of-attorney-news-photo/1715813995">Johan Ordonez/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Civil war and kleptocracy</h2>
<p>Guatemala’s recent past is marked by violent political unrest and activism.</p>
<p>Between 1960 and 1996, the country endured a <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Unfinished_Conquest/-ojiw8UP-X0C?hl=en&gbpv=1">bloody armed conflict</a> between leftist insurgents and the army. About <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Terror_in_the_Land_of_the_Holy_Spirit/BXWwm7jo-hEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=200,000">200,000 Guatemalans were killed</a> – most of them <a href="https://hrdag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/CEHreport-english.pdf">from the Indigenous Maya population</a>. </p>
<p>The armed confrontation, which was rooted in <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/3decc9724.html">land conflicts</a> and opposition to the <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Battle_For_Guatemala/gwlQDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=popular+movement+in+guatemala+during+the+civil+war&printsec=frontcover">military dictatorship</a>, led to <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Guatemala_la_infinita_historia_de_las_re/I0MjEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">mass mobilization</a> in favor of fair working conditions and democratic rule.</p>
<p>Guatemala’s democracy in the post-1996 years was marked by <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/securing-the-city">neoliberal policies</a> that favored free market economics and privatization. It also saw the rise of a cadre of careerist politicians who, in the words of the jailed journalist <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/world/americas/jose-ruben-zamora-journalist-guatemala.html">Rubén Zamora</a>, created a “<a href="https://www.plazapublica.com.gt/content/el-hombre-que-le-susurra-al-poder-y-viceversa">kleptocracy</a>.” This system hinged on corrupt <a href="https://nacla.org/news/2015/05/19/repudiating-corruption-guatemala-revolution-or-neoliberal-outrage">political dealings</a>, nurtured <a href="https://www.wola.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Crimen-y-Violencia-GT-ENG-8.9.pdf">criminal activity</a> and perpetuated <a href="https://apnews.com/article/0b7f28a8ab5645e58fb2d708d27e3adf">high poverty levels</a>.</p>
<p>Guatemalans have taken an active – perhaps even activist – posture toward the kleptocracy. </p>
<p>In 2015, they <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2015/9/3/people-power-and-the-guatemalan-spring">took to the streets en masse</a> to protest government corruption. Their mobilization bolstered the actions of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/09/guatemala-president-otto-perez-molina-cicig-corruption-investigation">International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala</a>, or CICIG, a U.N.-backed body tasked with investigating and prosecuting crime and strengthening Guatemala’s judicial system. </p>
<p>The commission’s probe led to the prosecution of Guatemalan officials for corruption, including former President <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-president-to-prison-otto-perez-molina-and-a-day-for-hope-in-guatemala">Otto Pérez Molina</a> and former Vice President <a href="https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/guatemala-president-implicated-in-customs-fraud-scandal/">Roxana Baldetti</a>. However, the government expelled CICIG in 2019. In response, the Guatemalan public accused political elites, high-ranking bureaucrats and business leaders of forming a “<a href="https://nomada.gt/pais/la-corrupcion-no-es-normal/el-pacto-de-corruptos-2-0-resumido-en-5-puntos/">pact of the corrupt</a>” to thwart the fight against corruption.</p>
<h2>Anti-corruption candidate’s surprising win</h2>
<p>Guatemala’s 2023 general elections were held amid this fragile political climate. </p>
<p>In the weeks leading up to election day, the constitutional court, on what <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/24/americas/guatemala-elections-president-corruption-intl-latam/index.html">critics say</a> were questionable grounds, disqualified two rising political outsiders: <a href="https://nacla.org/thelma-cabrera-we-are-fighting-plurinational-state-and-well-being-peoples">Thelma Cabrera</a>, an Indigenous leftist candidate, and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/guatemala-elections-carlos-pineda-df6ee50218f10b5fc8398a7531ea2d39">Carlos Pineda</a>, a conservative businessman and populist who gained a large following on social media. </p>
<p>This judicial meddling in the electoral process, however, opened the way for another political outsider, <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/primavera-democratica-conversation-president-elect-bernardo-arevalo-guatemala">Bernardo Arévalo</a> of the left-of-center <a href="https://arevalopresidente.com/">Seed Movement party</a>. An increasing number of Guatemalans, including young voters, saw Arévalo and his <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/137QmBdLM70p_5ZhTsAYffbin--URNfcZ/view">anti-corruption platform</a> as an alternative to establishment candidates such as former first lady <a href="https://apnews.com/article/guatemala-election-sandra-torres-74ce43addf2ec3f36f356fd034546cc0">Sandra Torres</a>, who led most polls in the weeks before the election.</p>
<p>The election results <a href="https://elfaro.net/es/202307/columnas/26958/la-primera-vuelta-en-guatemala-marco-record-en-latinoamerica">sent shock waves</a> through the political system. Arévalo received 11.8% of the general vote, second only to Torres’ 15.9%. Because no candidate received a majority, a runoff election was held on Aug. 20. Arévalo won handily with <a href="https://segundaeleccion.trep.gt/#!/tc1/ENT">58% of the vote</a> compared with Torres’ 37%. </p>
<p>Arévalo is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/guatemalas-unlikely-presidential-victor-follows-fathers-footsteps-2023-08-21/">not a political neophyte</a>. He has served as a diplomat and currently occupies a seat in Congress. He is also the son of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/08/obituaries/juan-jose-arevalo-is-dead-at-86-guatemala-president-in-late-40-s.html">Juan José Arévalo</a>, the country’s first democratically elected president.</p>
<h2>Guatemalans take to streets</h2>
<p>After the election, political elites, including members of Torres’ National Unity of Hope party and President Alejandro Giammattei’s Vamos party, alleged – <a href="https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2023/07/10/corte-suprema-guatemala-tribunal-electoral-resultados-elecciones-presidenciales-orix/">incorrectly</a>, it turned out – that the electoral software <a href="https://elpais.com/internacional/2023-07-02/la-sala-constitucional-de-guatemala-suspende-la-oficializacion-de-los-resultados-electorales-y-ordena-depurarlos.html">had favored Arévalo’s candidacy</a>. They attempted to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/guatemala-election-court-president-35acfbf1a26f905c99f4e05b4578c288">stop the results</a> from being made official.</p>
<p>More consequently, the Public Ministry, led by Attorney General Consuelo Porras, accused Arévalo’s party of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/guatemala-attorney-general-determined-block-arevalo-office-sources-2023-10-19/">using false signatures</a> during its registration process. It contended that up to 100 out of the 25,000 signatures required for registration were falsified. On July 21, one month before the runoff election, Public Ministry officials <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/21/guatemala-police-raid-office-of-semilla-presidential-candidate">raided the Seed Movement’s headquarters</a> and asked a judge to suspend the party. </p>
<p>Despite Arévalo’s resounding victory on Aug. 20, the Public Ministry continued to try to suspend his party. On Sept. 29, it took the unprecedented action of <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/guatemalan-authorities-raid-electoral-facilities-open-boxes-of-votes">raiding the offices of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal</a>, the highest electoral authority.</p>
