Kaitiakitanga: Maori perspectives on conservation

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mere Roberts ◽  
Waerete Norman ◽  
Nganeko Minhinnick ◽  
Del Wihongi ◽  
Carmen Kirkwood
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
World View ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Traditional Beliefs ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Conservation Movement ◽  
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Conservation ◽  
Cultural Responses

Maori, like other indigenous peoples, are increasingly involved in attempts to provide appropriate cultural responses to environmental issues. These include efforts to translate and incorporate isolated parts of their language and traditional practises into the prevailing culture. Major problems with this process are the incommensurability of such attempts whereby the real meaning of a custom or word is frequently debased and divorced from its traditional cultural setting, so that its proper functioning is impaired. Added to this is the ignorance on the part of many concerning the conceptual world view, traditional beliefs and practices of the Maori ? or, if knowing these things, a lack of respect for their validity. On the other hand there are some, especially among the modern conservation movement, who have a more empathetic attitude towards indigenous ecological knowledge, but who thereby assume that their environmental ethics and those of indigenous peoples are motivated by similar philosophies and share similar aims. Not only is this assumption often wrong, it may also contribute to the inability of the western conservation movement to properly serve the needs of, and to fully empower, indigenous conservation aspirations as guaranteed to Maori under the Treaty of Waitangi. This paper addresses some of these issues by providing Maori perspectives on an increasingly important environmental concept: that of kaitiaki, and kaitiakitanga.

scholarly journals Rewilding, "the Hoop," and Settler Apocalypse

The Trumpeter ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-146
Author(s):  
Bruno Seraphin
Keyword(s):  
Great Basin ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Columbia Plateau ◽  
Ongoing Work ◽  
Environmental Thought ◽  
To Come

This paper presents an ethnographic account of a grassroots network of mostly white-identified nomads who travel in the northwest United States’ Great Basin and Columbia Plateau regions. Living mostly on National Forest land, this movement of “rewilders” appropriates local Indigenous peoples’ traditional ecological knowledge in order to gather and replant wild foods in a seasonal round that they refer to as the “Sacred Hoop.” I discuss the Hoop network in order to explore the environmental ethics of a group that is at once strikingly unique and also an embodiment of the problems of settler colonialism within the broader environmentalist movement. I begin by introducing the group's ecologies and ethics, and subsequently move into an examination of the multiple and sometimes-contradictory lines of apocalyptic narrative logic at work in Hoopster discourse. I assert that the Hoopsters’ conflicting accounts of the Anthropocene, and the temporality of its disasters, are a manifestation of their ongoing work grappling with their own racial positionality. Despite the Hoopsters’ uncompromising critiques of colonialism, capitalism, and environmental exploitation, they struggle to come to terms with their role in ongoing colonialism and the marginalization of Indigenous peoples. In this way, the Hoopsters echo the troubled narratives at work in broader North American environmental thought, which consistently reveres the idea of Indigenous cultures while failing to enter into solidarity relationships with contemporary Indigenous communities and their efforts toward decolonization.

Prologue

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Breandán Mac Suibhne
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
The State ◽  
Seasonal Migration ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Traditional Beliefs ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
The People ◽  
The Catholic Church

Observing the abandonment of traditional beliefs and practices in the 1830s, the scholar John O’Donovan remarked that ‘a different era—the era of infidelity—is fast approaching!’ In west Donegal, that era finally arrived c.1880, when, over much of the district, English replaced Irish as the language of the home. Yet it had been coming into view since the mid-1700s, as the district came to be fitted—through the cattle trade, seasonal migration, and protoindustrialization—into regional and global economic systems. In addition to the market, an expansion of the administrative and coercive capacity of the state and an improvement in the plant and personnel of the Catholic Church—processes that intensified in the mid-1800s—proved vital factors, as the population dwindled after the Famine, in the people breaking faith with the old and familiar and adopting the new.

Rethinking Iconoclasm in Early Modern England: the Case of Cheapside Cross

2000 ◽  
Vol 4 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 379-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Budd
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Traditional Beliefs ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Complex Variety ◽  
City Of London ◽  
The City

AbstractProtestant iconoclasm has generally been understood as an assault on the beliefs and practices of traditional religion. This article challenges that understanding through a detailed study of Cheapside Cross, a large monument that was repeatedly attacked by iconoclasts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It draws on contemporary pamphlets and the manuscripts records of the City of London to reveal the complex variety of associations that Cheapside Cross acquired before and during the Reformation era. It argues that perceptions of the monument were shaped not only by its iconography but also by its involvement in ceremonies and rituals, including royal coronation processions. The iconoclastic attacks on Cheapside Cross should be interpreted not merely as a challenge to traditional beliefs but as attempts to restructure the monument's associations. The paper concludes that attacks on other images may be understood in a similar manner.

