This thesis considers the limitations of redress measures for injustices against Indigenous peoples in Canada and seeks to provide an alternative account of reconciliation that aims towards addressing these limitations. Current reconciliation and treaty processes designed to address Indigenous claims have resulted in a disconnect between material and symbolic or affective harms and are insufficiently reciprocal and receptive to the multiplicity of conflicting accounts of history to meaningfully effect a transformation of Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations. Furthermore, current processes aim towards closure with respect to past injustices instead of establishing lasting political relationships through grappling with diverse perspectives on those injustices. This thesis engages with these challenges by exploring Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations in Canada through the lens of Hannah Arendt’s relational, non-instrumental account of politics and recent literature on agonistic reconciliation in order to propose an alternative account of living in reconciliation through treaty relations. / Graduate

Maya peoples in Guatemala continue to practice their Indigenous knowledge in spite of the violence experienced since the Spanish invasion in 1524. From 1991 until 1996, the state and civil society signed a series of Peace Accords that promised to better meet the needs of the Maya, Xinka, Garífuna and non-Indigenous groups living there. In this context, how does the current educational system meet the varied needs of these groups? My research investigates the philosophy and praxis of Maya Indigenous knowledge (MIK) in broadly defined educational contexts through the stories of 17 diverse Maya professional women and men involved in educational reform that currently live and work in Guatemala City. How do they reclaim and apply their ancestral knowledge daily? What possible applications of MIK can transform society? The findings reveal that MIK promotes social change and healing within and outside institutionalized educational spaces and argues that academia needs to make room for Indigenous theorizing mainly in areas of education, gender, knowledge production, and nation building. I analyze these areas from anticolonial and critical Indigenous standpoints from which gender and Indigenous identities weave through the text. Thus, I rely on Maya concepts and units of analyses (Jun Winaq’) guided by an Indigenous research methodology (Tree of Life) to conduct informal and in-depth interviews that lasted 2 to 4 hours. In addition, I held a talking circle with half of the participants. My analysis is founded on my own experience as an Indigenous person, my observations and participation in two Maya organizations in 2007 and a review of secondary literature in situ. The study contributes to a general understanding of contemporary Maya peoples and knowledge, and describes the theoretical validity of the Maya concept of Jun Winaq’. I argue that this concept seeks to heal individuals and a society to strengthen the Maya and all peoples. Throughout the dissertation I highlight the value of Indigenous knowledge and voices as parts of a political process that has the potential to decolonize mainstream education. I end with a graphic illustration of the elements in Maya Indigenous education and discuss future research for building a political agenda based on self-determination and healing relevant to Indigenous struggles globally.

This thesis reports on the outcome of a Kanaka Maoli culture based teacher education class initiated as a research project through the University of Hawaii in the summer of 2004. With the aim to identify and engage pedagogical and curricular approaches derived from the cultural perspectives, values and aspirations of Kanaka Maoli people, this experimental class utilized image making as the principle basis for investigation and the representation of knowledge from a Kanaka Maoli perspective. This research project set out to actively engage Kanaka Maoli approaches to teaching and knowledge construction so as to describe a viable alternative to National and State mandated education practices in Art Education which have historically overlooked and marginalized indigenous knowledge through the school curriculum in Hawai'i.(Benham & Heck, 1998) Limaloa's Kauhale, an educational model grounded in a Kanaka Maoli cultural metaphor, was developed and applied through this research project as a way of offering students the chance to learn within an educational setting where Kanaka Maoli knowledge, ways of knowing and ways of expressing that knowledge was prioritized as the principle medium of investigation. The results of student work - images and written journal responses - were examined as a part of this research to identify the principle effects and understandings students identified as the effect of working through the Kanaka Maoli educational setting. The complete work of this thesis identifies from the experiences of students working through the Kauhale Metaphor a set of learning outcomes that arise out of a Kanaka Maoli culture based approach for education through image making.

