This work deals with the issues of cultural identity of ethnic groups in the modern Mexican society, explores its characteristics and essence and searches for possibilities of its maintenance. The central question is, which way indigenous groups can develop their culture freely in the modern Mexican society, and so keep their own peculiarity and identity. The main instrument is a case study of Nahua communities occupying the territory of the Northeastern mountain range of the Mexican state of Puebla, which is in the sphere of influence of the organization called Unión de Cooperativas Tosepan Titataniske, seeking to improve the standard of living and strengthen the cultural identity of the villagers in the region. An ethno-historical study of the Nahua communities living in the particular region, completed with an analysis of the contemporary inhabitants' cultural identity based on a field research, shows that indigenous cultures can keep their identity in spite of significant external interference into their traditional way of life in the course of centuries and that the continuity of their identity is not dependent on maintaining concrete, time conditioned cultural manifestations. On the contrary, important factors for keeping cultural identity are the functional continuity of a given group and...

Written from a nuučaan̓uł perspective this dissertation documents the reclamation of knowledge, teachings, culture, language, responsibilities, and identity through my personal (re)connection to my family’s ḥaḥuułi and hereditary home, čaačaac̓iiʕas. In specific and intentional ways my research, fieldwork, and dissertation are part of a story of reconciliation between myself and čaačaac̓iiʕas, the ḥaḥuułi that my family was dispossessed from because of the impacts of colonization. Despite the near severing of our relationship with čaačaac̓iiʕas and the near destruction of our ḥaḥuułi, čaačaac̓iiʕas is thriving and now is the time to pick up my responsibilities and begin to re-establish a relationship with the natural and spiritual worlds found there. In my research the lands, waters, skies, and natural world are not a place and/or object of inquiry, they are non-human knowledge holders and teachers. The dissertation draws upon on a diverse set of ethnographic, anthropological, and Indigenous literatures. Emphasis is placed upon the use of nuučaan̓uł scholarship, theory, and methodologies including muułmuumps (being rooted to the land), ceremony, language, song, and interviews. The research builds on four kinds of knowledge that are expressed as: 1) known knowledge; 2) incomplete knowledge; 3) unaccounted for and/or unknown knowledge; and, 4) ethnographic/anthropological knowledge. Through this theoretical platform I explore tangible and intangible cultural and hereditary forms of knowledge production. Importantly, I highlight the role of song and sound as critical vehicles through which contemporary Indigenous peoples can connect to historical places and times. I place equal emphasis on the production of sound through song as I do through the reception of song and sound through a methodology of deep listening. Song and sound play a crucial role in my research and form the basis of knowledge transfer between myself, čaačaac̓iiʕas, and my yakʷiimit kʷiyiis nananiqsu (ancestors). Furthermore, the songs shared within this dissertation are the analysis of my data and how I am choosing to disseminate that data. I argue that these connections provide ways for future agendas and aspirations for cultural resurgence and governance to emerge. / Graduate

Chapter one: The influence of charitable activity on Indigenous communities’ well-being and other socio-economic outcomes Hitherto and within the Canadian context, no one has investigated the role played by the charitable sector on the economic well-being for “on-reserve” First Nations and Inuit communities. On the one hand, Indigenous peoples face longstanding and complex social problems and economic hardships. On the other hand, there are charities which provide public goods and services and benefits to communities by helping to fill needs. This is the first study to examine how the presence of charities may affect some measurable socio-economic outcomes of Indigenous communities and their people, by triangulating data from multiple sources: administrative data from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on registered charities, the 2001 and 2006 Census Surveys, the 2011 National Household Survey and the Community Well-Being (CWB) Index developed by the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC). My findings indicate that having access to at least one charity is associated with increases in a community well-being measure of 3 points on a 100-point scale, in household income (5.1%) and in individual’s wages (6.9%). When the number of charities increases in a reserve by one unit, the CWB rises by 1.1 points (on the 100-point scale), household income by 2.7%, individuals’ total income by 1.9% and individuals’ wages by 3.4%. Chapter two: Government funding to Indigenous