<p>Disgusted by this interference in the electoral process and fearful over the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/11/13/1212635508/guatemala-president-elect-bernardo-arevalo-interview">prospect of a coup</a>, Guatemalans took to the streets. The protests that began on Oct. 2 <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/10/1204800590/after-8-days-of-peaceful-protests-in-guatemala-demonstrations-turn-violent">brought the country to a standstill</a> for more than 10 days and united the urban and rural population.</p>
<p>Echoing a long-standing <a href="https://www.unmpress.com/9780826348661/for-every-indio-who-falls/">history of Indigenous activism</a> in Guatemala, prominent Indigenous groups such as the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=222887414099385">Peasant Committee for Development</a> and the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/11/guatemalas-indigenous-leaders-take-to-the-street-in-nationwide-protests">48 Cantones of Totonicapán</a> played a vital role in the protests. Indigenous people, who make up nearly half of Guatemala’s population, face <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/guatemala/overview">high poverty rates</a>, <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/guatemala/our-work/health-and-nutrition">poor access to health care</a> and environmental degradation of their lands caused by <a href="https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/extractive-industries-in-guatemala-historic-maya-resistance-movements/">mining and hydroelectric projects</a>. </p>
<p>For many Indigenous voters, the election interference highlighted the relationship between government corruption and their socioeconomic inequality. The central role of Indigenous communities in the protests signaled a new grassroots movement with the potential of replicating the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X8000700212">multiracial and multiclass coalitions</a> that had emerged during the armed conflict in the 1970s.</p>
<h2>Key driver of migration</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/04/19/report-on-the-u-s-strategy-for-addressing-the-root-causes-of-migration-in-central-america/">U.S. officials</a> and <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/guatemala/migration#:%7E:text=Corruption%3A,migrate%20among%20victims%20of%20corruption.">agencies</a> report that political corruption in Guatemala is a <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/guatemala/migration#:%7E:text=Corruption%3A,migrate%20among%20victims%20of%20corruption">root cause of migration</a>. In 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended more than <a href="https://sgp.fas.org/crs/row/IF11151.pdf">200,000</a> Guatemalans trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.</p>
<p>Guatemalans themselves understand all too well how kleptocracy reinforces the country’s social ills. They realize that democratic backsliding not only may prevent Arévalo from assuming the presidency, but it can also rob their communities of resources needed to <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/guatemala/our-work/health-and-nutrition#:%7E:text=More%20than%20six%20million%20people,basic%20health%20and%20nutrition%20services.">strengthen health care</a>, <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/guatemala/our-work/education">improve education</a>, <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/guatemala/overview#:%7E:text=Poverty%20is%20estimated%20at%2055.2,at%2049%20percent%20of%20GDP">create jobs</a>, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/lac/en/stories/guatemala-search-cases-child-malnutrition-are-hidden-pandemic">reduce malnutrition</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/hungry-desperate-climate-change-fuels-migration-crisis-guatemala-rcna2135">fight climate change</a>. Without these improvements, many will <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/lens/central-americans-migrate-united-states.html">continue to migrate</a>, despite the many perils of doing so.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217614/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bonar Hernández Sandoval does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Anti-democratic actions and government corruption are key reasons many Guatemalans migrate to the US.Bonar Hernández Sandoval, Associate Professor of History, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2198942023-12-15T19:26:46Z2023-12-15T19:26:46ZPaying people to replant tropical forests − and letting them harvest the timber − can pay off for climate, justice and environment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565848/original/file-20231214-23-sya0my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C3300%2C2183&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Planting trees on deforested lands in Panama.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://stri.si.edu/facility/agua-salud">Jorge Aleman/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tropical forest landscapes are home to millions of <a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/worlds-transformed-indigenous-peoples-health-changing">Indigenous peoples</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0905455107">small-scale farmers</a>. Just about <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/11/10/9698574/africa-diversity-map">every square meter of land</a> is spoken for, even if claims are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00847-w">not formally recognized by governments</a>.</p>
<p>These local landholders hold the key to a valuable solution as the world tries to slow climate change – restoring deforested tropical landscapes for a healthier future.</p>
<p>Tropical forests are <a href="https://eos.org/editors-vox/why-tropical-forests-are-important-for-our-well-being">vital to Earth’s climate and biodiversity</a>, <a href="https://phys.org/news/2023-06-football-pitch-tropical-forest-lost.html">but a soccer field-size area</a> of mature tropical forest is burned or cut down about every 5 seconds to clear space for crops and cattle today.</p>
<p>While those trees may be lost, the land still has potential. Tropical forests’ combination of year-round sunshine and high rainfall can lead to high growth rates, suggesting that areas where tropical forests once grew could be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501639">valuable sites for reforestation</a>. In fact, a host of <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement">international agreements</a> and <a href="https://www.bonnchallenge.org/">declarations</a> envision just this.</p>
<p>For reforestation projects to make a dent in climate change, however, they have to work with and for the people who live there.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=t3-IBx0AAAAJ&hl=en">forest</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6fq4FOEAAAAJ&hl=en">ecologists</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5SejyLsAAAAJ&hl=en">involved in</a> tropical forest restoration, we have been studying effective ways to compensate people for the ecosystem services flowing from their land. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43861-4">new study</a>, we show how compensation that also allows landholders to harvest and sell some of the trees could provide powerful incentives and ultimately benefit everyone.</p>
<h2>The extraordinary value of ecosystem services</h2>
<p>Tropical forests are celebrated for their extraordinary biodiversity, with their preservation seen as <a href="https://eos.org/editors-vox/why-tropical-forests-are-important-for-our-well-being">essential for protecting life on Earth</a>. They are reservoirs of vast carbon stocks, slowing down climate change. However, when tropical forests are cleared and burned, they release <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1354">copious amounts of carbon dioxide</a>, a greenhouse gas that drives climate change.</p>
