Development of the reflexive antiracism scale – indigenous

Purpose – Reflexive Antiracism is an approach to antiracism that seeks to avoid the limitations of essentialism and negative emotional reactions through a focus on racialisation (a concept that encompasses both racism and antiracism) as well as the formation and maintenance of racialised identities. This paper aims to outline the construction and validation of a scale to measure this novel theoretical construct: the Reflexive Antiracism Scale-Indigenous (RAS-I).

Design/methodology/approach – In the context of a cultural training course focused on Indigenous peoples in Australia, 20 items to assess attitudes were developed along with four hypothetical scenarios designed to assess behavioural intentions in specific situations. The survey formed by these items and scenarios was piloted to assess test-retest, concurrent and construct validity as well as item endorsement and internal reliability.

Findings – Findings suggest that an 11-item scale based on this survey forms a valid and reliable measure of Reflexive Antiracism. Further research and applications are discussed.

Originality/value – This paper will prompt further exploration of Reflexive Antiracism as a concept that can be applied in a range of settings where a more nuanced understanding and approach to antiracism may be of benefit. Being aware of their position within a society that is racialised will allow antiracists to be reflexive (and realistic) about their ability as individuals to achieve antiracist ideals while continuing to strive towards them.

Words, oral libraries and environmental responses : an Australian indigenous perspective to climate change adaptation

Climate change adaptation and mitigation continues to be a prevalent discourse in this country and internationally in both the sciences and the arts. While various types and degrees of change are evident, the quantification of these changes including their scope and diversity have challenged conventional sciences. This is demonstrated in their inability to succinctly answer key questions about change including the degree of change and associated patterns and consequences. Most of this discourse is nested in a temporal band comprising the last 100-200 years of data and evidence, and very much informed by Western science perspectives and protocols. Little attempt has been made to engage with Australian Indigenous communities whom possess environmental knowledge of some 10,000-100,000 years albeit embedded in their artistic and oral narrative 'histories'. This paper explores the role and values that Australian Aboriginals, the Indigenous peoples of the Australian content, can offer in shedding new light on this discourse While focusing upon a cross-peri-urban Indigenous investigation, it examines this discourse though the lens of their words, terms, sentences as a vehicle to better understand a longitudinal perspective about climate change adaptation pertinent to Australia.

Incorporating indigenous Australian knowledge and perspectives into planning practice : past, present and future

The history and contemporary practice of land-use planning and place-making by Indigenous Australians is poorly understood by academics, students and practitioners in the field of urban and regional planning in Australia. This is despite recent high-profile events which have increased the profile of Indigenous peoples’ rights, such as the recognition of native title by the High Court in Mabo v the State of Queensland [No. 2] (1992) 175 CLR 1 and The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), and Commonwealth policy and reconciliation discourses. Further, little impact has been discernible arising from the adoption of reconciliation policies by government bodies, planning authorities and the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA). This paper reviews this lack of progress and discusses why this is a problem for Australian planners which needs to be addressed. The paper reviews the present Australian historical and socio-cultural context in terms of collaboration with traditional land owners as it relates to contemporary planning practice. It considers ontological, epistemological and axiological differences between the dominant western model of planning and Indigenous models, and the challenges this presents. A case-study documenting past, present and future planning practices at Lake Condah in South West Victoria which is the Country of the Gunditjmara and Budj Bim will bring to life these topics through the documentation of Indigenous planning practices prior to and post European arrival. It offers a vision for the future of planning with Indigenous communities. The paper envisages a future which values and incorporates Indigenous place-making and planning, which goes far beyond the tacit acknowledgement of traditional owners commonly observed around Australia today.

Genetic counseling for Indigenous Australians: an exploratory study from the perspective of genetic health professionals

Indigenous populations are thought to have particularly low levels of access to genetic health services, and cultural issues may be a contributing factor. This article presents the findings of the first study of genetic health service provision to Indigenous Australians. This qualitative study aimed to identify elements of culturally-competent genetic health service provision in Indigenous Australian contexts. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with genetic counselors and clinical geneticists from around Australia who had delivered services to Indigenous Australians. Participants were asked to describe their experiences and identify any collective cultural needs of Indigenous clients, as well as comment on specific training and resources they had received or used. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed with thematic analysis conducted on the data. The findings show that participants were reluctant to generalize the needs of Indigenous peoples. Some participants asserted that Indigenous peoples have needs that differ from the general population, while others felt that there were no collective cultural needs, instead advocating an individualized approach. Being flexible and practical, taking time to build rapport, recognizing different family structures and decision-making processes, as well as socio-economic disadvantage were all identified as important factors in participants' interactions with Indigenous clients. Indigenous support workers and hospital liaison officers were seen as valuable resources for effective service provision. The implications of this study for training and practice are discussed.