charities The government is an important revenue source for charitable organizations in Canada. Big differences in public funding can be observed across registered charities that serve Indigenous peoples and all other registered charities. Using charitable organizations’ tax returns, the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return for the years 2003 to 2017 I investigate these government-funding patterns. I test different hypothesis on financial support from government sources by discerning first between Indigenous and non-Indigenous charities, and second between Indigenous charities on reserve and off reserve. I also analyze the relationship between the funding across levels to see if one level of government funding is contingent on other levels. The results of my study point to a higher likelihood of Indigenous charities receiving government support as compared to non-Indigenous charities, with a 24% increase in the predicted probability of funding. Indigenous charities on reserve have a predicted probability of receiving government funding that is almost 17% lower than those off reserve. From the exploration of the link between the three levels of Canadian government funding for Indigenous and non-Indigenous charities two insights emerge. Firstly, the federal government is more likely to support Indigenous charities if they do not receive any other public funds, and the provincial government supports them if they do not get any municipal funding. Secondly, Indigenous charities are more likely than non-Indigenous charities to get both federal and provincial funding, and federal and municipal funding. The comparison between Indigenous charities off reserve and on reserve reveals that the on-reserve ones are less likely to be funded simultaneously by two levels of government. Chapter three: The causal relationship between government funding and donations to Indigenous charities While billions of dollars are donated annually to charitable organizations, relatively modest amounts go to charities that specifically serve Indigenous populations. In comparison to their non-Indigenous counterparts, these charities get fewer private donations, have less fundraising revenue and receive less gifts from other charities. This chapter studies the causal relationship between public funding and these three types of revenues, focusing on the Indigenous charities and distinguishing between on-reserve and off-reserve charities. I use the large T3010 dataset with financial information for over 95,000 registered charities, covering a 15-year period from 2003 to 2017. The estimation and identification strategy relies on novel instruments using a 2SLS model. The results indicate a crowding out effect of public funding on donations for Indigenous charities; I also find evidence that the level of government funding matters. With the preferred instrument, a one dollar increase in government funding crowds out seven cents of private contributions; the three levels of federal, provincial and municipal funding decrease private donations by 15, 6 and 46 cents respectively. Government funding negatively affects fundraising effort and gifts from other charities. For every dollar in public support the former decreases by one to seven cents and the latter by three to 12 cents. These reductions imply an economically substantial effect on charities’ revenue. Little evidence is found that government grants impact differently Indigenous charities on reserve compared to those off reserve. The area and programs in which charities operate matter though, which is critical for how governments structure grants to Indigenous charities.

Natural hazards are predicted to only increase in frequency and severity over the next decade, making it crucial to avoid their negative consequences by disaster risk reduction. Reducing risks of natural hazards is not a recent invention as it has been shown that indigenous and local communities possess indigenous and local knowledge systems related to reducing disaster risks. These knowledge systems are however largely being ignored in policy and research. They are also subjected to pressures which risk altering, eroding or destroying them. In this thesis, these indigenous and local knowledge systems and the pressures that might threaten them are explored through a field study with interviews and observations in rural indigenous and local communities in northern Thailand. The findings show clear evidence of multiple and varying types of indigenous and local knowledge systems, such as knowledges, practices, and beliefs that reduce disaster risk. However, multiple types of pressures to the indigenous and local knowledge systems are also found. These pressures have in some cases already resulted in a loss of indigenous and local knowledge systems, or risk doing so in the future. The conclusion of the thesis is that these indigenous and local knowledge systems and the pressures to them should be kept in close mind in research, policy and intervention to improve disaster risk reduction and not perpetuate the current western paradigm.