<p>Programs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705503104">offering payments</a> for <a href="https://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.html">ecosystem services</a> are designed to help keep those forests and other ecosystems healthy by compensating landholders for goods and services produced by nature that are often taken for granted. For example, forests <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2013WR013956">moderate stream flows and reduce flood risks</a>, support <a href="https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=ca9433en#">bees and other pollinators</a> that benefit neighboring croplands, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1155121">help regulate climate</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Deforested hills seen from the air, with the light green coloring of newly planted saplings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565819/original/file-20231214-21-2o4y9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565819/original/file-20231214-21-2o4y9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565819/original/file-20231214-21-2o4y9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565819/original/file-20231214-21-2o4y9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565819/original/file-20231214-21-2o4y9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565819/original/file-20231214-21-2o4y9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565819/original/file-20231214-21-2o4y9s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tropical forests burned or clear-cut can be restored, like these newly planted (upper left) and naturally regrowing (lower right) watersheds at Agua Salud in Panama.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marcos Guerra/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In recent years, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2023.958879">cottage industry</a> has grown up around paying people to reforest land for the carbon it can hold. It has been driven in part by corporations and other institutions looking for ways to meet their commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions by paying projects to reduce or prevent emissions elsewhere.</p>
<p>Early iterations of projects that pay landholders for ecosystem services <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2015.06.001">have been criticized</a> for focusing too much on economic efficiency, sometimes at the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biu146">expense of social and environmental concerns</a>.</p>
<p>Win-win solutions – where environmental and social concerns are both accounted for – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/701698">may not be the most economically efficient</a> in the short term, but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/nrm.12219">they can lead to longer-term sustainability</a> as participants feel a sense of pride and responsibility for the project’s success. </p>
<p>That longer-term sustainability is essential for trees’ carbon storage, because many decades of growth is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10311-023-01598-y">required to build up stored carbon</a> and combat climate change. </p>
<h2>Why timber can be a triple win</h2>
<p>In the study, we looked at <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43861-4">ways to maximize all three priorities</a> – environmental, economic and social benefits – in forest restoration, focusing on infertile land.</p>
<p>It may come as a surprise, but most soils in the tropics are <a href="https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-1515-2010">extraordinarily infertile</a>, with concentrations of phosphorus and other essential nutrients an order of magnitude or more lower than in crop-producing areas of the northern hemisphere. This makes restoring tropical forests through reforestation <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/phantom-forests-tree-planting-climate-change">more complex</a> than simply planting trees – these areas also require maintenance.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Looking up from the base of a tall tree toward its crown and the sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565865/original/file-20231214-29-d2seiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565865/original/file-20231214-29-d2seiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565865/original/file-20231214-29-d2seiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565865/original/file-20231214-29-d2seiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565865/original/file-20231214-29-d2seiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565865/original/file-20231214-29-d2seiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565865/original/file-20231214-29-d2seiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Species like <em>Terminalia amazonia</em>, valuable for commercial logging, can grow quickly, storing carbon in their wood as they grow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://stri.si.edu/facility/agua-salud">Andres Hernandez/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In our study we used some 1.4 million tree measurements taken over 15 years at the <a href="https://stri.si.edu/">Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute</a>’s <a href="https://stri.si.edu/facility/agua-salud">Agua Salud</a> site in Panama to project carbon sequestration and potential timber revenues. We looked at naturally regrowing forests, native tree species plantations and an effort to rehabilitate a failed teak plantation by planting high-value native trees known to grow on low-fertility soils <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/ffgc.2022.925877">to test routes to profitability</a>.</p>
<p>One set of solutions stood out: We found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/701698">giving landholders</a> both payments for carbon storage and the ability to generate revenue through timber production on the land could lead to vibrant forests and financial gains for the landholder.</p>
<p>It may seem counterintuitive to suggest timber harvesting when the goal is to restore forests, but allowing landholders to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-022-09906-0">generate timber revenue</a> can give them an incentive to protect and manage planted forests over time.</p>
<p>Regrowing trees on a deforested landscape, whether natural regrowth or plantations, is a net win for climate change, as trees take <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-021-01379-4">vast amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere</a>. New forests that are selectively logged or plantations that are harvested in 30 to 80 years can help slow climate change while the world cuts emissions and expands carbon capture technologies.</p>
<h2>Reliable payments matter</h2>
<p>The structure of the payments is also important. We found that reliable annual carbon payments to rural landlords to regrow forests could match or surpass the income they might otherwise get from clearing land for cattle, thus making the transition to raising trees possible.</p>
<p>When cash payments are based instead on measurements of tree growth, they can vary widely year to year and among planting strategies. With the costs involved, that can stand in the way of effective land management to combat climate change.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three charts, all rising swiftly in the first 10 years but then declining." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565623/original/file-20231213-15-x4pbb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565623/original/file-20231213-15-x4pbb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565623/original/file-20231213-15-x4pbb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565623/original/file-20231213-15-x4pbb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565623/original/file-20231213-15-x4pbb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565623/original/file-20231213-15-x4pbb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565623/original/file-20231213-15-x4pbb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A chart of three different types of forest restoration shows how variable payments for carbon storage would be if they were based on measured growth rather than average growth over 30 years. When payments decline over time, the incentive to nurture and protect those forests disappears. The blue line represents a flat payment of US$130 per hectare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43861-4">Agua Salud/Smithsonian Institution</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using flat annual payments instead guarantees a stable income and will help encourage more landholders to enroll. We are now using that method in Panama’s Indigenous <a href="https://stri.si.edu/story/indigenous-reforestation">Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca</a>. The project pays residents to plant and nurture native trees over 20 years.</p>