The Rights of Indigenous Children

While children in general are overrepresented among those living in poverty, a long history of discrimination and exclusion has ensured that indigenous children in Latin America and the Caribbean are in an even worse position. In the general population 63% of children aged under 18 years live in poverty, as measured by privation of the basic rights to well-being; however, that figure is as high as 88% among indigenous children in the same age group. This is a violation of these children's rights —including their rights to survival and development— and entails high costs for society in terms of productive capacity and social inclusion. That is the thrust of the argument in the central article of this issue of Challenges, which focuses on poverty among indigenous children. The data show a pattern of inequality that is highly detrimental to indigenous children: they make up a disproportionate number of those living in extreme poverty and are three times more likely to lack access to education, safe drinking water and housing than other children. It is a matter of particular concern that in the countries of the Andean Community 5 of every 10 indigenous children under the age of 5 years suffer from chronic malnutrition.This edition includes brief testimonies by indigenous children as to what their life is like; an interview with Marta Maurás, Vice-Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, on the international mechanisms in place to safeguard the rights of indigenous children; and, lastly, an article on the Uantakua programme in Mexico, which uses information and communication technologies in bilingual schools with large indigenous populations.

Guaranteeing indigenous people's rights in Latin America. Progress in the past decade and remaining challenges. Summary

As the twenty-first century advances, the countries of Latin America are building deeper democracies and looking critically at the development process, in the growing conviction that development should focus on equality and be approached on the basis of rights. This means tackling the region’s persistent inequalities, especially those affecting indigenous peoples, who have historically suffered exclusion and discrimination. It also means guaranteeing indigenous people both the enjoyment of human rights on an equal footing to the rest of society, and the right to be collectively different. This is a challenge for this century, which began with the recognition of the rights of indigenous people and the role they unquestionably play on national and international agendas.

Waist circumference and waist circumference to height ratios of Kaingang indigenous adolescents from the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

The aim of this study was to describe the distribution of waist circumference (WC) and WC to height (WCTH) values among Kaingang indigenous adolescents in order to estimate the prevalence of high WCTH values and evaluate the correlation between WC and WCTH and body mass index (BMI)-for-age. A total of 1,803 indigenous adolescents were evaluated using a school-based cross-sectional study. WCTH values > 0.5 were considered high. Higher mean WC and WCTH values were observed for girls in all age categories. WCTH values > 0.5 were observed in 25.68% of the overall sample of adolescents. Mean WC and WCTH values were significantly higher for adolescents with BMI/age z-scores > 2 than for those with normal z-scores. The correlation coefficients of WC and WCTH for BMI/age were r = 0.68 and 0.76, respectively, for boys, and r = 0.79 and 0.80, respectively, for girls. This study highlights elevated mean WC and WCTH values and high prevalence of abdominal obesity among Kaingang indigenous adolescents.

Waist circumference and waist circumference to height ratios of Kaingáng indigenous adolescents from the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

The aim of this study was to describe the distribution of waist circumference (WC) and WC to height (WCTH) values among Kaingáng indigenous adolescents in order to estimate the prevalence of high WCTH values and evaluate the correlation between WC and WCTH and body mass index (BMI)-for-age. A total of 1,803 indigenous adolescents were evaluated using a school-based cross-sectional study. WCTH values > 0.5 were considered high. Higher mean WC and WCTH values were observed for girls in all age categories. WCTH values > 0.5 were observed in 25.68% of the overall sample of adolescents. Mean WC and WCTH values were significantly higher for adolescents with BMI/age z-scores > 2 than for those with normal z-scores. The correlation coefficients of WC and WCTH for BMI/age were r = 0.68 and 0.76, respectively, for boys, and r = 0.79 and 0.80, respectively, for girls. This study highlights elevated mean WC and WCTH values and high prevalence of abdominal obesity among Kaingáng indigenous adolescents.

Indigenous land reconfiguration and fragmented institutions: a historical political ecology of Tsimane’ lands (Bolivian Amazon)

Lands inhabited by indigenous peoples often have low population density but abundant natural resources. For those reasons, many actors have historically attempted to occupy those lands or use the resources in them. Increasing pressures over lands occupied by indigenous peoples have resulted in the awakening of indigenous peoples over their rights to land and resources generating many debates over indigenous peoples' rights to land and self-governance. In this article, we provide a historical and geographical overview of territorial and governance issues among the Tsimane', an indigenous group native to the Bolivian Amazon. We examine how the Bolivian state economic policies implemented during the 20th century affected the Tsimane' ancestral lands, and how – over the late-20th century – the Bolivian state accommodated Tsimane' claims to lands in between multiple interests. We show how national policies led to the reconfiguration of Tsimane' territoriality and to a fragmented institutional representation. Current indigenous territories and indigenous political representation are an expression of conflictive policies that have involved multiple actors and their specific interests on indigenous lands and its resources.

