This thesis examines Dayak identity constructions and how they have been and are currently being used to assert customary land rights in forested areas of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Indonesian state has required that customary land claims include proof that communities have maintained their indigenous institutions. Drawing from government and NGO reports, academic research, and Indonesian law, a few questions thus are explored: What aspects of identity must be maintained in order to be sufficient to claim customary land rights under Indonesian law? How has recent Dayak mobilization fed into a resurgence in Dayak identity and pride, and vice versa? What opportunities does this hold for conservation and development? This thesis emphasizes the necessity of the subsequent transfer of ownership following the recognition of customary rights, which would protect indigenous land more permanently, increase Dayak community involvement and self-perceptions as active agents in forestry, and in doing so, aid in improving security of indigenous livelihoods and protecting biodiversity in Indonesia’s forests.

Meztiso is an exploration of the artist’s identity as an individual born and raised in Guatemala; which is a country rich in natural resources where the majority of the population is native Maya yet the ruling class is majority white and poverty is widespread. The artist takes on this stunning contradiction using her own influences and views which were shaped by the political and economic upheaval and instability of her youth in Guatemala. The artist comments on her own identity as a person of mixed ancestry, a Meztiso, and because of her own family’s involvement in the capitalist government that has marginalized the Maya indigenous to this day.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Agriculture)) --University of Limpopo, 2008 / The mineral nutrition of indigenous crop species is not well documented like other known crop species, thus making it difficult for one to know how to plant and maintain the crops. Mmupudu (Mimusops zeyheri), which, happens to be a wild crop, is one of the indigenous trees of interest to the Discipline of Plant Production, University of Limpopo. The current study gives baseline information that will be important in various environmental physiology studies of this plant. Physiological studies will be necessary to assess the importance of “limiting” mineral nutrients in the accumulation of certain mineral nutrients in Mmupudu in relation to its productivity. The experiment was arranged as a 2 x 3 factorial in RCBD, with the first and second factors being time of sampling and location, respectively. The three locations where data were collected were Chuenespoort, Bochum and Sekgosese. In each location, the experiment was replicated 10 times. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and means were separated using the least significant difference test. The two-factor interaction was nonsignificant (P ≥ 0.10) for both pH and electrical conductivity. Soil pH was not affected by time in all three locations suggesting that abscised flowers and fruitlets have no effect on pH. Leaf K experienced an increase of 65% at Chuenespoort and a decrease of soil K after fruiting by 44%. Leaf and soil P decreased after fruiting in all locations as was the case with Cu. Chuenespoort and Sekgosese experienced a decrease in leaf Mn after fruiting while soil Mn decreased in all locations after fruiting. Sekgosese experienced an increase of 25% soil Mg after fruiting, whereas leaf Mg decreased in all locations. / National Research Foundation and the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry

Thesis (Ph.D.)(Political Science) --University of Limpopo, 2009. / The primary aim of this study was to advocate for a collaborated health care delivery system that includes indigenous African medicine and is administered and controlled by the government. The objectives were:  To demonstrate how apartheid disrupted the natural development of indigenous healing practices. To dispel the misconception about the use of indigenous African medicine in the treatment of diseases. To demonstrate the need to protect both indigenous African and western European medicine. To demonstrate that African patients consult both indigenous African and western European doctors for various aspects of their treatment in their health care choices. To demonstrate that patients expect the government to provide an effective health delivery system. The main research question was: How can South Africa develop a collaborated health care delivery system using both indigenous African and biomedical health professionals that is effective and open to everyone on an equal basis? The theoretical framework for this study was the Afro-centric worldview in which events and ideas are perceived from an African perspective with the African people as the main players rather than victims. At the centre of the study were the African people, their health, disease pattern and healing practices. The Afro-centric qualitative research design was used. A sample size of 15 indigenous African doctors, 50 western European oriented health professionals and 84 patients participated in the study. The open coding method of data analysis was used to analyze data obtained from semi-structured in-depth interviews. The major findings of the study are that:  The belief of the African people in the existence of the ancestors and spirituality remains unshakeable. The strong belief n the ancestors make the diagnosis and treatment of diseases essentially religious practices. In the African culture, there are no preventative measures against natural illnesses, but there are preventative measures that are used against witchcraft/sorcery from entering a homestead and causing illness among members of a family. African people utilize both health care systems simultaneously and/or interchangeably depending on the seriousness of the illness and the knowledge and experiences that the illness can be effectively treated using indigenous African medicine or biomedicine. Both indigenous African doctors and biomedical health professionals play an important role in the provision of health. Recommendations The study recommends that when policy guidelines on the collaboration of indigenous African and western European medicine are drawn up, the following should be considered: Legislation to protect indigenous knowledge on African medicine Legislation that controls the qualification and registration of indigenous African doctors. Inclusion of indigenous African medicine in the curricula of all health professionals. / N/A

