Monday
Please click on the session names below to view more information about each session, including speakers and talks (please note that co-authors are acknowledged in the full Congress programme with abstracts). Also, note that venues for each session are NOT YET CONFIRMED.
*TWH = Tin Wis Hall; TWM = Tin Wis Muu-chin-ink Room; CFS = Clayoquot Field Station Classroom; MBL = Middle Beach Lodge; Theatre = Clayoquot Sound Community Theatre; TCH = Tofino Community Hall.
Monday May 10
Late Morning Concurrent Sessions
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Overarching Themes in Ethnobiology
Monday May 10, 10:30 - 12:00, Tin Wis Hall
Chair: Rainer Bussmann (Missouri Botanical Garden, USA)
- Umeek (Dr. Richard Atleo) (University of Manitoba, Canada) "Hishuk-ish tsa’walk: Seeking a Trade Route to the West."
- Robert Voeks (California State University, USA & Editor-in-Chief, Economic Botany) "Ethnobotanical Encounters in the Colonial Tropical Realm"
- Jan Salick (Missouri Botanical Garden, USA) "Himalayan Climate Change and Ethnobotany"
- Ricardo Rozzi (Universidad de Magallanes & Instituto de Ecologia y Biodiversidad, Chile and University of North Texas, USA) "Ethical Implications of Yahgan and Mapuche Indigenous Narratives about the Birds of the Sub-Antarctic forests of South America"
- Mary Stockdale (University of British Columbia, Canada) "Shifting paradigms, shifting roles: The experience of a university researcher working with Indigenous communities on natural resource (Non-Timber Forest Product) management."
Protecting Traditional Knowledge Based on Customary Laws and Biocultural Systems
Monday May 10, 10:30 - 12:00 pm, Tin Wis Muu-chiink Room
Co-chairs: Krystyna Swiderska (International Institute for Environment and Development, UK) and Alejandro Argumedo (Asociacion ANDES, Peru)
- Krystyna Swyderska (IIED, UK) "Protecting Traditional Knowledge Based on Customary Laws: Overall Project Findings"
- Alejandro Argumedo (Asociacion ANDES, Peru) "Customary Laws and Biocultural Protocols in the Potato Park"
- Yiching Song (Chinese Academy of Science in China) "Participatory Plant Breeding for strengthening TK systems and farmers’ rights in mixed communities in Guangxi, SW China"
- Ruchi Pant (Ecoserve, India) "Protecting farmers’ rights and biocultural systems the Eastern Himalayas, India"
- Heraclio Herrera (Centro de Asistencia Legal Popular (CEALP), Panama) "Protecting the Traditional Knowledge and bio-cultural heritage of the Kuna and Embera-Wounaan in Panama"
Session Description: To be effective, mechanisms to protect the rights of indigenous and local communities over their knowledge need to be rooted in local customary laws rather than western intellectual property instruments. Commercial IPRs threaten to undermine collective knowledge systems and their inherent values. This session will present a summary of the findings of seven case studies on customary laws and practices for protecting Traditional Knowledge (TK) and bio-resources conducted with indigenous communities in Peru, Panama, India, China and Kenya since 2005. The studies (coordinated by indigenous and non-indigenous researchers) used the holistic indigenous concept of ‘collective biocultural heritage’ as the basis for understanding complex TK systems and developing local tools to protect them (eg. community biocultural protocols and registers). They combined participatory and scientific research methods, and applied the Code of Ethics of the International Society of Ethnobiology.
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) will introduce the project and present the key overall findings. This will be followed by presentations of the findings from 3-4 of the case studies, highlighting different approaches taken in different cultural and political contexts: Quechua communities in the Andean Potato Park, Peru; mixed communities in SW China; Lepcha and Limbus in the Eastern Himalayas, India; and Mijikenda in coastal Kenya. The first three focus in particular on agrobiodiversity (traditional potato, maize and rice varieties), while the fourth focuses on medicinal knowledge systems.
This session relates very much to the overall Congress theme of Hishuk-ish tsa’walk because it focuses on the holistic concept of collective biocultural heritage as the basis for TK protection. Our research has shown that TK is closely inter-connected with and inter-dependent on all elements of biocultural heritage, not only in the indigenous worldview but also in practice. The session will stress the need to shift policy away from narrow protection of ‘intellectual’ rights to protection of biocultural systems as a whole.
