Many Indigenous leaders and public figures, as well as scholars of Indigenous culture and history, assert that non-Indigenous ignorance of Indigenous realities has systematically disadvantaged Indigenous peoples in Canada, weakened Canadian society, and makes it impossible to address the conditions of life for Indigenous people in Canada in a sustained or coherent way. Additionally, for many scholars silence and unawareness are deeply linked to colonialism and are implicated in the maintenance of unequal social relations. Drawing from this literature, I contend that in Canada, silence around Indigenous peoples and issues works as a spatial tactic of exclusion. I argue that unawareness is bound up in interests that work to render Indigenous peoples absent from the concerns of modern Canada, and that these interests are deeply intertwined with national and provincial identities such that silences around Indigenous peoples and issues are expressed differently in each Canadian province and territory. This thesis explores the nature of public unawareness of Indigenous realities in Québec. Using the remarkable public voice resource generated by the 2007 Reasonable Accommodation Commission in Québec, a public inquiry into Québec citizens’ opinions about the nature of Québec identity and its relationship to the integration of minorities in the province, I analyze the Commission’s mandate and geographical movements, as well as over 750 written briefs submitted to the Commission. I argue that unawareness of Indigenous realities is widespread in Québec and is unconstrained by participants’ social positions, interests, arguments, or level of engagement with the question of indigeneity in Québec. Though the Commission worked to exclude Indigenous content (and perhaps peoples) from its activities from the outset, eight Indigenous leaders submitted briefs and spoke powerfully and critically of the Commission’s exclusion. These authors point out that the question of Indigenous rights is far from settled, that the Commission’s and Quebecers’ unawareness of Indigenous realities is complicit in a long history of exclusion in Québec and in Canada, and assert that Quebecers will not be able to address their anxiety around immigration in any meaningful or coherent way until Indigenous rights are respected. In my focus on the Reasonable Accommodation Commission, I suggest the particular nature of exclusion in Québec. While exclusion of Indigenous peoples is a Canadian universal, its flavour varies. In this case, the provincial jurisdiction is important. / Thesis (Master, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2012-04-22 18:11:39.47

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In the period between the granting of self-government in 1923 and 1938, the 'native' policy formulated by Europeans in colonial Zimbabwe had three dimensions. The first was a land and agricultural policy designed to restrict competition from Africans in the produce market. The second was a labour policy addressed at the chronic labour shortages in the European mining and agricultural sectors. The third was a series of control measures seeking to impede black political organization. The goals of these policies were largely achieved by 1938 due to a combination of government initiatives and the impact of the depression. Part of this success was directly due to the effects of the depression; as economic conditions improved, Africans regained some of their economic autonomy and reasserted themselves politically.