Thesis (M.CUR.) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / Indigenous practices (IPs) are experiences generated by people who are living in a specific region context and a specific cultured group. IPs are shaped by cultural traits that are passed from one generation to the next. The practices are rooted and embedded in such a society and, therefore, the practices become part of the people’s lifestyle. It is difficult to try and change these practices, since people have adhered to them throughout their entire lives. The believe system plays a major role in health care seeking behaviour of individuals because they are informed by the IPs that are observed in their environment (Shaik & Hatcher, 2005). IPs are stored in people’s memories and are expressed in songs, dances, beliefs, rituals, cultural values, myths, and healing of diseases by using herbs. During pregnancy, IPs are still applied worldwide. Ayaz and Efe (2008) indicate that it occurs mostly in Turkey and Africa where women’s reassurance is depending on the local context and meaning of pregnancy. THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY To determine indigenous practices of pregnant women at the Dilokong Hospital in the Greater Tubatse Municipality of the Limpopo Province.This was achieved by the exploring and describing the indigenous practices of pregnant women in the antenatal (ANC) clinic of the maternity ward at the Dilokong Hospital.. DESIGN AND METHOD A qualitative, descriptive, explorative and contextual research design was used for the participants to describe the indigenous practices by pregnant women. Data was collected by means of unstructured one-on-one interviews in maternity unit of the ANC clinic at the Dilokong Hospital of the Greater Tubatse Municipality. Ethical considerations as described by Denosa (2000) were adhered to in order to ensure the v quality of the study. The criteria for trustworthiness were observed as stipulated in Babbie and Mouton (2009).Fifteen pregnant women were interviewed. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Four themes with sub-themes emerged from the data analysis by using Tech’ṡ open coding approach (Creswell 2006, Botma, Greef, Mulaudzi & Wright, 2010). Four themes were emerged namely; indigenous practices based on ancestral knowledge; indigenous practices based on spiritual diviners versus church principles; restricted practices versus instructions followed during pregnancy and labour and indigenous practices during labour and delivery. It is recommended that a national IP strategy needs to be developed to provide a framework and platform to support and promote grass roots IPs into mainstream development in the health care system in relation to midwifery practice. CONCLUSION The study findings indicated that IPs were regarded as an honourable health intervention by THPs, families, and pregnant women. They showed trust in methods used to preserve pregnancy, labour, and delivery, although, the indigenous practices by pregnant women still continue. Indigenous practices such as cords around their waists, are still observed during physical examinations. However, there is a reduction of prescribed potions mixed with cool drinks for use to accelerate labour and to prevent negative consequences because the potential toxicity has been explained during the provision of health education. These findings call for health care professionals to emphasise training and workshops for the THPs church diviners that are the fundamental principle of effective implementation of IPs to enhance improvement in the prevention of complications during pregnancy, labour and delivery. KEYWORDS Pregnant women Indigenous practice Indigenous knowledge