Ethnobiology of beekeeping and honey hunting in a changing world
Monday May 10, 10:30am - 12:00 pm, Clayoquot Field Station Classroom
Co-chairs: Edmond Dounias (L'Institut de recherché pour le développement, France) and Geneviève Michon (L'Institut de recherché pour le développement, France)
- Edmond Dounias (L'Institut de recherché pour le développement (IRD), France) Introduction
- Ameline Lehébel-Péron, Bertrand Schatz, and Edmond Dounias (L'Institut de recherché pour le développement (IRD), France)"Ethnobiological and ecological study of the black bee of the Cévennes (southern France) bred in hollow chestnut trunks"
- Geneviève Michon (L'Institut de recherché pour le développement, France) "Lands for honey, not flowers for honey. A territorial perspective of honey harvesting in Corsica"
- Jenne de Beer (Non-Timber Forest Products Exchange Program for South and Southeast Asia, the Philippines) "Saving forests through the bees. Apis dorsata honey, Indonesia and beyond" (FILM)
- Romain Simenel (IRD, France) and Yildiz Aumeeruddy-Thomas (French National Centre for Scientific Research - CNRS, France) "Beyond the sacred status of the Saharian yellow bee: know-how of beekeeping in Southern Morocco"
- François Verdeaux (IRD, France) and Allan Pankhurst (Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia) "Sociocultural and agrobotanical compatibilities for forest honey production (Southwestern Ethiopia)"
Session Description: Pollinators play a keystone role as natural ecosystem engineers by maintaining a high biodiversity. Around 80% of the flowering plant species on our planet are known to reproduce by pollination. Besides the production of honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, venom, and wax that are much appreciated worldwide for their dietary and therapeutic properties and that intervene in the manufacture of hundreds of useful products, bees participate in 65% of the biodiversity maintenance and 35% of the production of food worldwide. About 20,000 endangered plant species directly depend on pollination by bees for their survival.
The fact that bees are now at the centre of several societal problems is not new. First major alarmist warnings date back to the 1970s and have mainly focused attention on the extensive environmental deteriorations caused by inappropriate agricultural practices—excessive use of pesticides, land consolidation, monocropping, silage, GMOs…—and their threats on the preservation of insect colonies. It is however only recently that the consequences of bee extinction were assessed more broadly in terms of humankind vs. nature interactions, sustainable development, environmental protection, biodiversity, and climate change.
Nevertheless, the debate around the sentinel function of bees with regard to global change is confined in developed countries, which produce the major proportion of honey that is commercialized and consumed around the world through the beekeeping of the domesticated western honeybee Apis mellifera. This “business as usual” narrow perspective tends to overshadow the fact that countless other species of—sting as well as stingless—bees also produce honey and equally serve biodiversity. Similarly ignored are the various traditional ecological knowledge that are mobilized throughout the tropics to hunt wild honey or to keep beehives in a sustainable manner, through extensive proto-domestication practices. In most of these traditional and artisanal forms of beehive harvesting, bees act as biotemporal signals that efficiently alert on subtle environmental disturbances that are barely perceptible by humans. How indigenous peoples and local communities perceive and adjust their livelihoods and decision making with regard to ongoing changes that affect wild or semi-domesticated bees remain poorly explored.
As a tribute to Darrell Posey who carried out pioneer studies on ethnoentomology, this session aims to expose original case studies on local understanding of the threats affecting bees and to explore ways to mobilize such particular expertise to become part of a much broader strategy of bee safeguarding that would not be left in the hands of western world professional beekeepers and economic interests alone.
Documenting Northern Landscapes and Environmental Knowledge - Community Collaborations, Resource Management and Looking Toward the Future
Monday May 10, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm, Tofino Community Hall
Chair: Dr. Leslie Main Johnson (Athabasca University, Canada)
- Thomas F. Thornton, PhD (University of Oxford, UK) "Herring Ethnoecology, Marinescapes, and Management in Southeast Alaska"
- Linda McDonald (Kaska Nation, Canada) "Perspectives of a Kaska Land Steward: Challenges of Communicating across Different world Views and the Importance of Living with Land (“Nun”) as a Spiritual Practice and the Foundation of Kaska Identity"
- Brenda Parlee (University of Alberta, Canada) "Multi-Scale Landscape Perspectives of Teetl'it Gwich'in Women of the Northwest Territories"
- Janelle Baker (Bigstone Cree Nation, Canada) “Bush and Swamp, it's the story of my life: Bigstone Cree Nation traditional land use study"
- Charles R. Menzies, PhD. (University of British Columbia, Canada) "Gitxaała Nation, Food Security, and Sovereignty in the Context of Environmental Assessment and Industrial Development"
Session Description: This panel will present a spectrum of cases in the Canadian north and Alaska, emphasizing local traditional knowledge of landscapes and food resources, and the cultural significance of key areas of landscapes/marine environments. The high cultural importance of non-domesticated animal and fish species to food security in northern regions brings a different set of issues into play than for peoples whose sustenance is based in agricultural systems. These regions are also facing a range of pressures from industrial resource development, including the energy industry, which gives certain urgency to articulating local perspectives and needs. The insights presented in this session will be complementary to the perspectives of Coastal First Nations in the southern mainland and Vancouver Island presented at other sessions at this Congress, and to those of indigenous and local communities in other areas where resource development is creating rapid change. Two papers will deal with marine and coastal resources in northern British Columbia and coastal Alaska, one with landscapes in the taiga/tundra regions of Canada’s Northwest Territories and northern Yukon, one with a boreal landscape in the southern Yukon, and one paper with a practitioner/community applied traditional land use and cultural heritage project in the northern Boreal forest of Alberta. Examples of successful collaboration between practitioners, University researchers and communities will be a focus of the session. We feel it is important to bring northern traditional knowledge researchers, practitioners and community experts into dialog with the international indigenous and ethnobiology communities through the forum of the International Congress of Ethnobiology.
