<p>This dissertation research explored how indigenous peoples have responded to increasing conservation and development pressures in Suriname using two case study communities. One, in West Suriname, faced a proposed protected area and large-scale mining operation on the communities' traditional lands. The other community, in East Suriname, has been involved in a long-term co-management arrangement over an existing protected area. Community responses to these protected areas and development projects were considered through the important influence of a national indigenous rights organization and its multi-scalar networks. A total of 68 in-depth interviews with indigenous community leaders, indigenous rights organization leaders, conservation NGO personnel, company, and government representatives were conducted over a period of 9 months. In addition, 13 documents including conference proceedings, editorials, letters, and presentations were collected and analyzed. Results showed that strategies in the form of scalar politics, information politics, accountability politics, and cultural politics that drew from international legal instruments, guidelines, and the larger indigenous rights movement were used. These strategies enhanced the power, knowledge, and negotiating ability of the communities and NGOs, leading to the eventual rejection of a protected area and a stronger role in the mining project. However, the larger goal of land rights for indigenous peoples in Suriname has not yet been realized, and remains the focal point of indigenous struggles there.</p> / Dissertation

The processes used to negotiate novel forms of environmental governance being deployed in the North and Central Coast of British Columbia, known as the Great Bear Rainforest, provide useful insights into the kinds of efforts that may be required to effectively address contemporary environmental problems. Through various and complex political processes – constituted by many actors – a novel set of agreements, known as the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements, arguably emerged to resolve a conflict over the management of BC’s forests, a long standing and contentious issue in the province. This thesis first examines the wider limitations of institutions of governance to effectively address environmental problems and efforts to respond to these problems, particularly by environmentalists. Second, it tells the story of the Great Bear Rainforest Agreements, and examines their wider implications for participants of the negotiations and more generally. Overall this thesis argues that the Great Bear Rainforest negotiations can provide instructive lessons to institutions of governance by demonstrating how deliberative processes can help ease some of the structural tensions that condition environmental conflicts in Canada. Second, First Nations in the region played a crucial role in the Great Bear Rainforest negotiations, and the outcomes of this role are likely to have significant implications for future resource conflicts in the province. Third, the role of environmentalists in decision making in British Columbia is evolving. / Graduate

Early in 2012, the Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver released an open letter to Canadians where he identified 'an urgent matter of Canada's national interest': 'radical groups' were 'threaten[ing] to hijack [Canada's] regulatory system' for major projects and argued they should 'be accomplished in a quicker and more streamlined fashion'. This came on the eve of the first day of oral hearings for the public review into the controversial Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker project that would allow for oil sands from Alberta to access outside markets other than the United States. A few months later, Canada's environmental decision-making process was dramatically reformed, resulting in a significant outcry across the country over the likely effects on environmental oversight and Aboriginal rights. In Haida Gwaii, a series of islands off of the north coast of British Columbia (BC) around which the proposed tanker traffic would navigate, a process of reconciliation is in its early stages. The forestry sector is now subject to a collaborative provincial and Haida (First) Nation planning and decision process and a Haida-owned company is the biggest tenure holder and forestry sector employer. However, the Government of Canada has refused to participate in this reconciliation process in any meaningful way. It has, instead, encountered the Haida Nation through the court-like environmental review process for the proposed Enbridge project, the very same process that has been used to justify the dramatic environmental planning reforms. This research constructs a framework for tracing the spatial and institutional dynamics of the reconciliation process in planning. A significant amount of the Crown's approach to reconciliation relies upon the consultation that takes place within and alongside planning and regulatory decision making for natural resource developments. While the process does not, in itself, lead to any meaningful engagement over reconciliation, a central research question is: What opportunities might exist for reconciliation to take place in planning? And, how do these opportunities change? Contributing to the Indigenous planning literature, this dissertation examines some of the discursive and institutional factors that led to (a) the collaborative planning taking place on Haida Gwaii today and (b) the 2012 federal planning reforms. For each case, the opportunities available in planning for modifying the dominant view of reconciliation are considered. The dissertation begins with an overview of the very initial discussions on reconciliation between the Haida Nation and the Province of BC. It is argued that this move was facilitated by the Haida Nation shifting their concerns to various venues that were more or less receptive to their interests: the courts, a road blockade, collaborative planning, and bargaining. On the other hand, Canada has attempted to regain control by actively modifying the venues available to the Haida Nation in ways that excluded them or moved them to a venue that was less receptive to their concerns. It is reasoned that while planning spaces operate in ways that tend to be colonial, certain conditions and mechanisms are available in these systems that can be used to open up (perceived) opportunities for changing the way reconciliation is implemented across this system. These spaces reveal information about Indigenous-state power relations that are usually not observable until a conflict arises, at which point analysts may observe how actors respond to these perceived opportunities. Evidence is collected from numerous sources. Interviews with key informants, observation, and policy document review composed the bulk of the data collection for both cases. Four days of oral hearings in Haida Gwaii were observed in 2012, offering a window into the encounter between the Haida and Canada just as a streamlined environmental review process was being developed and implemented. In contrasting the two cases, this research finds that planning is used both to control development and as an opportunity to engage with the Crown over the long-standing dispute about overlapping title to and, thus, jurisdiction over Haida Gwaii. The process by which one use prevails over another is the central research problem; indeed, there remains an important disconnect between Indigenous political actors and the Crown (and, in some examples, industry) on how environmental planning institutions ought to be used. This tension is present within a planning venue and across the planning system, opening up potential opportunities, such as those used by the Haida Nation to regain control over Haida Gwaii, or closing down these opportunities. For these reasons, planning is one of the most useful arenas for influencing and for understanding the politics of reconciliation in Canada.