<h2>Shifting risk to buyers of carbon offsets</h2>
<p>From a practical perspective, flat annual carbon payments and other cost-sharing strategies to plant trees shift the burden of risk from participants to carbon buyers, often companies in wealthy countries.</p>
<p>The landholders get paid even if actual growth of the trees falls short, and everyone benefits from the ecosystem services provided.</p>
<p>While win-win solutions may not initially appear to be economically efficient, our work helps to illustrate a viable path forward – where environmental, social and economic objectives can be met.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jefferson S. Hall receives funding from the US government via the Smithsonian Institution, Stanly Motta, Frank and Kristin Levinson, the Hoch family, U-Trust, and the Mark and Rachel Rohr Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine Sinacore receives funding from the Mark and Rachel Rohr Foundation, Stanly Motta, Frank and Kristin Levinson, the Hoch family, and the Smithsonian.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michiel van Breugel receives funding from Singapore’s Ministry of Education and the Future Cities Lab Global Program of the ETH-Singapore Centre, which is funded by National Research Foundation Singapore.</span></em></p>It might seem counterintuitive to suggest timber harvesting when the goal is to restore forests, but that gives landholders the economic incentive to protect and manage forests over time.Jefferson S. Hall, Staff Scientist and Director, Agua Salud Project, Smithsonian InstitutionKatherine Sinacore, Postdoctoral Fellow, Agua Salud Project, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Smithsonian InstitutionMichiel van Breugel, Associate Professor of Environmental Science, National University of SingaporeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2188722023-12-12T18:01:46Z2023-12-12T18:01:46ZArctic Report Card 2023: From wildfires to melting sea ice, the warmest summer on record had cascading impacts across the Arctic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564907/original/file-20231211-25-r8pwap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5982%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Giovanna Stevens grew up harvesting salmon at her family’s fish camp on Alaska's Yukon River. Climate change is interrupting hunting and fishing traditions in many areas.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/aYukonRiverDisappearingSalmon/fa2665d81c31479a916a237985eec432/photo">AP Photo/Nathan Howard</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The year 2023 shattered the record for the <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/">warmest summer in the Arctic</a>, and people and ecosystems across the region felt the impact. </p>
<p>Wildfires forced evacuations <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/151985/tracking-canadas-extreme-2023-fire-season">across Canada</a>. Greenland was so warm that a research station <a href="https://nsidc.org/ice-sheets-today/analyses/sudden-shift-southern-heat">at the ice sheet summit</a> recorded melting in late June, only its fifth melting event on record. <a href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/surface-air-temperature-august-2023">Sea surface temperatures</a> in the Barents, Kara, Laptev and Beaufort seas were 9 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit (5 to 7 degrees Celsius) above normal in August. </p>
<p>While reliable instrument measurements go back only to around 1900, it’s almost certain this was the Arctic’s hottest summer in centuries.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A map shows Arctic temperatures in 2023 and a chart shows changing heat over time." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564698/original/file-20231210-27-qjqbgc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564698/original/file-20231210-27-qjqbgc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564698/original/file-20231210-27-qjqbgc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564698/original/file-20231210-27-qjqbgc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564698/original/file-20231210-27-qjqbgc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1120&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564698/original/file-20231210-27-qjqbgc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1120&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564698/original/file-20231210-27-qjqbgc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1120&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Summer heat extremes in 2023 and over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/">NOAA, Arctic Report Card 2023</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The year started out unusually wet, and snow accumulation during the winter of 2022-23 was above average across much the Arctic. But by May, high spring temperatures had left the <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/terrestrial-snow-cover-2023/">North American snowpack at a record low</a>, exposing ground that quickly warmed and dried, fueling lightning-sparked fires across Canada.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/">2023 Arctic Report Card</a>, released Dec. 12, we brought together 82 Arctic scientists from around the world to assess the Arctic’s vital signs, the changes underway and their effects on lives across the region and around the world.</p>
<h2>Heat’s cascading effects throughout the Arctic</h2>
<p>In an area as large as the Arctic, setting a new temperature record for a season by two-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit (0.1 degrees Celsius) of warming would be significant. Summer 2023 – July, August and September – <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/">shattered the previous record</a>, set in 2016, by four times that. Temperatures almost everywhere in the Arctic were above normal.</p>
<p>A closer look at <a href="https://www.gov.nt.ca/en/newsroom/shane-thompson-historic-2023-wildfire-season">events in Canada’s Northwest Territories</a> shows how rising air temperature, sea ice decline and warming water temperature feed off one another in a warming climate.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A map shows 2023 spring snow cover duration. A chart shows Arctic snow cover falling since the 1980s." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564696/original/file-20231210-23-a3z2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564696/original/file-20231210-23-a3z2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564696/original/file-20231210-23-a3z2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564696/original/file-20231210-23-a3z2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564696/original/file-20231210-23-a3z2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1300&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564696/original/file-20231210-23-a3z2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564696/original/file-20231210-23-a3z2r8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1300&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arctic snow cover in 2023 and over time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/">NOAA, Arctic Report Card 2023</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/">winter snow cover melted early</a> across large parts of northern Canada, providing an extra month for the Sun to heat up the exposed ground. The heat and lack of moisture dried out organic matter on and just below the surface; by November, <a href="https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/report">70,000 square miles</a> (180,000 square kilometers) had burned across Canada, about a fifth of it in the Northwest Territories. </p>