Uu-a-thluk - Ethnobiology in Nuu-chah-nulth Territories
Monday May 10, 10:30 am - 12:00 pm, Clayoquot Sound Community Theatre
Chair: Katie Beach (Uu-a-thluk, Canada)
- Dawn Foxcroft (Uu-a-thluk, Canada) "What is Uu-a-thluk? And what are we doing that is different?"
- Dr. Don Hall (Uu-a-thluk, Canada) "Explaining Nuu-chah-nulth Economic Fishing Rights Litigation"
- Katie Beach (Uu-a-thluk, Canada) "Conflicting convictions: Protection, recovery, and traditional use of sea otters"
- Kelly Poirier (West Coast Aquatic, Canada) "Na-a-qu-as: management through listening"
Session Description: Uu-a-thluk (“taking care of”) is an aquatic management organization enabling 15 Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations to work collaboratively with other governments and groups for the sustainable management and economic development of ocean resources in Nuu-chah-nulth Ha-ha-houlthee (Chiefly Territories). Operating in accordance with the Nuu-chah-nulth principles of Hishukish Ts’awalk (everything is one) and Iisaak (respect with caring), and under the direction of the Council of Ha’wiih (Hereditary Chiefs), Uu-a-thluk increases Nuu-chah-nulth access to, and management of, sea resources, and builds Nuu-chah-nulth capacity to find jobs and careers related to the ocean.
In accordance with the vision statement of the International Society of Ethnobiology, Uu-a-thluk has been involved in increasing awareness about the complex relationships between Nuu-chah-nulth (local indigenous peoples) and their environment. This session will explore various efforts by Uu-a-thluk and supported groups to ensure recognition of the rights Nuu-chah-nulth in federal policies and programs related to marine resource use and planning within Nuu-chah-nulth traditional territories. The sessions include:
What is Uu-a-thluk? And what are we doing that is different?
Dawn Foxcroft will provide a brief overview of Uu-a-thluk and some of the programs that help to increase Nuu-chah-nulth access to, and management of, sea resources.
Explaining Nuu-chah-nulth Economic Fishing Rights Litigation
Dr. Don Hall is the Program Manager for Uu-a-thluk. Don has worked for Nuu-chah-nulth Nations for over 17 years, and represents Nuu-chah-nulth interests on several Federal Fisheries advisory groups and the Pacific Salmon Commission. Don advises Nuu‑chah-nulth Chiefs and Nations on a wide variety of fisheries issues, such as policy development, management, treaty negotiations, and litigation strategies.
Dr. Hall administered the litigation and testified on behalf of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations in the B.C. Supreme Court case that led to the determination that Nuu-chah-nulth Nations have aboriginal fishing rights to harvest and sell into the commercial marketplace. This is the first recognition of comprehensive aboriginal economic fishing rights in Canada. Dr. Hall’s presentation will describe the Court decision and steps that Nuu-chah-nulth Nations are taking to implement the decision through negotiations with Canada.
Conflicting convictions: Protection, recovery, and traditional use of sea otters (k’wak’watz, Enhydra lutris)
Katie Beach is a biologist for Uu-a-thluk, working in the Clayoquot Sound region of the West Coast of Vancouver Island, Canada.