El reconocimiento de los derechos indígenas en la Constitución de 1999 de Venezuela supone una tensión conceptual en la forma de concebir la ciudadanía: significa el tránsito de una ciudadanía homogénea a otra de carácter multicultural. Sin embargo, la realización de esos derechos ha encontrado dificultades prácticas relativas a la titulación de tierras, carencia de respaldo político a los intereses indígenas, conflictos con las fuerzas armadas, entre otros, que hacen perder de vista los problemas conceptuales que subyacen al reconocimiento y la construcción de ciudadanía. El objetivo de este ensayo, basado en una metodología hermenéutica y apoyada en el análisis del discurso de fuentes documentales, será exponer algunas reflexiones sobre las tensiones conceptuales que subyacen a los problemas de realización de los derechos indígenas en Venezuela en la última década, en especial aquellos relacionados con la construcción de una ciudadanía multicultural. Entre los principales hallazgos destacan la asimilación solapada y el falso reconocimiento en que ha incurrido el actual régimen institucional, y se concluye apuntando la necesidad de avanzar en una concepción intercultural para superar la mera condición multicultural de los derechos indígenas, aunado al necesario impulso de un marco democrático representativo para un genuino reconocimiento y ciudadanía plena. / The recognition of indigenous rights in the Constitution of Venezuela 1999 represents a conceptual tension in the way of conceiving the citizenship: means transit of a homogeneous citizenship to other multicultural character. However, the realization of those rights has found practical difficulties relating to land titling, lack of political backing for indigenous interests, conflicts with the armed forces, among others, that do lose sight of the conceptual problems underlying the recognition and the construction of citizenship. The aim of this trial, based on a hermeneutic methodology and supported in discourse analysis of documentary sources, will be present some reflections on conceptual tensions that underlie problems of realization of indigenous rights in Venezuela in the last decade, in particular those related to the construction of a multicultural citizenship.The main findings include overlapping assimilation and false recognition that has incurred the current institutional regime and we conclude pointing the need to move forward in an intercultural concept to surpass mere multicultural condition of indigenous rights coupled with the necessary impulse of a representative democratic framework for a genuine recognition and full citizenship.

From the Peruvian Amazon: Contributions for teacher training in intercultural bilingual early childhood educationThe promotion of universal access to early childhood education should be accompanied by a serious analysis and reflection on the impact it can have on the primary socialization of native children. In this context it is essential to guarantee the existence of teacher training programs conscious of the relation between apprenticeship and culture which offer their students inputs that allow them to value, complement and enrich the educational processes which occur at home and in community settings. This paper presents some core issues of two curricula developed by and for Amazonian indigenous peoples. Even though both guidelines have been designed in Amazonian contexts, and respond to the needs and demands of Amazonian indigenous organizations, the topics included in this document may be used as referents for the critical examination of the way in which early childhood teacher training in intercultural bilingual education is being approached in other contexts. / La política de universalización de la educación inicial debe ir acompañada de un serio análisis y reflexión sobre el impacto que puede tener en los procesos de socialización primaria de niños y niñas de pueblos originarios. En este contexto es indispensable garantizar la existencia de programas de formación docente conscientes de la relación entre cultura y aprendizaje que ofrezcan a sus estudiantes insumos para valorar, complementar y enriquecer la formación que se da en el hogar y en la comunidad. Este artículo presenta algunos temas medulares de dos lineamientos curriculares diseñados «desde y para pueblos indígenas Amazónicos».Si bien ambos lineamientos han sido pensados desde la Amazonía, y responden a las necesidades y demandas de organizaciones indígenas de esta región, los temas incluidos en este documento podrían ser utilizados como referentes para examinarla manera cómo se está abordando la formación de docentes en la especialidad de educación inicial intercultural bilingüe en otros contextos.