The purpose of this study was to examine the Indigenous Navigator partnership through its Bésiro project in Bolivia to find out whether the partnership approach can enhance Indigenous participation in global education. In the short term, enhancing the participation of Indigenous peoples in global education may help them maintain their unique identity and culture. In the long term, it may enable Indigenous peoples to actively decide on policy that concerns them. The objective of the research was to help policymakers and those working in the field of international and comparative education to secure Indigenous peoples’ right to determine their own education development. In the 19th and 20th centuries, after the creation of nation-states in Latin America, national education efforts sought to unify populations through assimilationist policies. Those policies used the dominant language as the language of instruction, and the content of curricula responded to the national vision of those in power. Indigenous peoples held on to their culture and language despite the external pressure to assimilate and the lack of recognition and support. In the second half of the 20th century, a global Indigenous movement took place that claimed Indigenous peoples’ collective rights within the nation-state, including the right to self-determine their education. This movement succeeded in garnering international attention, which led to the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This declaration served as a framework upon which states were expected to model their laws. While this helped put the plight of Indigenous peoples in the international spotlight, some countries have implemented the Declaration to a greater extent than others. As a result, many Indigenous peoples remain stripped of the power and legal authority to ultimately decide on the education (and other) issues that concern them. The power asymmetries that have been affecting them in international education politics persist. A global education system that does not count on the continuous participation of Indigenous peoples as collective actors fails to meet the goals of inclusion and equality that it intends to achieve. Against this background, the following questions remained unanswered: Who is entitled to participate in global education and in what capacity? How are Indigenous peoples currently participating in global education? Why and how should the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which is the international agency tasked with promoting peace through international cooperation in education, science, culture, communication, and information, enhance Indigenous participation in its education politics? Driven by the questions above, I carried out a qualitative case study involving a multistakeholder partnership–the Indigenous Navigator. The Indigenous Navigator partnership includes Indigenous and non-Indigenous nongovernmental organizations, civil society organizations, and other international and national stakeholders. This partnership developed a framework and a set of tools to produce Indigenous data and track progress toward the fulfillment of Indigenous human rights. When applied to education, the Indigenous Navigator partnership translates the data collected into projects designed by Indigenous peoples for their own purposes. The Indigenous Navigator partnership offers an alternative approach for global education to enhance Indigenous participation in education policy. The Indigenous Navigator partnership’s project that became the case study was called Revitalization and Vitalization of the Bésiro Language of the Monkox Nation. This project was designed by the Monkox, a people indigenous to Bolivia. The Monkox utilized the Indigenous Navigator’s framework and set of tools, and focused on revitalizing their Bésiro language. This Bésiro project was implemented between 2019 and 2020 in Lomerío, in Bolivia’s lowlands. The case of the Monkox within Bolivia stands out because even though the Monkox are small in number, they have a long history of defending their language and their education. Bolivia, in turn, has drawn regional and international attention because it adopted Indigenous human rights into its political constitution and has come forth with a unique education model based on intraculturality, interculturality and plurilingualism, and in which Indigenous peoples are seen not only as individuals with a right to education, but also as peoples with collective education rights. To analyze the effectiveness of the Indigenous Navigator partnership and the Bésiro project, I spent 7 months observing the functioning of the Indigenous Navigator partnership prior to fieldwork, then spent another year interviewing 42 key stakeholders, out of whom at least 17 were Indigenous. I also analyzed relevant documents related to Indigenous education in Bolivia, global education, and enhanced participation. The results of the study offer a glimpse into present-day Indigenous education in Bolivia; an analysis of the Indigenous Navigator partnership and the Bésiro project; and a comparison between local, national, and international power dynamics that interacted throughout the project and can further impact education politics in Bolivia and beyond. The results show that the Indigenous Navigator partnership operated through what I call multisphere Indigenous ownership (i.e., the capacity of each partner to contribute from their own area of expertise while reducing the stratification of power) to ensure the Monkox’s self-determination in the Bésiro project. The analysis also shows that interculturality is difficult to reach if intraculturality, or the reaffirmation of a people’s identity, culture, and politics, has not been strengthened. To reaffirm intraculturality, the active participation of Indigenous peoples in their own education policy processes is vital. Only then will Indigenous peoples be able to achieve sustainable education along with national efforts. Lastly, the case study revealed that the Indigenous Navigator partnership worked through tacit interculturality between the European Union and Latin America, that is, the implicit reciprocity of two Indigenous systems in both parts of the world. As an outcome of this analysis of the Indigenous Navigator partnership and the Bésiro project, it is suggested that the global education community, guided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, implement multistakeholder Indigenous ownership to allow Indigenous peoples, as collective stakeholders, to participate in education policy processes that concern them. This study closes with a policy and research agenda that contributes to achieving sustainable, quality education for Indigenous peoples.