For thousands of years, Nuu-chah-nulth people co-existed with k’wak’watz (sea otters, Enhydra lutris), using their pelts for ceremonial purposes. In later times, pelts fueled a lucrative trade which began in the 1750s and ended with the virtual elimination of sea otters by the 1850s. Without sea otters as natural predators, shellfish species increased in abundance. Nuu-chah-nulth communities and commercial fishermen became increasingly reliant on these resources for food and economic livelihoods, a dependence that increased as important finfish abundance declined. Between 1969 and 1972, the Canadian and United States government agencies reintroduced sea otters to their traditional range, which included the west coast of Vancouver Island. The subsequent population expansion has led to competition with Nuu-chah-nulth for favoured foods. This has opened the door to discussions about the role of the federal government and that of Nuu-chah-nulth Ha’wiih (Hereditary Chiefs) to maintain ecosystem balance using principles such as Hishukish ts’awalk (everything is one) and Iisaak (respect with caring). Uu-a-thluk has initiated and supported a sea otter management plan, developed with Federal Fisheries and Oceans employees, that allows ceremonial harvest opportunities for Nuu-chah-nulth. Controversy surrounds the management of these charismatic marine mammals.
Na-a-qu-as: management through listening
Kelly Poirier works with Na-a-qu-as, which is Nuu-chah-nulth for ‘listening in a place’, and is a unique model for meaningful engagement of Nuu-chah-nulth communities in the management of their marine resources within their traditional territories. Na-a-qu-as began in the fall of 2009 with a mandate to create a ‘champion’ in each of the 14 Nuu-chah-nulth communities on the rugged West Coast of Vancouver Island to empower a more robust and ‘grass-roots’ voice in the management of community marine resources within Nuu-chah-nulth Ha-ha-houlthee (traditional territories). Na-a-qu-as was developed in partnership by Uu-a-thluk (Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Fisheries) and West Coast Aquatic’s Ts’awalk Partnership to bring direct benefits to Nuu-chah-nulth communities by providing employment and training to a community member, but also by providing overall resources and capacity to each participating community. Na-a-qu-as allows each participating Nation to have a louder and stronger voice in fisheries and marine planning related matters in their community, from an ‘inside’ perspective that is grounded in the strengths, priorities and unique cultural values of their community. We look forward to seeing how this innovative model for community partnership continues to grow and enrich the discourse around the protection and rejuvenation of WCVI’s marine ecosystems.
Peace, Sustainability, and Respect for the Sacred
10:30 am - late afternoon or evening, Meares Island Cultural Hall, Opitsaht
Co-chairs: Maui Solomon (ISE President and Maori/Moriori, New Zealand) and Levi Martin (Elder, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, Canada)
** Please note that this session involves a 10 minute water taxi to Opitsaht, a traditional village on Meares Island. You should plan to attend the entire session through to the late afternoon or evening (meals will be provided).
| This session requires pre-registration. Please contact Susan Forbes at [email protected] before April 19th to register. |
Session Description: This session will bring together elders and other experts from around the world who have traditions in peace keeping/making as an integral part of their philosophy. These traditions and experiences need to stem from relationships with culture as well as the natural world, such as those embedded in the Hishuk-ish tsa’walk, Hopi traditions and Moriori from Rekohu (Chatham Islands). It will focus on the importance of the preservation and transmission of inter-generational knowledge of "living in country" as the Aboriginal peoples of Australia say, and the maintenance and promotion of retention of the local language(s) and cultural practices of the communities that sustain this knowledge. At its heart will be an understanding of the importance of the sacred/spiritual/wairua traditions – as an expression of the thread that binds people together with their natural worlds, and which provides the basis for living in a mutually respectful and mutually enhancing relationship of humans, plants and animals.
In addition to providing a collective forum for learning about peace traditions and the importance of being able to practice cultural continuity, the session will also examine ways in which the modern world may come to a better understanding of how this sacred knowledge or knowledge of the sacred is critical to humankind (re)learning how to live "in connection with" rather than increasingly "disconnected from" our planet and planetary systems. It will also look at ways that modern science can incorporate these ways of thinking for preserving and maintaining biological and cultural diversity on our planet. In this regard one way might be to consider the works/lives of famous "western" scientists such as Einstein, Da Vinci and Galileo (etc) who had a deep respect and appreciation of the sacred in their work.
Timing - in many indigenous traditions these sessions can flow for as long as it takes to resolve the problems or matters being discussed. Often the power of collective wisdom that comes from creation of safe, respectful places is inspiration for resolution. Usually too the acts of sharing food and rest (staying through the night) are integral components for this type of debate or discussion – blending sacred with ordinary. Because of time constraints at the Congress it is proposed that this session run from mid morning until the evening break, with an option for extending it into the night (to be confirmed). This will provide for at least two opportunities for sharing of food and trust. The session chairs will ensure that the structure and harmony of the session is maintained as well as making time for the production of the Statement of Intent.
The format of the session will include collective contributions on peace-making traditions presented in a style that is more in keeping with indigenous fora (usually elders and visitors first), concluding with the production of a Statement of Intent document that can be carried through into other ICE sessions as well as outside our Congress. The Maori word for this style of session is wananga which refers to a concentrated place of teaching and learning. The session will have an organic flow for the order of contributions but a framework, or set of guiding lights, will be determined at the outset on which to structure the participant contributions. This is so that indigenous ethics can be respected at the same time as ensuring that the session runs to time and achieves its proposed outcomes. The interim name for the Statement of Intent is “Tla-o-qui-aht Sacred Declaration.”