<p>The very warm weather in May and June 2023 in the Northwest Territories also <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/">heated up the mighty Mackenzie River</a>, which sent massive amounts of warm water into the Beaufort Sea to the north. The warm water melted the sea ice early, and currents also carried it west toward Alaska, where Mackenzie River water contributed to early sea ice loss along most of Northeast Alaska and to increased tundra vegetation growth.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A map shows Arctic sea surface temperatures in 2023 and a chart shows temperatures rising over time." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564695/original/file-20231210-21-9359yk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564695/original/file-20231210-21-9359yk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564695/original/file-20231210-21-9359yk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564695/original/file-20231210-21-9359yk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1050&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564695/original/file-20231210-21-9359yk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1320&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564695/original/file-20231210-21-9359yk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564695/original/file-20231210-21-9359yk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1320&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sea surface temperatures have been rising.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/">NOAA, Arctic Report Card 2023</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similar warmth in western Siberia also contributed to quickly melting sea ice and to high sea surface temperatures in the Kara and Laptev seas north of Russia. </p>
<p>The Arctic’s declining sea ice has been a big contributor to the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2011.03.004">tremendous increase in average fall temperatures</a> across the region. Dark open water absorbs the sun’s rays during the summer and, in the autumn, acts as a heating pad, releasing heat back into the atmosphere. Even thin sea ice can greatly limit this heat transfer and allow dramatic cooling of air just above the surface, but the past 17 years have seen the <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/arctic-sea-ice/">lowest sea ice extents</a> on record.</p>
<h2>Subsea permafrost: A wild card for climate</h2>
<p>The report includes <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/">12 essays</a> exploring the effects of climate and ecosystem changes across the Arctic and how communities are adapting. One is a wake-up call about the risks in subsea permafrost, a potentially dangerous case of “out of sight, out of mind.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/672770">Subsea permafrost</a> is frozen soil in the ocean floor that is rich in organic matter. It has been gradually thawing since it was submerged after Northern Hemisphere ice sheets retreated thousands of years ago. Today, warmer ocean temperatures are <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/">likely accelerating the thawing</a> of this hidden permafrost.</p>
<p>Just as with permafrost on land, when subsea permafrost thaws, the organic matter it contains decays and releases methane and carbon dioxide – greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and worsen ocean acidification.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564666/original/file-20231210-25-jz5ezj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map shows most subsea permafrost off Siberia but also some off Alaska and Canada." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564666/original/file-20231210-25-jz5ezj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564666/original/file-20231210-25-jz5ezj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564666/original/file-20231210-25-jz5ezj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564666/original/file-20231210-25-jz5ezj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564666/original/file-20231210-25-jz5ezj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564666/original/file-20231210-25-jz5ezj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564666/original/file-20231210-25-jz5ezj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Known permafrost zones in the Northern Hemisphere. Greens are subsea permafrost.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.grida.no/resources/13519">GRID-Arendal/Nunataryuk</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scientists estimate that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jc014675">nearly 1 million square miles</a> (2.5 million square kilometers) of subsea permafrost remains, but with little research outside the Beaufort Sea and Kara Sea, no one knows how soon it may release its greenhouse gases or how intense the warming effects will be.</p>
<h2>Salmon, reindeer and human lives</h2>
<p>For many people living in the Arctic, climate change is already disrupting lives and livelihoods.</p>
<p><a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/">Indigenous observers describe changes</a> in the sea ice that many people rely on for both subsistence hunting and coastal protection from storms. They have noted <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/30d30ab062ea4aadb39b3734dd7770ae">shifts in wind patterns</a> and increasingly intense ocean storms. On land, rising temperatures are making river ice less reliable for travel, and thawing permafrost is sinking roads and destabilizing homes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564028/original/file-20231206-29-r7k3zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map with disasters and indicators of trouble in a warming Arctic." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564028/original/file-20231206-29-r7k3zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564028/original/file-20231206-29-r7k3zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564028/original/file-20231206-29-r7k3zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564028/original/file-20231206-29-r7k3zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564028/original/file-20231206-29-r7k3zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564028/original/file-20231206-29-r7k3zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564028/original/file-20231206-29-r7k3zu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Highlights from the Arctic Report Card 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/">NOAA, Arctic Report Card 2023</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Obvious and dramatic changes are happening within human lifetimes, and they cut to the core of Indigenous cultures to the point that people are having to change how they put food on the table.</p>
<p>Western Alaska communities that rely on Chinook salmon saw another year of extreme low numbers of returning adult salmon in 2023, scarcity that disrupts both <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/es-11972-260116">cultural practices and food security</a>. Yukon River Chinook have <a href="https://www.aykssi.org/wp-content/uploads/1615-AYK_SSI-EQ-Expert-Panel-Report-Illustrated-Summary-April-2020.pdf">decreased in size</a> by about 6% since the 1970s, and they’re producing fewer offspring. Then, in 2019, the year when many of this year’s returning Chinook salmon were born, exceptionally warm river water killed many of the young. </p>
<p>The returning Chinook salmon population has been so small during the past two years that <a href="https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/applications/dcfnewsrelease/1499128659.pdf">fisheries have been closed</a> even for subsistence harvest, which is the highest priority, in hopes that the salmon population recovers.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1a36">inability to fish, or to hunt</a> seals because the sea ice has thinned, is not just a food issue. Time spent at fish camps is <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2021/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-food-access-for-alaska-natives-in-2020/">critical for many Alaska Indigenous cultures</a> and traditions, and kids are increasingly missing out on that experience. </p>