This study investigated the extent to which knowledge management (KM) approaches and information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be used to manage agricultural indigenous knowledge (IK), and introduce relevant exogenous knowledge in some local communities of Tanzania. The recognition and management of local practices do not only give confidence to farmers that their knowledge and skills are valued, but also leads to the preservation and continued use of their IK. Managing IK within and across communities can help to enhance cross-cultural understanding and promote the cultural dimension of agricultural development in the local communities. The current state of managing agricultural IK and access to relevant exogenous knowledge in the selected local communities in Tanzania was investigated. The study used mixed research methods, where the qualitative approach was the dominant method. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered simultaneously during a single phase of data collection. The primary purpose was to gather qualitative data through the semi-structured interviews, focus groups, non-participant observation, and participatory rural appraisal tools (information mapping and linkage diagrams, and problem trees). The secondary purpose was to gather quantitative data through closed questions which were embedded in the same semi-structured interviews. Both qualitative and quantitative data analyses were kept separate, and then they were combined or integrated into the meta-inferences. Some of the qualitative themes were also transformed into counts, and these counts were compared with descriptive quantitative data. The study participants included three categories of respondents: local communities (farmers and village leaders), IK policy makers (institutions that deal with intellectual property policies in Tanzania), and knowledge intermediaries (institutions that deal with agricultural KM activities in the rural areas). The findings indicated that KM approaches can be used to manage IK and appropriately introduce exogenous knowledge in the local communities, and thus the integration of both indigenous and exogenous knowledge can be feasible. The study findings showed that farmers possessed an extensive base of agricultural IK. However, this knowledge was acquired, developed and shared within a small, weak and spontaneous network, and thus knowledge loss was prevalent in the surveyed communities. Formal sources of knowledge mainly focused on disseminating exogenous knowledge in the local communities, which showed the predominance of the exogenous knowledge system over IK in the surveyed local communities. The study found that most of the farmers’ knowledge was tacit and it was created and shared through human interactions, and thus lack of ICTs did not constitute a barrier for KM practices in the rural areas. The study findings showed that radio was the major ICT used to access exogenous and indigenous knowledge in the local communities. There was low use of ICTs to share and preserve agricultural IK in the local communities. Although there was a predominance of the exogenous knowledge system over IK in the local communities, farmers applied IK gained from tacit and explicit sources of knowledge in their farming systems as compared to exogenous knowledge in the surveyed communities. Farmers trusted their own knowledge since it did not challenge their assumptions as would new knowledge from research institutions and universities. Low use of exogenous knowledge on some farming aspects was attributed to the fact that few knowledge intermediaries had identified and prioritized farmers’ knowledge and needs in the local communities. Individual and collective interactions were already used to integrate farmers’ knowledge and exogenous knowledge in the local communities, however, they needed to be strengthened through KM practices. The study findings showed that various factors determined access to knowledge in the communities, which included ICTs, culture of a certain locality, trust, status, context and space. The findings also showed that the lack of IK policy and existence of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) that inadequately recognised and protected IK, limited acquisition, sharing and preservation of IK in the surveyed communities in Tanzania. The study concluded that unless KM approaches are applied, IK will continue to disappear, and the rural farmers will have nothing to rely on, for their farming practices. Since knowledge is the collective expertise of everyone in the communities, this study recommends that KM practices should be embedded in the community, private and public agricultural actors and other government and private institutions as they currently function in the local communities. The government and private agricultural actors should foster the KM practices in the local communities by engaging the community leaders and rural people in the whole process. Since IK is site-specific, it can therefore seldom be scaled up without an adaptation, however it can be used to stimulate experimentation and innovation in other communities. With this view, this study recommends that knowledge should not be separated from the individuals who possess it, instead efforts should be made to enable the communities to manage their own knowledge, and to adapt other knowledge systems to suit their local context for effective KM practices. Indigenous knowledge would be effectively managed and integrated with exogenous knowledge if the government ensures that there are policies and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) that recognise and protect the existing knowledge in the country. These policies may include sectoral policies that deal with IK, rural development, agriculture, ICTs, education issues and various other issues. These policies should comprise the following: (i) a shared definition of and vision for KM in the country; (ii) the clear goals/strategies for the innovation initiatives to take place in the rural areas; and (iii) guidance with regard to prioritizing, deciding upon, and taking action to institutionalize KM processes in the rural areas with linkages to gender perspectives. Issues related to the capacity building, culture, content, infrastructure, and leadership should be addressed at this level for effective implementation of KM services in the rural areas. This will enable the communities and agricultural actors (such as research, extension, NGOs, libraries) to establish KM practices and a culture that is conducive for KM activities in their localities. Further, the study recommends that public and private institutions, knowledge intermediaries (such as research, extension, NGOs, libraries) and village leaders should be involved in the KM practices in the rural areas, and they should ensure that there is a committed leadership for KM activities, knowledge culture, appropriate ICTs, favourable context and space, and mapping to locate knowledge bearers and knowledge resources in the rural areas. However, the absence of ICTs should not constitute a barrier for KM and knowledge integration processes, since the findings showed that communities are more likely to understand, acquire and use knowledge that is shared through indigenous communication channels which are oral in nature rather than other approaches such as ICTs. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