The research reported in this thesis focussed on exploring existing indigenous environmental knowledge of two indigenous communities in Papua New Guinea and how this knowledge was acquired, interpreted and disseminated to the next generation. The relevance of indigenous environmental knowledge in the promotion of biodiversity conservation efforts was investigated. This research was conducted within an interpretive paradigm. A naturalistic/ethnographic methodology was used. Data was collected through semi structured interviews and observations. Participants in this case study were representatives of the community and included elders, adults, teachers and students. The findings in this study revealed indigenous environmental knowledge as useful for biodiversity conservation and promotes sustainable practices. It showed that indigenous family knowledge is essential for claiming land inheritance and indigenous environmental practices are consistent with sustainable practices and land use. Forest knowledge is found to be useful in identifying and locating resources and that sustainable practices ensured continuity of these resources. The study also identified spiritual knowledge and beliefs as fundamental for developing indigenous worldviews and environmental attitudes and values and that change in resource use may be both beneficial and harmful to biodiversity. The findings also revealed indigenous education as flexible, holistic and informal in nature and uses mostly oral history through verbal instruction and various non-verbal means. They showed that IE uses a variety of teaching and learning approaches that utilise the environment as a tool and that learning venues provide a realistic learning experience. The thesis concludes that IEK promotes biodiversity conservation in many ways and that indigenous education uses situated context to promote realistic learning. Indigenous environmental knowledge and education could therefore be used in biodiversity conservation education.

The research described in this thesis examines indigenous language usage in a digital library environment that has been accessed via the Internet. By examining discretionary use of the Māori Niupepa and Hawaiian Nūpepa digital libraries this research investigates how indigenous languages were used in these electronic environments in 2005. The results provide encouragement and optimism to people who are striving to retain, revitalise and develop the use of indigenous languages in information technologies. The Transaction Log Analysis (TLA) methods used in this research serve as an example of how web logs can be used to provide significant information about language usage in a bilingual online information system. Combining the TLA with user feedback has provided insights into how and why clients use indigenous languages in their information retrieval activities. These insights in turn, show good practice that is relevant not only to those working with indigenous languages, indigenous peoples or multilingual environments, but to all information technology designers who strive for universal usability. This thesis begins by describing the importance of using indigenous languages in electronic environments and suggests that digital libraries can provide an environment to support and encourage the use of such languages. TLA is explained in the context of this study and is then used to analyse aspects of te reo Māori usage in the Niupepa digital library environment in 2005. TLA also indicates that te reo Māori was used by international clients and this usage differed to te reo Māori usage by national (Aotearoa) clients. Findings further reveal that the default language setting of the Niupepa digital library had a considerable impact on te reo Māori usage. When the default language was set to te reo Māori not only were there more requests in te reo Māori but there was also a higher usage of te reo Māori in the information retrieval activities. TLA of the Hawaiian Nūpepa digital library indicated that the Hawaiian language was also used in a digital library. These results confirm that indigenous languages were used in digital library environments. Feedback from clients suggests reasons why indigenous languages were used in this environment. These reasons include the indigenous language content of the digital library, the indigenous language default language setting of the digital library and a stated desire by the clients to use the indigenous language. The key findings raise some interface design issues and support the claim that digital libraries can provide an environment to support the use of indigenous languages.

This thesis explores the nature of tribal service provision, in particular the characteristics that distinguish tribal provider services. An indigenous research paradigm, Mäori philosophical traditions and tribal histories provide the context for researching and theorising about the three tribal organisations upon which this study is based. The thesis argues that tribal authorities emerged not only as a response to state policies of devolution but also as ongoing expressions of self-determination. How tribal organisational bureaucracies were established historically provides the context for examining the interface between tribal organisations and the state. In particular, specific historical events leading up to the 1840 annexation of New Zealand by Britain that demonstrate British assumptions of authority, humanitarian ideals and interventions by state functionaries in the affairs of New Zealand.A discussion on the nature of the state as the basis for Eurocentric bias in modern constitutionalism offers a platform for understanding the art of government. Four interconnecting themes give a systematic basis for exploring the distinctive characteristics of tribal provider services that emerged as significant in this study; 'ngä mahi a ngä tangata' examines advocacy, responsiveness and relevancy. 'Ngä mahi mä te iwi' considers how links to the Mäori communities are constituted relative to whänau, hapü and marae. 'Ngä mahi a ngä tipuna' explores how culture counts and the place of Mäori culture and traditions in the workplace. 'Ngä mahi tuara' examines cultural frameworks located within Mäori philosophical and customary practices and traditions.Finally, an analysis is given of the contracting environment and the counterstrategies employed by the participants in this study in countering the limitations imposed by the terms of state contracts.