Integrating indigenous ecological knowledge and customary sea tenure with marine and social science for conservation of bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) in the Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands

2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHANKAR ASWANI ◽  
RICHARD J. HAMILTON
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Small Fish ◽  
Lunar Periodicity ◽  
The People ◽  
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Sea Tenure ◽  
Bolbometopon Muricatum

Indigenous ecological knowledge and customary sea tenure may be integrated with marine and social science to conserve the bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) in the Roviana Lagoon, Western Solomon Islands. Three aspects of indigenous ecological knowledge in Roviana were identified as most relevant for the management and conservation of bumphead parrotfish, and studied through a combination of marine science and anthropological methods. These were (1) local claims that fishing pressure has had a significant impact on bumphead parrotfish populations in the Roviana Lagoon; (2) the claim that only small bumphead parrotfish were ever seen or captured in the inner lagoon and that very small fish were restricted to specific shallow inner-lagoon nursery regions; and (3) assertions made by local divers that bumphead parrotfish predominantly aggregated at night around the new moon period and that catches were highest at that time. The research supported claims (1) and (2), but did not support proposition (3). Although the people of the Roviana Lagoon had similar conceptions about their entitlement rights to sea space, there were marked differences among regional villages in their opinions regarding governance and actual operational rules of management in the Lagoon. Contemporary differences in management strategies resulted from people's historical and spatial patterns of settlement across the landscape and adjoining seascapes, and the attendant impact of these patterns on property relations. This was crucial in distinguishing between those villages that held secure tenure over their contiguous sea estates from those that did not. Indigenous ecological knowledge served to (1) verify that the bumphead parrotfish was a species in urgent need of protection; (2) explain how different habitats structured the size distribution of bumphead parrotfish; (3) identify sensitive locations and habitats in need of protection; and (4) explain the effect of lunar periodicity on bumphead parrotfish behaviour and catch rates. Secure customary sea tenure identified locations best suited to bumphead parrotfish management programmes, with a greater likelihood for local participation and programme success. The information was used to establish two marine protected areas in the region for bumphead parrotfish conservation.

scholarly journals Nexus between Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Ecosystem Services: A Socio-Ecological Analysis for Sustainable Ecosystem Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manob Das ◽  
Arijit Das ◽  
Selim Seikh ◽  
Rajiv Pandey
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Statistical Tests ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Demographic Attributes ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The well-being of the human society cannot be ensured and sustainable unless the flow of Ecosystem Services (ESs) would be matching with their consistent demand. The consistent flow of ESs required sustainable management of ecological resources of the ecosystem. The management of ecosystem can be ensured with variety of approaches. Integration of indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) in management prescription with the view that IEK based extraction of ESs ensures removal of resources from the ecosystem within the limit thereby ensuring the sustainability of ecosystem. Present study is an evaluation to understand the nexus between ESs and IEK for sustainable environmental management. The focus of the study was a tribal dominated socio-ecological patch of Barind Region of Malda district, Eastern India. The assessment of ESs and IEK was based on the data collected from the randomly selected tribal households following the pre-tested questionnaire containing questions on ESs as per millennium ecosystem assessment. The data were analyzed following social preference approach, and statistical tests (Krushkal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney). General linear model (GLM) has also been used to examine the impact of socio-demographic attributes on the perceived valuation of ESs. The results revealed that the provisioning ESs (such as water, fuel wood, medical plants) was most preferred followed by cultural and regulating ESs by tribal. Differential importance of ESs was observed among tribal and accounted by gender, education as well as age of the tribe. A gap between the actual accessibility and evaluation of ESs by the tribal communities was also apparent. The socio-demographic attributes have an immense impact on the valuation of ecosystem services and also governed based on the IEK. Various types of indigenous ecological belief systems were closely linked with conservation of ecosystem and sustainable supply of ESs. Present study can contribute to understand socio-ecological nexus with the lens of IEK in tribal dominated ecological landscapes for improved ecosystem and environmental management besides ensuring sustainability of flow of ecosystem services.

scholarly journals Traditional Beliefs and Practices among post-partum women attending Postpartum clinic, at Bukulula Health Centre IV Kalungu district

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Irene Nakibuuka
Keyword(s):  
Postpartum Period ◽  
Post Partum ◽  
Health Centre ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Routine Care ◽  
Nutritional Deficiencies ◽  
Postpartum Women ◽  
Traditional Beliefs ◽  
Maternal Deaths ◽  
Beliefs And Practices

Background: Maternal deaths in the postpartum period contribute greatly to the global burden of maternal mortality especially in developing countries where 99% of these maternal deaths occur. Almost 40% of women develop serious illness after birth, and close to 50% of maternal deaths occur after delivery. Other problems encountered during the postpartum period include anemia, nutritional deficiencies, infection, family violence, and emotional problems most of which are associated with the mothers’ traditional beliefs and practices. Some of these beliefs and practices used are beneficial to their health, some are non-beneficial but harmless whereas others are harmful and greatly contribute to maternal morbidity and mortality. Methodology: This was a qualitative descriptive study that was conducted among ten purposively selected postpartum women attending a postpartum clinic at Bukulula health center IV. Data was collected through in-depth face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured interview guide and an audio recorder to track the proceedings of each interview. Data were analyzed based on emerging themes, following transcription of the interviews. Results: Three themes emerged from the study and these were; dietary precautions, behavioral precautions and hygiene, and physical warmth. Conclusion and recommendation: Some of the traditional beliefs and practices held by postpartum women are beneficial and can be incorporated into routine care provided whereas others are harmful and need to be restructured.

scholarly journals Traditional Ecological Knowledge

2021 ◽  
pp. 181-194
Author(s):  
Corinna Casi ◽  
Hanna Ellen Guttorm ◽  
Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Environmental Knowledge ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Natural Phenomena ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Brazilian Amazonia ◽  
Dynamic Relationship

This chapter argues that the concept of Traditional Ecological Knowlegde means more than the accumulated environmental knowledge and comprehension of natural phenomena. Rather, it is constituted by a set of evolving beliefs and practices that understands its own dynamic relationship with other beings in the environment. The examples of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) illustrated in this chapter include Apurinã and Manchineri communities in Brazilian Amazonia, and Sámi communities in the Arctic.

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