Monday May 10
Early Afternoon Concurrent Sessions
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
How Many People Speak Your Language? Data and Indicators of Linguistic Diversity and Language Vitality.
Monday May 10, 1:30 - 3:00 pm, Tin Wis Hall
Chair: Luisa Maffi (Terralingua, Canada)
Panel Participants:
- Luisa Maffi (Terralingua, Canada)
- Gary Simons (SIL International, USA)
- David Harmon (The George Wright Society and Terralingua, USA)
- Jonathan Loh (Zoological Society of London and Terralingua, UK)
- Alejandro Argumedo (IIFB/Tebtebba, Peru)
- Tirso Gonzales (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Session Description: In 1988, the Declaration of Belém first affirmed the “inextricable link” between biodiversity and cultural diversity. In 1996, building on that pioneering recognition, Terralingua began exploring and researching the idea that the diversity of life is biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity—all inextricably interlinked through the nature-based and place-based values, beliefs, knowledge systems and practices of Indigenous and local communities the world over. The focus on linguistic diversity as a component of biocultural diversity turned the spotlight on the fact that language vitality is a key requirement for cultural resilience and the maintenance of the “inextricable link” between people and the environment; yet, the diversity and vitality of the world’s languages is increasingly under threat owing to the same forces that are eroding biological and cultural diversity. Over the past decade, it has become increasingly apparent that policy in support of biological and cultural diversity must include support for language vitality and linguistic diversity. Some international policy processes, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 2010 Targets for halting the loss of biodiversity, call for the development of indicators of the “status and trends of linguistic diversity and numbers of speakers of indigenous languages”, taken as a proxy for the status and trends of indigenous and traditional knowledge relevant for the conservation of biodiversity. Indigenous Peoples’ organizations also have begun to develop their own sets of indicators to assess and monitor their cultural resilience in the face of global environmental, social, and economic challenges. Systematic information about linguistic diversity and language vitality is crucial in such contexts, yet until recently no reliable tools existed for assessing the status and trends of the world's languages. Several institutions including Ethnologue, UNESCO and Terralingua have developed indicators and databases to monitor and record the status and trends in the numbers of speakers of the world's languages. This session will discuss the indicators, data sources, their reliability, applications, user's needs and what more needs to be done in order to provide robust information on trends in language demographics worldwide. The session will also offer an opportunity for discussion of and comparison with related efforts that are taking place among indigenous peoples' organizations, international agencies and linguists, with a goal to establish common ground for greater effectiveness in both data gathering and policy analysis.
Indigenous Forum Opening
Monday May 10, 1:30 - 3:00 pm, Tin Wis Muu-chin-nink Room
Co-chairs: TBD (Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations), Florence James(Penelekut First Nation, Canada), and Tero Mustonen (Snowchange Cooperative, Finland)
The Indigenous forum will open with a welcome by Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations, followed by:
- Florence James (elder from the Penelekut First Nation, BC, Canada)
Traditional Teaching "Ts’lhnuts’umaat - To become the whole family"
Description: When a group of people are brought together for a special purpose (such as a course, project, workshop or congress), we have to know how to come together in a way that each feels welcome and appreciated – to "become the whole family" which is ts’lhnuts’umaat in the Hul’q’umi’num language. We are born with our own life skills and potentials, but we need a reminder of these, a way to re-awaken and reconnect with our own teachings so they can be accessed for the special purpose of coming together, for the benefit of future generations and looking after the land. This session introduces and leads participants through a traditional teaching of ts’lhnuts’umaat, using traditional knowledge to develop unity for people coming together (especially those who may not know each other) to lay a foundation for our collective work during the congress in support of biocultural diversity.
Presentation: "Rebirth of the Indigenous Nomadic Nations of the Arctic – Views from Finland and Russia"
- Tero Mustonen (Snowchange Cooperative, Finland)
- Vyacheslav Shadrin (Chief of the Yukaghir Council of Elders, Researcher, Institute of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, Russia).