Environment, culture, and medicinal plant knowledge in an indigenous Amazonian community

Diminishing cultural and biological diversity is a current global crisis. Tropical forests and indigenous peoples are adversely affected by social and environmental changes caused by global political and economic systems. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate environmental and livelihood challenges as well as medicinal plant knowledge in a Yagua village in the Peruvian Amazon. Indigenous peoples’ relationships with the environment is an important topic in environmental anthropology, and traditional botanical knowledge is an integral component of ethnobotany. Political ecology provides a useful theoretical perspective for understanding the economic and political dimensions of environmental and social conditions. This research utilized a variety of ethnographic, ethnobotanical, and community-involved methods. Findings include data and analyses about the community’s culture, subsistence and natural resource needs, organizations and institutions, and medicinal plant use. The conclusion discusses the case study in terms of the disciplinary framework and offers suggestions for research and application.

The Modern State and the Re-Creation of the Indigenous Other: The Case of the Authentic Sámi in Sweden and the White Man’s Indian in the United States of America.

The present study comparatively examined the socio-political and economic transformation of the indigenous Sámi in Sweden and the Indian American in the United States of America occurring first as a consequence of colonization and later as a product of interaction with the modern territorial and industrial state, from approximately 1500 to 1900. The first colonial encounters of the Europeans with these autochthonous populations ultimately created an imagery of the exotic Other and of the noble savage. Despite these disparaging representations, the cross-cultural settings in which these interactions took place also produced the hybrid communities and syncretic life that allowed levels of cultural accommodation, autonomous space, and indigenous agency to emerge. By the nineteenth century, however, the modern territorial and industrial state rearranges the dynamics and reaches of power across a redefined territorial sovereign space, consequently, remapping belongingness and identity. In this context, the status of indigenous peoples, as in the case of Sámi and of Indian Americans, began to change at par with industrialization and with modernity. At this point in time, indigenous populations became a hindrance to be dealt with the legal re-codification of Indigenousness into a vacuumed limbo of disenfranchisement. It is, thus, the modern territorial and industrial state that re-creates the exotic into an indigenous Other. The present research showed how the initial interaction between indigenous and Europeans changed with the emergence of the modern state, demonstrating that the nineteenth century, with its fundamental impulses of industrialism and modernity, not only excluded and marginalized indigenous populations because they were considered unfit to join modern society, it also re-conceptualized indigenous identity into a constructed authenticity.

Environment, Culture, and Medicinal Plant Knowledge in an Indigenous Amazonian Community

Diminishing cultural and biological diversity is a current global crisis. Tropical forests and indigenous peoples are adversely affected by social and environmental changes caused by global political and economic systems. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate environmental and livelihood challenges as well as medicinal plant knowledge in a Yagua village in the Peruvian Amazon. Indigenous peoples’ relationships with the environment is an important topic in environmental anthropology, and traditional botanical knowledge is an integral component of ethnobotany. Political ecology provides a useful theoretical perspective for understanding the economic and political dimensions of environmental and social conditions. This research utilized a variety of ethnographic, ethnobotanical, and community-involved methods. Findings include data and analyses about the community’s culture, subsistence and natural resource needs, organizations and institutions, and medicinal plant use. The conclusion discusses the case study in terms of the disciplinary framework and offers suggestions for research and application.

Mitigating Social Risk in the Extractive Sector: Developing Intercultural Competence as a Tool for Negotiating Western-Indigenous Perspectives within the Undergraduate Mining Engineering Curriculum

Drawing upon critical, communications, and educational theories, this thesis develops a novel framing of the problem of social risk in the extractive sector, as it relates to the building of respectful relationships with indigenous peoples. Building upon Bakhtin’s dialogism, the thesis demonstrates the linkage of this aspect of social risk to professional education, and specifically, to the undergraduate mining engineering curriculum, and develops a framework for the development of skills related to intercultural competence in the education of mining engineers. The knowledge of social risk, as well as the level of intercultural competence, of students in the mining engineering program, is investigated through a mixture of surveys and focus groups – as is the impact of specific learning interventions. One aspect of this investigation is whether development of these attributes alters graduates’ conception of their identity as mining engineers, i.e. the range and scope of responsibilities, and understanding of to whom responsibilities are owed, and their role in building trusting relationships with communities. Survey results demonstrate that student openness to the perspectives of other cultures increases with exposure to the second year curriculum. Students became more knowledgeable about social dimensions of responsible mining, but not about cultural dimensions. Analysis of focus group data shows that students are highly motivated to improve community perspectives and acceptance. It is observed that students want to show respect for diverse peoples and communities where they will work, but they are hampered by their inability to appreciate the viewpoints of people who do not share their values. They embrace benefit sharing and environmental protection as norms, but they mistakenly conclude that opposition to mining is rooted in a lack of education rather than in cultural values. Three, sequential, threshold concepts are identified as impeding development of intercultural competence: Awareness and Acknowledgement of Different Forms of Knowledge; Recognition that Value Systems are a Function of Culture; Respect for varied perceptions of Social Wellbeing and Quality of Life. Future curriculum development in the undergraduate mining engineering program, as well as in other educational programs relevant to the extractive sector, can be effectively targeted by focusing on these threshold concepts.