In collaboration with Elders, this study explores the great need for their meaningful partnership in STBBI (sexually transmitted and/or bloodborne infections) research. / Indigenous Elders are highly regarded as community leaders, traditional healers, and experts of Indigenous cultures and knowledges (Clark & Wylie 2021; Hadjipavlou et al., 2018; Lessard et al., 2021). The meaningful partnership of Elders in Indigenous STBBI (sexually transmitted and/or bloodborne infections) research has become increasingly recognized as an integral part of developing decolonial research processes, ensuring the implementation of Indigenous methods in STBBI research, and increasing the sexual health and wellbeing of Inuit, Métis, and First Nations communities through the development of culturally and ethically responsive research (Flicker et al., 2015; Hillier 2020; O’Brien et al., 2020). This study sought to expand upon and connect current literature with the expertise and guidance of Indigenous Elders who have been involved in STBBI research. Thirteen Elders were recruited nationwide to participate in three virtual Talking Circles to explore their meaningful partnership in Indigenous STBBI research and to offer guidance to researchers on how to strengthen these research partnerships in the future. Five overarching themes emerged from the thematic analysis of these Talking Circles: (1) Understanding the historical and ongoing impacts of colonialism and the need to decolonize STBBI research; (2) Prioritizing the knowledge and lived experience of Elders and Indigenous people living with STBBI throughout the research process; (3) Centering spirituality and ceremony in Indigenous STBBI research; (4) The importance of implementing Indigenous methodologies in STBBI research; and (5) Foregrounding Indigenous ways of being, knowing, and doing in STBBI research. This study offers future Indigenous STBBI researchers a robust foundation to build meaningful research partnerships with Elders to improve STBBI research and benefit the sexual health and wellbeing of Métis, Inuit, and First Nations communities. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)

The need for the focus for inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) into policy is largely informed by a globalisation process that is characterised by increased knowledge sharing of different cultural and lingual groups. Indigenous knowledge has been an essential survival tool for humans since time immemorial and there is a connection between IK and disaster risk reduction (DRR). Increasingly indigenous knowledge is being valued internationally as a useful resource for dealing with modern problems. The thesis made a case of effectively including IK into DRR policy in Zimbabwe. Focus group discussion, transect walks, document analysis and participatory interviewing methods involving more than 138 participants were employed to gain insights of IK practices and measures used for DRR in four districts (Mangwe, Hwedza, Lupane and Guruve) in Zimbabwe. There are no easy answers for advocating for the inclusion of IK into DRR policy for obtaining IK from participants take time and there is need for patience. However, the main categories of IK emerging from this study contribute to the emerging IK/DRR practices body of knowledge, spanning social science disciplines. The research found that the most used IK domains for components of DRR identified are individual inherited knowledge and knowledge known to the community. Other IK domains used are knowledge practiced by individuals if known to individuals, acquired the skill to practice it faithfully without modification, individual rights to use the modified and unmodified knowledge according to same rules and acquired the skill to practice it faithfully with modification. Communities that have inherited IK, have abilities to observe their surroundings using plants (environmental ethic) and animals (ecological ethic) to develop indicators that can be used to predict disaster risk. There are many IK experts in rural communities for human and animal health. IK use in DRR is about agency, notwithstanding political and economic context. Rural communities’ agency are continuously reviving and becoming more innovative in developing IK technologies for DRR. The inclusion of IK into DRR policy becomes very relevant in that IK categories identified can be used for DRR. Finally, on the basis of the findings suggestions and road map for the inclusion of IK through a broader education strategy has been provided. The suggestion for the inclusion of IK into DRR is either through decentralisation, partnership or devolution. With decentralisation, responsibilities can be delegated with limited authority to dispersed units of hierarchical jurisdiction while in devolution there is a creation of some realms of authority that have autonomy. The thesis recommended that IK requires institutional linkages reinforcement between DRR and rural sectors (local government, village assemblies, traditional leaders, IK experts) and improving quality of education, and incorporating IK for DRR in the education curriculum from primary schools to university level. / PhD (Development and Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Thesis (M.Sc.(Crop Science) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2011