Presentation description: Our introduction will be divided into two parts – first we will present overall themes of rebirth of re-traditionalized communities divided into a few practical and simple steps, starting from community-owned documentation of oral histories and revitalization of land-based skills leading into re-emergence of traditional leadership and subsistence practices on the land. As one of the engines of this process, a brief outline of the nomadic education as a seamless component and a crucial part of the long-term survival of nomadic lifestyles will be presented. The second part of our presentation will highlight the practical examples of the Nutendli and Turvaurgin Chukchi Indigenous communities from Lower Kolyma, Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, Russian High Arctic in
The Forgotten Dimension of Climate Change
Monday May 10, 1:30 - 3:00 pm, Clayoquot Field Station
Chair: Liz Hosken, Gaia Foundation
Description: A fascinating journey through Africa to the Amazon and onto Altai in Central Asia, showing how communities from diverse bio-regions and cultures, are drawing on their ancient wisdom, their traditional ecological knowledge and governance systems, to strengthen resilience in the face of climate change.
This workshop looks at the central role bio-cultural diversity plays in building climate change resilience. The importance of strengthening community ecological governance and the universal will focus on strategies which underpin Indigenous governance.
The dominant response to climate change is focused on carbon counting, geo-engineering, quick-fix solutions. The vital role of the biosphere in sequestrating carbon is not recognized by climate scientists. In this UN Year of Biodiversity, biodiversity and the critial contribution of local and indigenous communiteis in maintaining and enhancing biodiversity as the basis for climate change resilience is ever more important. Panelists will discuss the various ways in which they have been working with communities to revive bio-cultural diversity in this context.
Panelists:
- Million Belay (MELCA Mahiber, Ethiopia).”Learning to dialogue with Nature.” The SEGNI (meaning ‘seed’) programme connects young people with elders and ‘deep’ knowledge holders to learn about customary law and its relationship to ecological governance. In three areas of Ethipoia – the Bale Mountains, Menagesha Suba Forest and Sheka Forest, youth are taken into wild lands under the custodianship of elders.
- Silvia Gómez (Gaia Amazonas, Colombia). “Reviving our culture, mapping our future.” The use of eco-cultural mapping and calendars in the Colombian Amazon has fed into the formation and delivery of indigenous education curriculum, as well as negotiations with local/ national authorities on new legislation.Mapping plays a significant role in bringing together the diverse knowledge holders of communities, particularly elders, women and youth, and strengthening their common pool of ancestral knowledge.
- Mburu Gathuru (Institute for Culture and Ecology, Kenya) “Climate-Seed-Knowledge.” Seed diversity is the basis of food sovereignty, and in these times of unstable climate conditions, regenerating biodiversity and seed diversity, and the associated knowledge, is ever more urgent. In Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa, communities are being supported to revive their traditional seed diversity and the related knowledge, where men and women have distinct and complimentary knowledge and roles, which need to be balanced and just for true resilience.
- Danil Mamyev (Urch-Enmek Nature Park, Russian Republic of Altai) “Places of potency.” Working with the custodians of sacred natural sites and territories. legal advice for communities and action, when needed, to support communities to uphold their rights and responsibilities to their sacred sites; documenting stories and principles relating to the good governance of such sites. Sacred sites are potent places in the body of the Earth, they play a vital role in the ecosystem as sources of water, breeding grounds, forest areas critical for rain, rivers, wetlands, mountains. They are also energetically potent, and spiritually potent. Working with sacred sites guardians and knowledgeable elders, strengthening the required rituals and practices, is the foundation for ecological and community resilience, autonomy and governance.
Traditional Foods I: Urban and Economic Development
Monday May 10, 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm, Tofino Community Hall
Chair: Rebecca Hurwitz (Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, Canada)
(Presenter is bolded)
- Dr. Fiona Walsh (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation - CSIRO, Australia) and Josie Douglas (CSIRO, Australia) "Commercial Aboriginal harvest of bush foods from central Australia"
- Juan Carlos Mariscal (Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Bolivia), Sarah-Lan Mathez-Stiefel (University of Berne, Switzerland),Freddy Delgado (Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Bolivia), and Stephan Rist (University of Berne, Switzerland) "Enhancing Food Sovereignty and Food Security through the Revitalization of Indigenous Knowledge: Experiences from the Bolivian Andes"
- Pamela Tudge (University of British Columbia, Canada), Cheryl Bryce (Songhees First Nation, Canada), and Jon Corbett (University of British Columbia, Canada) "Lekwungen Camas Harvest: Reinstating Indigenous Food Practices in an Urban Landscape"
- Wei-Chi (Vicky) Chang (National Hsinchu University of Education, Taiwan) and Hui-Hsin Wu (National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan) "Is Organic Agriculture Beneficial to Indigenous People? A Study on Organic Agriculture and Food Sovereignty in Cirakayan Community, Taiwan" (talk & film)
- Gisella Cruz Garcia (Wageningen University, the Netherlands) and Lisa Leimar Price (Wageningen University, the Netherlands) "Who Gathers Wild Food Plants? An inter- and intrra- household analysis in rural Northeast Thailand"
- Ranjay Singh (College of Horticulture and Forestry, Central Agricultural University, India) "Diversity in Culturally Important Traditional Foods of Adi Tribes and Their Conservation in Eastern Himalaya"
From local struggles to global advocacy - Participatory video and traditional resource rights
Monday May 10, 1:30 pm - to 5:00 pm, Clayoquot Sound Community Theatre (with half hour break, 3:00 - 3:30 pm)
Chair: Miguel Alexiades (University of Kent)
Panelists:
- Miguel Alexiades (People and Plants International, United Kingdom). "Video and the social and territorial re-unification of the Ese Eja in Amazonian Peru and Bolivia."