El texto analiza los sucesos que llevaron al levantamiento en 2006de la población achuar de la cuenca del Corrientes (Loreto), afectadadurante casi cuatro décadas por la contaminación ocasionadapor compañías petroleras. Examina también el comportamiento delEstado y la empresa actual a lo largo de las protestas y luego de lasuscripción de un acta de compromiso para frenar la contaminacióny remediar los estragos ambientales y sociales generados. Se haconsultado gran cantidad de material escrito relacionado con elproblema: pronunciamientos, estudios sobre la salud de la población,evaluaciones sobre la ejecución de los trabajos de remediación,actas de acuerdo, correspondencia entre las partes y otros; así comoescritos diversos que permitan ubicar el tema dentro de un marcomás amplio de análisis. Asimismo, se ha entrevistado a diversosactores vinculados con el problema. Los principales hallazgos son la fortaleza de la población organizada para demandar sus derechos,la mayor seriedad de la empresa para asumir su responsabilidad, encomparación con el Estado, y la debilidad del discurso que intentaequiparar puesta en valor de recursos con desarrollo. La principalconclusión es que el Estado no cumple su paradigma señalado enel primer artículo de la Constitución: que la defensa de la personahumana y el respeto de su dignidad son su fin supremo. / The paper analyses the events leading to the 2006 uprising of theAchuar people of the Corrientes basin (Loreto), who have sufferedfour decades of contamination due to oil exploitation. It also examinesthe Peruvian State’s and the oil company´s attitudes throughoutthe protest and after signing an agreement aiming to stop contaminationand remedy environmental and social havoc. Materials usedinclude interviews conducted with different stake holders and a widerange of written records, such as political declarations, reports onlocal people´s health´s and remediation work, agreement documentsand letters exchanged between stake holders, as well as historicaland socio economic background information. Findings highlight thestrength of organized indigenous people´s claiming for their rights;the greater commitment to assuming responsibility shown by the oilcompany´s as compared to the Peruvian State; and the weakness ofa political discourse equating development with the extraction ofnatural resources. The main conclusion is that the Peruvian Statedoes not fulfill the paradigm set in the first article of the Constitution:that the defense of the human person and the respect of its dignityare its supreme aim.

The Miccosukee Tribe of South Florida is a federally recognized Indian tribe who reside on a reservation that lies within the Florida Everglades. As such, like many Indian tribes, their modern political history is entangled with the history of the creation of nearby national parks that were previously their traditional hunting territories. Since the beginning of the era of Everglades restoration and the rise in public policy designed to save the “River of Grass” from pollution, encroaching development, and eventual extinction, the Miccosukee have been on the front lines of trying to preserve the area they call home. While the Everglades means many different things to many different people, the Everglades to the Miccosukee Indians are the site and stakes of indigenous sovereignty. I argue that the issue of Everglades preservation is not just a matter of environmental conservation, but also a matter of fundamental human rights. Theoretically, I situate the debate surrounding the Florida Everglades within several theoretical paradigms, including the rights of indigenous peoples, the anthropology of development, and political ecology. I use anthropological research methods such as in-depth interviews with tribal officials and local environmental agencies to gain a complete picture of the current political landscape of the Everglades. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

No description available.

Access Points explores the different relationships that humans have to land, focusing on the various ways that the area known as the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge is used, appreciated, and preserved by disparate groups. The natural beauty of this Wildlife Refuge and its striking appearance amidst encircling plains makes it a popular destination for many groups of people, including the local rock-climbing community and generations of indigenous peoples whose connection with this land is as deep as it is longstanding. While climbing organizations have long had to negotiate access and rules regarding climbing within the park, members of the Kiowa community negotiate a much different relationship to a natural area that is now managed by the United States government. These disparate voices, identities, and ways of thinking about land all impact the modern-day Wildlife Refuge in terms of its appearance, individuals' access to the land, and the conservation efforts happening there.

There has been growing recognition in recent environmental discourse that environmental justice, which is normally understood to mean the disproportionate effect of climate change on minority groups, also takes the form of epistemic injustice. In the Canadian context, this means the exclusion of Indigenous philosophies, values, and perspectives from discourse about environmental ethics, as well as the spheres of policy and governance as they pertain to the environment. At the same time, there has been increasing concern with creating just outcomes for future people. Given that future generations have made no contribution to the pollution that causes climate change, but will feel its worst effects, many environmental and political philosophers have recently pointed to the need for a strong theory of intergenerational justice, especially as it pertains to the environment. In this thesis, I argue that an essential part of achieving intergenerational environmental justice in Canada is working toward the rectification of both material and epistemic harms toward Indigenous peoples which are perpetuated by the “rationalistic” conception of nature which sees nature as an instrumentally valuable resource to be exploited for human gain. I explore the historical construction of this conception of nature and its pervasiveness in recent work on environmental ethics in order to show how Indigenous perspectives have historically been suppressed through colonialism, and more recently been subjected to epistemic oppression within Western environmental ethics. I then focus specifically on intergenerational environmental justice as a field in which Indigenous philosophies have faced the greatest exclusion, and may also have the most to teach us. I conclude by providing a brief overview of recent Indigenous environmental activism as an expression of Indigenous values, and look to treaties as understood by Indigenous philosophies as a potential framework for moving together toward a just future for all.