For the Asiniskow Ithiniwak (Rocky Cree), the Missinipi (Churchill River) holds many traditional resource areas and cultural landscapes with oral histories that transfer knowledge through the generations (Linklater 1994; Castel and Westfall 2001; Brightman 1993). In recent decades, hydroelectric development in north central Manitoba has impacted Cree livelihood by altering resource use, limiting access to significant cultural landscapes and accelerating the erosion of campsites and ancestral burials into the water. Even with existing provincial heritage legislation, some of these heritage resources remain threatened by land-based developments because of the limitations related to their identification, documentation and presentation in the cultural resource management field. The tendency to focus on physical manifestations of heritage such as archaeological sites, heritage objects and built heritage overlooks other resources of heritage such as places known in the local language. I argue that these biases result from cultural divergences that exist in the understanding and definitions of heritage, particularly Indigenous heritage. In this dissertation, I articulate how underlying theoretical assumptions of reality influences our understandings of heritage. I present a postcolonial understanding of heritage as interpreted from the perspective of the Asiniskow Ithiniwak using an Indigenous research paradigm, methodologies and the nīhithow language, in conjunction with knowledge based on Western intellectual traditions. The use of a bicultural research model led to new ways in identifying heritage resources important to the Asiniskow Ithiniwak and meaningful interpretations of archaeological materials based on legal traditions. Further, this case study demonstrates that there is no singular or universal definition of heritage for Indigenous peoples. For successful heritage resources protection, I illustrate that understandings of heritage need to be contextualized locally through a community’s language, culture, customary laws and local landscape. This view, promoted by UNESCO, emphasizes that the values and practices of local communities, together with traditional management systems, must be fully understood, respected, encouraged and accommodated in management plans if their heritage resources are to be sustained in the future (Logan 2008; UNESCO 2004). This outcome demonstrates the need to reexamine the practices, policies, legislation and procedures concerned with Indigenous knowledge in cultural and natural resources management in Canada.

This thesis seeks to explore the idea of Indigenous participation in Canada’s federal electoral system and whether such involvement can wield positive change to the Canadian/Indigenous relationship. The analysis presented throughout this thesis highlights the development of a tarnished Canadian/Indigenous relationship as well as the debate surrounding the belonging of Indigenous peoples in relation to the Canadian state and their own Indigenous nations. Additionally, this thesis demonstrates that Indigenous peoples voting in Canada’s electoral system do not hinder Indigenous sovereignty, but may heighten its recognition instead, as well as how participation in Canada’s political system may wield influence by Indigenous peoples over Canada’s elected officials. Although potential for Indigenous influence within Canada’s electoral process exists, further research is needed to delve into the subject matter at a deeper level.

This thesis looks at how the Cree people of Wemindji, James Bay, Québec, understand and live with ecological complexity and dynamism. The focus is on the interplay between variability, change, and continuity in the Canada goose (Branta canadensis) hunt. Looking at Cree goose-hunting in the light of cultural ecology and resilience thinking, the research suggests that Cree hunters are attentive and responsive to ecological fluctuations, fine-tuning local arrangements to local environmental conditions. Ecological variability and unpredictability, such as weather, goose population dynamics and migration patterns, are mediated by local management strategies in which goose hunting areas shift in space and time. However, whereas these strategies are still practiced nowadays, they are (to some extent) overwhelmed by changes occurring at larger scales. Some of these are related to climate change and anthropogenic disturbances; others are related to social-cultural changes that influence resource-use patterns. I discuss how these different drivers interact among themselves and impact the goose-hunt, and how the Wemindji Cree respond to these changes.

Recently there has been more critical attention given to the violent role of the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) in the unfolding of settlement and colonial laws in western Canada. However, few have offered a comprehensive analysis of the violent encounters that are recorded (and missing) in the archival records and correspondence of the NWMP, and other secondary sources. Similarly, few researchers have utilized the ‘past’ experiences of Aboriginal peoples to try and understand the ongoing chasm today between non-indigenous settlers and Aboriginal peoples of Canada. In making the “marginal central” (Fitzpatrick 1989), and simultaneously challenging the dominant colonial narrative, I offer a socio-historical analysis of western Canada during the NWMP era (1873-1905), to show how it was (and still is), like other colonial frontiers, a violent space and time. I explore this argument by situating the violent encounters between the NWMP, white settlers, and Aboriginal peoples within the colonial relations that were structured to maintain the marginalization and dispossession of Aboriginal peoples. Failing to recognize and resist this part of western Canadian history, and the underlying logic behind it, is denial and limits the rationality and potential of non-indigenous Canadian populations to work for, and even conceive of, achieving an authentic reconciliation with Aboriginal peoples.