- Jenne de Beer (NFTP Exchange Program, the Philippines) "Kalasan"
- Jon Corbett (University of British Columbia, Canada) "Tlowitsis Reimagined: The Homecoming and Lands Tour Projects"
- Julio Cusurichi (Consejo Indígena del Bajo Madre de Dios, Peru). Madre de Dios (Peru) meets Palawan (Phillipines): Video and exchanges between indigenous peoples defending their ancestral homelands and territories from oil and mining companies
Session Description: Participatory Video (PV) is a unique and powerful tool for social communication and action. Experiences in many different geographical and social contexts show that PV provides a relatively simple, accessible and powerful means for people to discuss, identify and share common problems and possible solutions, allowing them to voice their views, concerns and expectations in local, regional and international fora. Given its low cost and accessibility, it has unparalleled potential for linking distant communities, allowing people to develop new, innovative, and more effective means for communication, exchange, learning and concerted social action in numerous contexts. Besides producing materials that are directly used and useful in these processes of communication within and between local peoples and between local peoples and policy makers, the process itself of producing video is often profoundly transformative. Video can therefore play a key role in processes of social, cultural and political revitalization, of documentation, learning and exchange, and of two-way communication between local people and policy-makers.
For a number of years, Miguel Alexiades (PPI) and Dario Novellino (CBCD) have been facilitating the use of participatory video among tropical forest indigenous people (Alexiades, Novellino) and pastoralists (Novellino). As part of ICE-10, we propose a session where indigenous delegates from different regions (Amazonia, SE Asia, Mediterranean Pastoralists) would be able describe their work and personal experiences with PV as a tool to facilitate communication and exchange between communities, allowing people to organize more effectively, establishing strategic alliances and joining voices to create a larger impact at a local, national and international level. The idea behind this meeting, which will follow from a pre-conference workshop meeting among video practitioners working on these specific issues, is to allow delegates to showcase their work, meet and interact with the audience, learn about other experiences and hopefully broaden their network of connections. To this end we envision employing a loose, informal format during the session, encouraging feedback and questions from audience as well as extensive discussions.
Monday May 10
Late Afternoon Concurrent Sessions
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Where to, Biocultural Diversity?
Monday May 10, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm, Tin Wis Hall
Chairs: Luisa Maffi (Terralingua, Canada), Kelly Bannister (ISE, Canada), and Gary Martin (Global Diversity Foundation and University of Kent, UK)
Panel Participants:
- Luisa Maffi (Terralingua, Canada)
- Andrea Pieroni (International Society of Ethnobiology, Italy)
- Gary Martin (Global Diversity Fund, Morocco)
- Nancy Turner (University of Victoria, Canada)
- David Harmon (The George Wright Society, USA)
- Alejandro Argumedo (Indigenous Peoples’ Biodiversity Network, Peru)
- Gleb Raygorodetsky (The Christensen Fund, USA)
- David Rapport (EcoHealth Consulting, Canada)
- Mike Jones (Sand County Foundation, USA)
- Levi Martin (Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, Canada)
- Tirso Gonzales (University of British Columbia, Canada)
- Stephan Harding (Schumacher College, UK)
Session Description: Drawing one of its main inspirations from the affirmation of an “inextricable link” between cultural and biological diversity contained in ISE’s 1988 Declaration of Belém, the field of biocultural diversity (BCD) has been developing since the mid-1990s as an integrative approach that sees biodiversity, cultural diversity, and linguistic diversity as three interrelated and interdependent aspects of the diversity of life. Research at both global and local scales has shown that the permanence or loss of these diversities is affected by many of the same ecological, social, cultural, and economic factors. Alarmingly, this research has also shown that there is a “converging extinction crisis” of BCD. BCD as a whole is in significant decline globally, under the cumulative and synergistic effect of environmental degradation and rapid socio-economic, cultural and political changes driven by economic globalization and cultural homogenization. These changes affect in particular Indigenous peoples and local communities, who represent most of the world’s cultural diversity and are the main stewards of BCD. Efforts are underway all over the world—many of them spearheaded by Indigenous peoples and local communities themselves—to sustain and restore cultures and biodiversity, often against tremendous odds. Efforts are also underway to further advance knowledge and understanding of BCD and impart this approach in education, as well as to promote the adoption of bioculturally friendly policies at international and national levels. In short, BCD is becoming an increasingly accepted paradigm, yet the overall prospects for sustaining the biocultural diversity of life remain precarious. The very fabric of life in nature and culture continues to unravel, leaving our biocultural world increasingly fragile and the outlook for humans and all other species increasingly uncertain. What more needs to be done to foster a global shift in values toward a new paradigm that celebrates, cherishes and protects the biocultural diversity of life, in order to ensure that sustaining and restoring BCD becomes a primary societal goal and a fundamental object of political, social, and economic action? What obstacles need to be overcome, what opportunities need to be seized?
