In exploring Tiv and Inuit conflict resolution processes, this study found astute principles in operation. The case study groups afforded expanded understandings of human conflict and conflict resolution based upon time tested cultural approaches. These approaches recommend people oriented models to problem solving, which reach beyond problems to transform the parties involved in the process. These are purported to be durable means to deal with issues; for if people change positively, their issues are easily transformed as well. Indigenous ideologies of conflict also challenge conventional processes of legal adjudication and offer traditional wisdoms with potential to assist in mediating seemingly intractable and deadly conflicts. Although separated by thousands of miles, Tiv of the Benue Valley in present day Nigeria and Inuit of Northern Canada provide fascinating case examples in their converging cultural ideologies. They have key conditions in common; the use of creative conflict resolution tools and methods within quasi egalitarian social arrangements. Also, while faced with rapidly changing social dynamics, both groups have tenaciously held unto their original cultural tenets for conflict resolution and peacemaking. Their differences are just as compelling; of immediate significance is population size. Inuit are much fewer in number, less than a hundred thousand people and live in smaller settlements. The Tiv group is larger, almost three million people who live in larger urban or rural settings. Inuit brave extremely cold weather conditions for much of the year while Tiv find ways to survive extremely hot weather conditions. Each has shared worthy wisdom for resolving conflicts facing their peoples at various levels; interpersonal conflicts, intergroup violence, youth violence and aggression, as well as cultural principles to prevent social vices such as suicides, murder and generally deteriorating social competencies. This qualitative inquiry integrates narrative, ethnographic and indigenous methodologies to investigate Tiv and Inuit use of original conflict resolution and peacemaking processes usually accomplished through creative means such as storytelling, dance, songs, games, ritual, proverbs, sayings and community processes. Specific attention is paid to the strengths and challenges faced in the practice and application of indigenous theories of conflict and peace. Findings are then incorporated into the contemporary discourse on conflict, peace, justice, conflict resolution and peacemaking. The study is informed by theories of decolonization, indigenous legal theory, post colonialism and conflict transformation.

The application of personality assessment measures for clinical and personnel decisions has long been a major activity for psychologists all over the world. In South Africa personality assessment tools are often used to aid decisions relating to selection, placement, determination of job satisfaction and development. Psychological testing in South Africa was originally initiated with white test-takers in mind, and currently none of the personality questionnaires available have been found to provide a reliable and valid picture of personality for all cultural (and language) groups living in South Africa. The promulgation of the new South African constitution in 1996 and, more specifically, the Employment Equity Act of 1998 have resulted in a stronger demand for the cultural appropriateness of psychological tests. In this study, the implicit perspectives of personality of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans were determined to further the goal of developing a personality assessment tool that can be applied fairly to all South African cultural (language) groupings. A qualitative research design was applied with an interview as data-gathering instrument. Afrikaans-speaking fieldworkers were recruited to interview a purposive stratified sample of 120 Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. From the 7 184 responses obtained through this process, personality-relevant adjectives, nouns and metaphors were identified. Content analysis was subsequently used to analyse, interpret and reduce the descriptors to a total of 378 personality characteristics, which imply the most important perspectives of personality for Afrikaans-speaking individuals. The personality characteristics were divided into 12 categories, namely Altruism/ Agreeability, Extraversion, Integrity, Conscientiousness, Emotionality, Intellect, Dynamism, Forcefulness, Humility, Moralism, Conventionality, and Autonomy. While Afrikaans- speaking persons do not hesitate to pronounce themselves and others as stubborn, impatient and short-tempered, they also generally refer to their agreeable nature by describing themselves and familiar others as friendly, helpful, loving and generous. Valuing the virtues associated with conscientiousness, Afrikaans-speaking respondents also made noteworthy reference to religiousness, a sense of humour and aspects of honesty and integrity. Limitations in the research have been identified and recommendations for future research have been presented. / Thesis (M.Com. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

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.

The purpose of this study was to interview elite First Nations, Inuit, and Métis athletes to gain an in-depth understanding of their personal journeys to excellence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and a narrative analysis was used to analyze the research findings. The three objectives were to find success strategies, obstacles and advice the elite athletes would provide to Aboriginal youth. The main success strategies were found to be Aboriginal elements, focus, mental preparation for competition, parental support, passion, and positive self-talk. Multiple obstacles were faced by the athletes in this study, with racism and leaving home being the commonalities. The advice they provided for young First Nations, Inuit, and Métis athletes was rich and inspiring. The findings of this study provide useful information for aspiring Aboriginal athletes, and for future ongoing meaningful research, that may lead to reducing the gaps in the literature.

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.

This thesis describes the evolution of an environmental learning program for Indigenous, urban youth called Bridging the Gap. A critical pedagogy of place provides a theoretical framework to engage in a practitioner-reflection, exploring the decisions made while revising the original program to make it both culturally and ecologically relevant. Using an action research methodology, the practitioner-researcher resolves to continue to seek resolution to relevant aspects of marginalization in attempt to facilitate reinhabitation for Bridging the Gap learners while emphasizing the program’s place-specific social, economic, and ecological situatedness.