<p>As Indigenous communities adapt to ecosystem changes, people are also working to heal their landscapes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in colorful jacket and hat stands surrounded by dozens of reindeer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564916/original/file-20231211-21-nsrchx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564916/original/file-20231211-21-nsrchx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564916/original/file-20231211-21-nsrchx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564916/original/file-20231211-21-nsrchx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564916/original/file-20231211-21-nsrchx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564916/original/file-20231211-21-nsrchx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564916/original/file-20231211-21-nsrchx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Sámi reindeer herder in traditional clothes counts new calves while preparing the herd for the arduous winter months.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sami-reindeer-herder-in-traditional-brightly-coloured-news-photo/535053696">In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Finland, an <a href="https://arctic.noaa.gov/report-card/report-card-2023/peatlands-and-associated-boreal-forests-of-finland-under-restoration/">effort to restore damaged reindeer habitat</a> in collaboration with Sámi reindeer herders is helping to preserve their way of life. For many decades, commercial logging was allowed to tear up hundreds to thousands of square miles of reindeer peatland habitat. </p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/w_DUAzQMH_w?feature=shared">The Sámi</a> and their partners are working to replant turf and rewild 125,000 acres (52,000 hectares) of peatlands for reindeer grazing. Degraded peatlands <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00547-x">also release greenhouse gases</a>, contributing to climate change. Keeping them healthy helps capture and store carbon away from the atmosphere.</p>
<p>Temperatures in the Arctic have been rising <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00498-3">more than three times faster</a> than the global average, so it’s not surprising that the Arctic saw its warmest summer and sixth warmest year on record. The 2023 Arctic Report Card is a reminder of what’s a stake, both the risks as the planet warms and the lives and cultures already being disrupted by climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218872/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Thoman receives funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for serving as an editor for the Arctic Report Card.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew L. Druckenmiller receives funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for serving as an editor for the Arctic Report Card.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Twila A. Moon receives funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for serving as an editor for the Arctic Report Card.</span></em></p>The early heat melted snow and warmed rivers, heating up the land and downstream ocean areas. The effects harmed salmon fisheries, melted sea ice and fueled widespread fires.Rick Thoman, Alaska Climate Specialist, University of Alaska FairbanksMatthew L. Druckenmiller, Research Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado BoulderTwila A. Moon, Deputy Lead Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2178862023-12-07T13:28:32Z2023-12-07T13:28:32ZWhy dozens of North American bird species are getting new names: Every name tells a story<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563741/original/file-20231205-19-huatts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C2193%2C1462&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Birders participate in the Christmas Bird Count on Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington, D.C., Dec. 16, 2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/diana-handy-looks-at-a-bird-during-the-christmas-bird-count-news-photo/893985384">Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This winter, tens of thousands of birders will survey winter bird populations for the National Audubon Society’s <a href="https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count">Christmas Bird Count</a>, part of an international bird census, powered by volunteers, that has taken place every year since 1900.</p>
<p>For many birders, participating in the count is a much-anticipated annual tradition. Tallying birds and compiling results with others connects birders to local, regional and even national birding communities. Comparing this year’s results with previous tallies links birders to past generations. And scientists <a href="https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count/christmas-bird-count-bibliography">use the data</a> to assess whether bird populations are thriving or declining.</p>
<p>But a change is coming. On Nov. 1, 2023, the American Ornithological Society <a href="https://americanornithology.org/american-ornithological-society-will-change-the-english-names-of-bird-species-named-after-people/">announced</a> that it will rename 152 bird species that have names honoring historical figures. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563952/original/file-20231206-15-8ztay4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A gray-blue bird with black markings perches on a branch, eating a berry." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563952/original/file-20231206-15-8ztay4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563952/original/file-20231206-15-8ztay4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563952/original/file-20231206-15-8ztay4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563952/original/file-20231206-15-8ztay4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563952/original/file-20231206-15-8ztay4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563952/original/file-20231206-15-8ztay4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563952/original/file-20231206-15-8ztay4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Townsend’s Solitaire, one of the species to be renamed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jared Del Rosso</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Soon, Christmas bird counters will no longer find Cooper’s hawks hunting songbirds. They won’t scan marshes for Wilson’s snipes. And here in Colorado’s Front Range, where I’ll participate in a local count, we’ll no longer encounter one of my favorite winter visitors, Townsend’s solitaires. </p>
<p>New names will take the place of these eponymous ones. With those new names will come new ways of understanding these birds and their histories.</p>
<h2>Names matter</h2>
<p>In my time birding over the past decade, learning birds’ names helped me recognize the species I encounter every day, as well as the ones that migrate past me. So I understand that it may not be easy to persuade people to accept new names for so many familiar North American species. </p>
<p>But as a <a href="https://jdelrosso.com/">scholar of politics, culture and denial</a>, I also know that language shapes our understanding of history and violence. This includes bird names, as I’ve learned through my ongoing research into <a href="https://lonesomewhippoorwill.com/the-book/">one iconic species’ place in American culture</a>: the Eastern whip-poor-will. </p>
<p>Eastern whip-poor-wills are nocturnal birds who nest in forests of the eastern U.S. and Canada. English colonialists named the species for their <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Whip-poor-will/sounds">distinct, repetitive call</a>, which sounds like a malicious command to inflict punishment: “Whip poor Will, whip poor Will, whip poor Will.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jIxfVSS_65o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">An Eastern Whip-poor-will’s distinctive call.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This naming had consequences. Generations of <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Whip_Poor_Will_A_Series_of_Engraving/bByLdRHWi3UC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP11&printsec=frontcover">poets</a> and naturalists, like <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Writings_of_John_Muir_The_story_of_m/VMtPacVUW6IC">John Muir</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Tommy_Anne_and_the_Three_Hearts/NzVAAAAAYAAJ">Mabel Osgood Wright</a>, associated the species with whippings. Their writings often tell us as much about 19th and early-20th century Americans’ views of morality and punishment than about this remarkable bird.</p>