ABSTRACT Introduction Oral diseases have a severe impact on rural and remote Indigenous communities of Australia with widespread, severe dental caries leading to a significant number of Indigenous children requiring multiple dental extractions under general anaesthesia each year; a scenario rarely seen elsewhere in Australia. This burden of oral disease occurs in these communities in the context of very limited availability of dental personnel and access to oral health care. The rural and remote Indigenous communities of Australia rely on Indigenous Health Workers as key primary health care personnel. Experience in Western Australia and the Northern Territory suggests that the oral health role of these personnel can be developed to improve community oral health and reduce the burden of oral disease in Indigenous communities. The development of the Indigenous Health Worker oral health role is supported by major stakeholders including: the peak Indigenous health organisation, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation; the peak dental health organisation, the Australian Dental Association; and by Australia’s National Oral Health Plan. Yet limited progress has been made in the development of this role. Why? This case study seeks to answer this question through the exploration of the complex, multiple factors influencing the development of the oral health role of Indigenous Health Workers in the Cape York region and so support the development of this role among Indigenous Health Workers. Methodology This research was conducted in accordance with the National Health and Medical Research Council’s Statement and Guidelines for ethical conduct of Indigenous health research. Ongoing consultation took place with key Indigenous health organisations of the region. including Apunipima Cape York Health Council, Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service and the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker Training Aboriginal Corporation, to confirm that the research focus was a priority of the communities of the region and to gain input into the design and implementation of the project. With the support of these Indigenous health organisations the study focused on the three communities in which an initial introduction to oral health promotion was provided to Indigenous Health Workers by Queensland Health through its Crocodile Smiles Project. Qualitative methodologies were used with data collection in the region undertaken through semi-structured interviews with 58 health personnel in the remote Indigenous communities of Hopevale, Napranum and Yarrabah; and in the regional centres of Cairns, Cooktown and Weipa. These interviews explored the perceptions of Indigenous Health Workers, dental personnel and their co-workers regarding the priority, characteristics and support needs of the development of the Indigenous Health Worker oral health role in the region. Results Interviews with rural and remote health personnel highlighted the severe impact of oral disease in these communities and on their health services and the high priority given to the development of the Indigenous Health Worker oral health role. These health personnel are seen as key to Indigenous health promotion in the region. Contrasting perspectives were found among rural and remote health personnel regarding the characteristics of an appropriate Indigenous Health Worker oral health role with consistent support being given to the development of the oral health promotion role and varied perspectives found concerning the development of a clinical oral health role. Rural and remote health personnel also highlighted the significant barriers to the development of the Indigenous Health Worker oral health role existing at the clinic and regional levels. Conclusion This study identifies drivers of role development as including oral health needs and oral health skills shortages in rural and remote Indigenous communities of Cape York. Facilitators to role development were found to include: the legislative and policy environment; the support of Indigenous Health Workers and their co-workers; and the policies and plans of Queensland Health and the Indigenous Community Controlled Health Organisations of the region. Significant barriers include: the existing work burden of Health Workers; the lack of clarity of Health Worker role definition; and the difficulties inherent in the development of appropriate inter-professional and cross-cultural training and management support strategies which are able to be implemented in remote settings. The research highlights the complexity of factors to be considered in achieving the system¬wide changes needed to support the development of this role and makes recommendations in the areas of policy, training, management and research to best support the development of this role. In focusing on the development of the oral health role of Indigenous Health Workers the study has examined an area of significance to the Indigenous community using culturally sensitive research methods in remote settings and has addressed a significant though little explored area of dental research – the development of the oral health role of non-dental personnel.

Ths thesis demonstrates how theory and praxis may be integrated within a postcolonial, or more specifically, anticolonial frame. It argues for the necessity of telling, listening and responding to personal narratives as a catalyst for understanding the construction of identities and their relationship to place. Tlus is acheved through a theorisation of narrative and a critique of postcolonialism. Three 'sites' of contestation are visited to provide this critique: the "Patterns of Life: The Story of the Aboriginal People of Western Australia" exhibition at the Perth Museum; a comparison of Western Australian legislation that governed the lives of Aboriginal people from 1848 to the present and, the life story of Alice Nannup; and, an analysis of the Australian Institute Judicial Association's "Aboriginal Culture: Law and Change" seminar for magistrates. Most importantly, this work foregrounds strategies for negotiating a just basis for coexistence between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 349-361).

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-131). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 341-358).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2980.

Project Thesis (D. Min.)--Denver Seminary, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 212-218).