Indigenous planning continues to emerge globally, with increasing emphasis being placed on Indigenous autonomy and planning practices. By discussing an urban example of Indigenous planning – specifically the values and characteristics of the Neeginan project or vision for the North Main area of Downtown Winnipeg – this thesis aims to shed some light on urban Indigenous planning, as well as how it may differ from, and overlap with, other forms of planning and other types of spaces and built environments within the city. In doing so, it offers not only an assessment of Indigenous planning as it has been undertaken in a particular urban context. It also offers an assessment of how planning in general can continue to decolonize its practices as it learns to better support and relate to Indigenous priorities and planning approaches.

Community sport organizations (CSO) are the most predominant type of nonprofit and voluntary organization in Canada (Gumulka, Barr, Lasby, & Brown-lee, 2005), and, it is vital that researchers recognize the critical, and often contradictory, social roles that these organizations are expected to perform. Community sport is both lauded as a progressive force of individual and community development (Sport for Development and Peace, International Working Group [SDP IWG], 2006) and criticized for reproducing race and class-based stereotypes that marginalize Aboriginal peoples (Canadian Heritage, 2005). Added to these challenges is the fact that sport leaders are expected to negotiate conflicting interests and unequal power relations (see Forester, 1989) while relying on a very limited body of research in which to guide their work in designing, delivering and facilitating culturally relevant sport programs for Aboriginal youth (see Forsyth, Heine & Halas, 2007; Maskawachees Declaration, 2000). Positioned within a transdisciplinary theoretical framework and guided by principles of indigenous research (Schnarch, 2004; Wilson, 2008), I conducted a multi-layered community-based study with sport leaders and youth participants at the Winnipeg Aboriginal Sport Achievement Center (WASAC), a successful urban Aboriginal sport organization in Manitoba, Canada. Building on similar research in the area of culturally relevant physical activity and education (e.g., Carpenter, 2009; Forsyth et al., 2007), the purpose of my research was to examine the politics and praxis of culturally relevant sport education (CRSE) – specifically, program planning and leadership practices - as an alternative to deficit-based and culturally inappropriate sport programs for urban Aboriginal youth. Findings reveal that WASAC leaders utilize a complex set of explicit and tacit cultural teachings rooted within a context- and relationship-based approach to program planning and facilitation. Findings also indicate that culturally relevant sport leadership practices are strongly related to the personal, experiential and cultural background and knowledge of sport leaders. The study concludes by suggesting that sport leaders who understand the cultural landscape of urban Aboriginal youth and utilize critical self-reflexive practices are more likely to recognize and build upon the resilience of urban Aboriginal youth while proactively responding to the complex challenges that shape the lives of youth.

This thesis presents the results of a qualitative research study that examined the resilience development with six Anishinabe (Ojibway) women. This study examined from the women’s perspectives, “What meaning(s) do First Nation graduates of secondary or post-secondary education make about risk and/or protective factors that may have affected their success in completing their degree/diploma requirements?” In this research, I closely examined the historical accounts and progressive educational changes of six successful Anishinabe women who attended either the residential, provincial or band operated schools. The narrative/storywork voiced by the women was gathered by one in-depth interview and were analyzed in two parts. First, the Western idea of resilience (Benard, 2004) was examined. Second, the development of resilience utilizing Indigenous narrative/storywork (Archibald, 2008; Thomas, 2008; Wilson, 2008) and the cultural framework of the Medicine Wheel teachings (Bopp, Bopp, Brown, & Lane, 1988; Medicine Wheel Evaluation Framework, 2012) was explored. The findings from this thesis revealed that through protective factors and/or supports of their community, environment, school, and family and restored Indigenous philosophy, maintained culture, language, spirituality and traditional worldviews, a process of resilience emerged and/or was developed and overpowered risk factors, challenges and/or adversities. The amalgamation of findings supports what research suggests that Aboriginal people exist in two worlds, their world and mainstream world (Fitznor, 2005). Co-existance, acceptance, and a balance of both worlds are supports and fundamental keys to resiliency and educational success.

This research focuses on working with fifteen local youths, one elder, and two teachers in the town of Churchill, Manitoba to document intergenerational knowledge transfer. According to Tsuji (1996) there has been a significant loss of traditional ecological knowledge in First Nation communities between generations for both males and females. Traditional knowledge is important because it relies on an individual’s own knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards certain issues that he or she has experienced in the past. Through conducting interviews with Elders, youths, and teachers along with observation and participant observation, this research shows knowledge from the Indigenous elder is being transferred to the younger generation through stories, presentations, and education. There is a moderate level of intergenerational knowledge transfer from youth to elders and elders to youth, as well as a high level of interest in incorporating traditional and local knowledge in education.