<h2>What’s wrong with eponymous names</h2>
<p>The whip-poor-will’s name translates the species’ song, leaving room for interpretation. Eponymous names based on a specific person, like Audubon’s oriole or Townsend’s solitaire, are less descriptive. Even so, these names <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12984">shape how people relate</a> to birds and the history of ornithology.</p>
<p>Many of these names honor people, usually white men, who engaged in racist acts. For example, <a href="https://www.audubon.org/news/the-myth-john-james-audubon">John James Audubon owned slaves</a>, and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5403/oregonhistq.115.3.0324">John Kirk Townsend robbed skulls from Native American graves</a>. Changing these names helps separate birds from this harmful, exclusionary history. </p>
<p>But for multiple reasons, the American Ornithological Society is <a href="https://americanornithology.org/about/english-bird-names-project/english-bird-names-committee-recommendations/#recommendation-1">changing all eponymous names</a>, not just those linked to problematic historical figures. First, the organization decided that it did not want to make judgments about which historical figures were honor-worthy. Second, it recognized that all eponymous names imply human ownership over birds. Third, it acknowledged that eponymous names do not describe the birds they name.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CQWTQTUghrr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\u0026igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Change as a constant</h2>
<p>While birders certainly will have learning to do once these changes become official, change is a constant in how people relate to birds. </p>
<p>Consider the technologies birders use. In the early 20th century, binoculars became more affordable and readily available. As <a href="https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/history/profile/thomas-r-dunlap/">Texas A&M historian Thomas Dunlap</a> <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/in-the-field-among-the-feathered-9780199734597">has shown</a>, this helps explains why birders now “collect” birds by spotting them, rather than by shooting them, as Audubon and others of his time did.</p>
<p>Field guides, too, have come a long way. Early guides often relied on dense written descriptions. Today, birders carry compact, smartly illustrated guides, or we use smartphones to check digital guides, share sightings and <a href="https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/merlin-sound-id-project-overview/">identify birds from audio recordings</a>. </p>
<p>Names, too, have long been open to revision. When the American Ornithological Union, the predecessor of today’s American Ornithological Society, created an <a href="https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/16484#page/6/mode/1up">official list of bird names in 1886</a>, it erased untold numbers of Indigenous names, as well as local folk names.</p>
<p>Since then, some names have come into use and others have fallen out of fashion, especially as ornithologists lump and split species. Consider the ongoing adventure of just one species: <a href="https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Snipe/overview">Wilson’s snipe</a>, a round marsh bird whose name will be among those changed. </p>
<p>In the American Ornithological Union’s original checklist of North American birds, Wilson’s snipes were a distinct species from the Common snipes of Europe and Asia. Then, in the mid-1940s, the Union decided the two were one, and Wilson’s snipes became Common snipes. In 2000, the Common snipe was split back into two species, and Wilson’s snipes again became Wilson’s snipes. </p>
<p>Either way, many early accounts of the North American species simply call these birds “Snipes.” This is the name Alexander Wilson, for whom the bird is named, himself used in <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Ornithology_Or_The_Natural_Hist/V1BHAAAAYAAJ">his account of them</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562836/original/file-20231130-25-ujzawe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Watercolor of three brown and white snipes, a type of shorebird, in a marsh." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562836/original/file-20231130-25-ujzawe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/562836/original/file-20231130-25-ujzawe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562836/original/file-20231130-25-ujzawe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562836/original/file-20231130-25-ujzawe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562836/original/file-20231130-25-ujzawe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562836/original/file-20231130-25-ujzawe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/562836/original/file-20231130-25-ujzawe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">John James Audubon’s illustration of American snipes, from ‘Birds of America.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/american-snipe">Courtesy of the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, Montgomery County Audubon Collection, and Zebra Publishing</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Names reflect new knowledge and values</h2>
<p>Science has greatly expanded human understanding of birds in recent decades. We now recognize that birds are <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-crows-really-that-clever-212914">intelligent</a>, with rich <a href="https://theconversation.com/laughs-cries-and-deception-birds-emotional-lives-are-just-as-complicated-as-ours-69471">emotional lives</a>. Radar, lightweight transmitters and satellite telemetry have helped scientists map the <a href="https://theconversation.com/birds-migrate-along-ancient-routes-here-are-the-latest-high-tech-tools-scientists-are-using-to-study-their-amazing-journeys-187967">transcontinental migrations</a> that many bird species make each year.</p>
<p>Trading eponymous names, which treat birds as passive objects, for richer descriptive names reflects this sea change in our understanding of avian lives. </p>
<p>Our thinking about race and racism has evolved dramatically as well. For instance, we no longer use folk names for birds based on <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/453677">racial and ethnic slurs</a>, as Americans of the 19th and early 20th centuries did. The decision to change eponymous bird names reflects this shift. </p>
<p>It also reflects broader efforts to reckon with the legacies of racism and colonialism in our relationships with the natural world. There is increasing recognition that legacies of racism shape our natural landscapes. Just as public monuments can have “<a href="https://theconversation.com/monuments-expire-but-offensive-monuments-can-become-powerful-history-lessons-143318">expiration dates</a>,” so can names for species, <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-landmarks-bearing-racist-and-colonial-references-are-renamed-to-reflect-indigenous-values-157850">geographic features</a> and places that no longer reflect contemporary values.</p>
<p>Birders no longer live in Audubon’s world. We rarely consult his heavy, multi-volume folios. We celebrate that we list birds that we have seen in the wild and left unharmed, rather than collecting their bodies as specimens.</p>
<p>Soon, we’ll also stop using some of the names that this world gave to birds.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217886/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jared Del Rosso does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What’s in a name? A lot, if you’re an Audubon’s Oriole or a Townsend’s Solitaire.Jared Del Rosso, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of DenverLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2186422023-11-29T15:59:49Z2023-11-29T15:59:49ZHow colonial violence in Tasmania helped build scientists’ reputations and prestigious museum collections<p><em>Readers are advised this article contains the names of Aboriginal people who have died, and mentions attempted genocide, violence towards and offensive language about Aboriginal peoples.</em></p>