This thesis critically explores the issue of access to biological resources and Indigenous knowledge Historically, biological resources collected and documented, and knowledge associated with their use, have been considered the 'common heritage of mankind' The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) changed this understanding to tights of states over biological resources, but also gave rise to issues of equity and justice, especially with regard to Indigenous Nations encapsulated within First World states-so-called 'Fourth World Nations', A central concern of Fourth World Peoples is their marginalisation within access negotiations, despite their claims of connate (birth) rights to r esou.r ces and knowledge they identify as their own. Increasing global Indigenous activism over their concerns, has in turn raised an increasingly important policy gap that is becoming recognised in fora and processes with regard to access to biological resources. My thesis addresses this policy gap. I explore some of the complex historical, political and cultural dimensions that led to the emergence and resilience of this policy problem The failure to address the concerns of Indigenous peoples, and Fourth World Nations in particular, is more important and problematic now because of contemporary biotechnological developments and the emergence of bioprospecting. Bioprospecthg refers to the practice of appropriating biological resources, and Indigenous knowledge of those resources, and incorporating them into biopharmaceutical processes. Literature on bioprospecting as a problematic issue for Third World States has been emerging steadily over the last decade under the impact of the commercialisation of biodiversity, which has become big business for biopha.rmaceutical companies. The unique interests and experiences of Fourth World Nations are not recognised within this literature as significantly different to that of the Third World, and of their encapsulating states.. This study has addressed this significant gap by utilising and developing an analytical approach that uses Fourth World theory, synthesised with elements of Foucault's analytics of power. When combined, these two theoretical approaches provide a new and rich under standing of how dominant 'ways of knowing' and 'ways of owning' have been privileged, while other knowledge and ownership systems have been, and continue to be, marginalised, Eoucault's understanding of discursive power as having the capability to be either, or both, dominant and resistant is important to my analysis, as it accommodates the Fourth World as a discursive site of resistance to dominant power. I posit that richer insights are gained through the development and application of this theoretical framework to the issue of fair and equitable access to biological resources, than other approaches offer. I demonstrate the framework's utility by applying it to a case study on bioprospecting in Australia. Important findings have emerged while tracking the activities of Fourth World peoples on the international stage, and their attempts to challenge dominant power/knowledge structures within political institutions For example, participation at the international level has enabled Fomth World peoples to apply pressure on their encapsulating states to accommodate their interests. This has been furthered through forming alliances with, for example, environmentalists, and through the adoption of the language of effective participation within international fora.. Overall, however, the study found that the participation of Eourth World peoples within international, central state and local state policy processes is not always empowering in challenging dominant interests Instead, the more accurate impression is that at this stage of the discursive policy terrain, it may only create an illusion of participation that actually serves to entrench their disempowerment. This places pressule on policy processes to address and resolve this access issue equitably if social turbulence is to subside, justice be served, and certainty provided for all.

This thesis examines issues of power, culture and schooling as they apply to an indigenous community located on Saibai Island in the Torres Strait of northern Australia. The thesis combines literature research with ethnography to consider Saibaian schooling in various contexts. These include the history of schooling in the region, the relevant educational literature and the actual physical and social contexts of schooling on Saibai. Early chapters deal with methodology, history and educational literature. Later chapters deal with ethnographic material using the themes of separation, culture and collaborative decision-making to organise the data. The work of Michel Foucault informs the analytical approach to issues of power. Hence power is considered to be ubiquitous, productive and linked to issues of knowledge and culture. School principals are identified as key figures in schooling and therefore play a major role in the thesis. As the principals are all men of non-Islander (anglo) backgrounds, this thesis represents a significant break from works within the realm of indigenous education that are heavily influenced by cultural anthropology and tend to focus only on the Aboriginal or Islander participants as objects of study. The thesis considers how Saibaian people are excluded from schooling through various techniques and practices that tend to place the principal in a position of autocracy vis a vis the school. Furthermore, I show how various schooling practices that aim to include community members in schooling are shaped and transformed such that they actually serve to entrench the principal in his position of control over schooling. This applies even in the way that cultural activities are incorporated into the school illustrating that no aspect of schooling is immune to relations of power. Indeed, the notion of Saibaian Islanders belonging to a unique cultural group is used by some principals to argue that they are unsuited to roles within the school's decision-making process. Ultimately, then, this thesis is about relations between school principals and community members in the context of schooling on Saibai Island.