In this moderated session, a panel comprised of some of the key players in the field of BCD will be asked to “think outside the box” in addressing the question “where to, biocultural diversity”, and in pinpointing advances, gaps, and needs for future action. Brief comments by the panelists will be followed by responses from invited representatives of other germane fields, such as resilience theory, holistic science, Gaia theory, and ecosystem health, in order to identify beneficial links and synergies with BCD. Open discussion with the session’s audience will follow. Collectively, session participants will seek to envision a powerful way forward for the field of BCD.
Indigenous Forum: Talking Together: Inter-generational conversation amongst Aboriginal delegates from Central Australia about indigenous ecological knowledge, transmission, practice and related issues
Monday May 10, 3:30 - 5:00 pm, Tin Wis Muu-chin-ink Room
Chair: Josie Douglas (CSIRO, Australia)
Panel Members:
- Veronica Perrurle Dobson (Central Land Council, CSIRO, Arrernte elder, Australia)
- Gladys Brown (Central Land Council, Australia)
- Gina Smith (Central Land Council, Australia)
- Jess Bartlett (Alice Springs Desert Park, Australia)
- Lorraine Napurrula King (Central Land Council, Australia)
An Aboriginal delegation from central
This 90 minute session will be a facilitated discussion so as older and younger generations can talk in their own way about their personal background and experiences. This session will allow international conference delegates to directly see and hear Aboriginal people who live and work on country. Later the session will open to questions from conference delegates. This session will be introduced and interspersed with audio visuals of central Australian landscapes, wildlife with Warumungu, Arrernte, Warlpiri and other groups at work.
National Parks, Indigenous Identities and Environmental Governance: A Taiwanese Perspective
Monday May 10, 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm, Clayoquot Field Station
Chair: Yih-Ren Lin (Providence University, Taiwan)
- Dr. Yih-Ren Lin (Providence University, Taiwan) "Globalizing the Sustainable Ideas of Protected Areas: A Critical View from Indigenous Participation in the National Park System of Taiwan"
- Huei-Chung Hsiao (Providence University, Taiwan) "Neoliberalizing nature and indigenous communities: national park reforms in Taiwan"
- Dr. Teresa C.H. Tao (University of Hong Kong) "Tourism as a livelihood diversification strategy in an Aboriginal community in Taiwan"
- Shuya Lin (Providence University, Taiwan) "The New Partnership Policy, Constitutional Laws and Indigenous People's Rights"
- Da-Wei Kuan (National Cheng-Chi University, Taiwan) "Rethinking the Spatiality of Indigenous Ecological knowledge, Rethinking Resource Management Regime: A Study on the “Qutux Llyung” of Tayal Indigenous People and the Dispute over Maqaw National Park in Taiwan"
Contributed Papers: Traditional Foods II - Adaptive Capacity and Threats to Food Security
Monday May 10, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm, Tofino Community Hall
Chair: Rebecca Hurwitz (Clayoquot Biosphere Trust, Canada)
- Roy Ellen (University of Kent, UK) "A comparative study of cassava (Manihot esculenta) diversity, local knowledge and management in two contrasting eastern Indonesian populations"
- Lisa Leimar Price (Wageningen University, the Netherlands) and Gisella Cruz Garcia (Wageningen University, the Netherlands) "Wild vegetables in the culinary complexity of rural Northeast Thailand"
- Esther Katz (Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, Brazil) "Traditional food systems of the Rio Negro (Brazilian Amazon): threatened food sovereignty?"
- Hannes Dempewolf (University of British Columbia, Canada) "The need for conserving neglected and underutilized species to provide food security?"
- Will Tuladhar-Douglas (University of Aberdeen) "Commensals, zoonoses, and biocultural diversity"
- Monday May 10, 2010
- Tuesday May 11, 2010
- Wednesday May 12, 2010
- Thursday May 13, 2010
- Friday May 14, 2010