<p>We might imagine that scientists gain recognition thanks to the ideas they generate and the knowledge they contribute to our understanding of the world, earned through careers of diligent research. But not everyone takes this route. </p>
<p>When Tasmanian solicitor Morton Allport died in 1878, <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8967845?searchTerm=conspicuous%20as%20the%20foremost%20scientist%20in%20the%20colony%20and">his obituary</a> described him as the “the foremost scientist in the colony”. <a href="https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/anh.2023.0859">My research</a>, published today, shows that Allport achieved his status by obtaining the bodily remains of Tasmanian Aboriginal people and endangered animals, and sending them to European collectors – specifically asking for scientific accolades in return. </p>
<p>I read <a href="https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/tas/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fARCHIVES_SERIES$002f0$002fARCHIVES_SER_DIX:ALL19/one">hundreds of letters</a> between Allport and his European correspondents. It’s clear from these letters that Allport played up the rarity and value of these remains, while both the people and the animals were being subjected to extraordinary colonial violence. Allport worked in Tasmania at a time when its natural history captivated European scientists. Enigmatic animals <a href="https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/platypus-matters-the-extraordinary-story-of-australian-mammals-jack-ashby?variant=40108244041806">like the platypus</a> challenged Europe’s understanding of the natural world. </p>
<p>The now extinct thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger was related to other marsupials such kangaroos and wombats. It was the largest marsupial carnivore of modern times. And it offered one of the most perfect examples of <a href="https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/convergent-evolution.html">convergent evolution</a> – where astonishingly similar animals evolve independently on different branches of the tree of life. Thylacines and wolves are separated by <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0417-y">160 million years</a> of evolution, but closely resemble each other (albeit thylacines had stripes). </p>
<h2>A racist hierarchy</h2>
<p>But accounts of these animals also fed into the <a href="https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/platypus-matters-the-extraordinary-story-of-australian-mammals-jack-ashby?variant=40108244041806">racist view</a> that Australia was a primitive evolutionary backwater. Despite the intrigue, almost every 19th-century account of Australian mammals paints them as weird, inferior beasts.</p>
<p><a href="https://libraries.tas.gov.au/tasmanian-archives/guides-to-records/early-colonial-administration-records/introduction/#:%7E:text=Settled%20in%201803%2C%20Tasmania%20was,responsible%20self%2Dgovernment%20from%201856.">Britain colonised Tasmania in 1803</a>. Thylacines were considered a threat to the new sheep farming industry. So was the Indigenous human population. From 1830 the colonists offered bounties to encourage their violent removal. </p>
<p>The result was extinction of the thylacine and <a href="https://atlantic-books.co.uk/book/truganini/">genocide of Indigenous peoples</a>. I use the term genocide here because, although they were unsuccessful, the British <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-evidence-for-the-tasmanian-genocide-86828">aimed to completely destroy</a> Tasmania’s Indigenous population.</p>
<p>As populations of thylacines and Tasmanian Aboriginal people were decimated, demand for their remains in museums increased. Allport sent more thylacine specimens to Europe than anyone else, and proudly claimed to be the supplier of every Tasmanian human skeleton to reach European collections.</p>
<p>He was also involved in the mutilation of the body of an Aboriginal man, <a href="https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/L/William%20Lanne.htm">William Lanne</a>. Lanne was considered a “prize specimen” as the colonists believed him to be the last Tasmanian man when he died in 1869. They were wrong – thousands of Tasmanian Aboriginal people are alive today. </p>
<p>The events surrounding Lanne’s death have been at the centre of much debate in Tasmania in recent years. This August local authorities agreed that a statue of politician William Crowther – also implicated in the mutilation of Lanne’s body – <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-24/william-crowther-statue-to-be-removed-from-display/102737854">would be removed</a> from Hobart city centre, the Tasmanian state capital.</p>
<p>Historical figures like Allport allow us to consider how violence against the Indigenous population and the exploitative nature of <a href="https://www.natsca.org/node/2509">colonial natural history</a> were parts of the same historical processes. That is not to say these issues were as harmful as each other. Rather, they were connected events taking place at the same time. When we consider the parallels between them, it helps build a picture of the human and environmental costs of colonialism. </p>
<h2>An uncomfortable legacy</h2>
<p>Aside from both being viewed as pests in their own environment, thylacines and Aboriginal people were incorrectly described in colonial and European accounts as savage, primitive, unadaptable and unintelligent. </p>
<p>In the context of European racism, hierarchies were invented by the western scientific elite that placed marsupials <a href="https://www.natsca.org/article/2684">as inherently “inferior”</a> compared to European mammals – just as human racial hierarchies had been similarly fabricated. </p>
<p>It led to a narrative that they would inevitably become extinct through exposure to more modern newcomers. This propaganda minimised the impact of the state-sponsored violence. </p>
<p>Colonists described the people and thylacines as at fault for what happened to them – that they couldn’t cope in the “modern” world. This obscures the actual reason for their decline: they were being killed either directly by European settlers or by the conditions the colonial establishment forced them to live in.</p>
<p>But there is also an interesting paradox regarding these two “extinctions” and the mythology surrounding them. Thylacines are extinct, but the notion that they are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723014948">not is mainstream</a>, whereas Aboriginal Tasmanians are not extinct despite a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/14/australia.features11">persistent narrative</a> that they were exterminated.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.museum.zoo.cam.ac.uk/collections-research/collections-uncovered/colonial-histories-australian-mammal-collections">I now work</a> with some of the thylacine skins Allport sent to Europe, at the <a href="https://www.museum.zoo.cam.ac.uk/">University Museum of Zoology</a>, Cambridge. They are invaluable scientific specimens that teach us so much about an iconic extinct species. </p>
<p>But these skins also hold power in allowing museums to connect people to this story. I can no longer look at them without thinking of the human story they relate to. Museum specimens aren’t just scientific data – they also reflect important moments in history, much of which was <a href="https://www.natsca.org/node/2631">tragically violent</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218642/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Ashby received funding from a Headley Fellowship with Art Fund. He is affiliated with the Natural Sciences Collections Association.</span></em></p>New research shows the uncomfortable and shocking truth behind a revered scientist’s reputation.Jack Ashby, Assistant Director of the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.