The need for the focus for inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) into policy is largely informed by a globalisation process that is characterised by increased knowledge sharing of different cultural and lingual groups. Indigenous knowledge has been an essential survival tool for humans since time immemorial and there is a connection between IK and disaster risk reduction (DRR). Increasingly indigenous knowledge is being valued internationally as a useful resource for dealing with modern problems. The thesis made a case of effectively including IK into DRR policy in Zimbabwe. Focus group discussion, transect walks, document analysis and participatory interviewing methods involving more than 138 participants were employed to gain insights of IK practices and measures used for DRR in four districts (Mangwe, Hwedza, Lupane and Guruve) in Zimbabwe. There are no easy answers for advocating for the inclusion of IK into DRR policy for obtaining IK from participants take time and there is need for patience. However, the main categories of IK emerging from this study contribute to the emerging IK/DRR practices body of knowledge, spanning social science disciplines. The research found that the most used IK domains for components of DRR identified are individual inherited knowledge and knowledge known to the community. Other IK domains used are knowledge practiced by individuals if known to individuals, acquired the skill to practice it faithfully without modification, individual rights to use the modified and unmodified knowledge according to same rules and acquired the skill to practice it faithfully with modification. Communities that have inherited IK, have abilities to observe their surroundings using plants (environmental ethic) and animals (ecological ethic) to develop indicators that can be used to predict disaster risk. There are many IK experts in rural communities for human and animal health. IK use in DRR is about agency, notwithstanding political and economic context. Rural communities’ agency are continuously reviving and becoming more innovative in developing IK technologies for DRR. The inclusion of IK into DRR policy becomes very relevant in that IK categories identified can be used for DRR. Finally, on the basis of the findings suggestions and road map for the inclusion of IK through a broader education strategy has been provided. The suggestion for the inclusion of IK into DRR is either through decentralisation, partnership or devolution. With decentralisation, responsibilities can be delegated with limited authority to dispersed units of hierarchical jurisdiction while in devolution there is a creation of some realms of authority that have autonomy. The thesis recommended that IK requires institutional linkages reinforcement between DRR and rural sectors (local government, village assemblies, traditional leaders, IK experts) and improving quality of education, and incorporating IK for DRR in the education curriculum from primary schools to university level. / PhD (Development and Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Published Article / Sometimes what is not in a text is more significant than what is. This paper examines a variety of texts to establish what is and is not present. The argument presented in this paper demonstrates that skewed perspectives, closed lenses, and distorted worldviews are powerful teachers. Appropriate perspectives and lenses can provide a worldview of complex and sophisticated thought, traditioned through memory, simultaneously stretching back into the past and drawing the past into the present…and pointing a way into the future. The paper examines a well-respected account of the 'Western Mind' and then demonstrates what is not in the text which could contribute to a fuller understanding of human civilization such as is present in the texts of peoples whose knowledge predates and/or precludes scribal alphabetic writing. The paper provides examples of such knowledges from societies which demonstrate sophisticated and complex thinking, both prior to 3000 BCE in theWest and in ancient and present day Africa. The paper demonstrates that the exclusion of evidence of complex and sophisticated thinking which predates or precludes scribal alphabetic writing presents a skewed understanding of the knowledge in such societies, and that Africa can learn from such exclusions to its benefit.