Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Indian Knowledge Tradition'

This exploratory study is a first attempt to translate the Indian cultural context from a socio-cultural, and legal perspective by identifying the values attributed to Indian textile craftsmanship by Indian textile and fashion stakeholders, and how their perspective is influenced by the global recognition and perception of Indian textile crafts and connotation of “Made in India”. At the same time the study investigates the meaning of “sustainability” in the Indian cultural context, in relation to textile craftsmanship, and how this relates to the Western concept of “sustainability”. Through field research in conjunction with a series of in-depth unstructured interviews, this study reveals that Cultural Sustainability is the dominating narrative in the Indian cultural context due to the prevalence of culturally embedded sustainability practices and the role of textile craftsmanship in sustaining livelihood, being a unique exercise of positioning Indian textile craftsmanship within a framework of cultural heritage as a valuable source of knowledge for sustainable practices in the fashion and textile industry. Unique about this study are the India-centric approach combined with the ethnicity of the subjects interviewed - who are, without exception, Indian nationals, whose work, voice and reputation are shaping India's contemporary textile craft -sustainability narrative (being referred to as the “Indian textiles and fashion elite”) and the framing of traditional craftsmanship from a legal perspective, introducing the notion of legal protection of traditional textile knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.

This study is the first to explore the secular uses of Vastu Vidya or the traditional Indian science of architecture, at the levels of both theory and contemporary practice. It is also the first to treat Vastu Vidya as constituting a coherent and complete architectural programme within the Indian tradition. In providing a comprehensive overview of the corpus of Vastu Vidya, the study makes ample reference to the representative texts on the subject of architecture, and also to those on allied subjects that fall within the same tradition, such as astrology, medicine, philosophy, the visual and performing arts, and codes of conduct. Structured like the layout of a typical Vastu Vidya text, the work covers all of the primary prescriptions for dwelling design. Today, the use of Vastu Vidya as a complete architectural design methodology has diminished value, but this study identifies various fragmented uses of the corpus of Vastu Vidya which continue directly and indirectly to influence architectural practice; and it analyses the new roles which such fragments take on. The architectural tradition of Vastu Vidya stands apart from the recognised architectural profession and is being modified and rewritten, adopting meanings and uses unprecedented in its history. Aspects of Vastu Vidya are being redefined to facilitate their uses in the mainstream contemporary architectural practice. The study examines how modern architects view and use Vastu Vidya; how Vastu consultants, in their redefined role, negotiate some aspects of Vastu Vidya for the contemporary architectural practice, assisted by their indifference towards architectural design; how craftsmen, whose skills and knowledge fall outside the ambit of mainstream architectural practice, struggle to survive and confront modernity; and how priests and astrologers continue to perform rituals and offer advice on the suitability of elements of construction, without interfering with the architectural envelope. Some of the new roles of Vastu Vidya are so remote from its traditional role that it may be unrecognisable as a part of Vastu Vidya; but each of these uses, albeit fragmentary, are generally projected as authentic uses of Vastu Vidya. This is the only study to examine mutation in the application of fragments of Vastu Vidya, while viewing it in the perspective of the whole and original body of knowledge.

This study investigates the importance of traditional hunting knowledge to Cree identity and experience. My fieldwork was conducted in Wemindji, James Bay, Quebec, with Cree trappers and on the interactions of scientific researchers and Cree trappers. I explore the connections between these interactions and wider relationships of the Crees with histories of extractive development and the State. The misrecognition or negation of Cree authority in development discourse and outcomes has contributed to subsistence practices and traditional hunting knowledge becoming politically and emotionally charged signifiers. I argue that subsistence practices and traditional hunting knowledge have come to encode cultural difference and the assertion of authority in relation to struggles for recognition of Cree authority over their traditional territories.

Indigenous peoples worldwide are engaged in the process of rebuilding and re-empowering their communities. They are faced with challenges emerging from a history of physical, spiritual, emotional, and economic colonization, challenges including a degraded resource base, lack of infrastructure, and consistent pressure on their land tenure and ways of life. These communities, however, continue demonstrating profound resilience in the midst of these challenges; working to re-empower and provide for the contemporary needs of their people in a manner grounded in supporting bio-cultural integrity; the interconnected relationship of people and homeland. At the same time, in response to contemporary environmental degradation, the fields of resilience science, adaptive management, and ecological engineering have emerged, the recommendations of which bear remarkable similarity to Indigenous ontologies, epistemologies, and governance structures. The relationship between these fields and Indigenous epistemology, underscored by experience in the field, has led to the conceptualization of bio-cultural engineering design; design that emerges from the inter-relationship of people and ecology. The biocultural engineering design methodology identifies the unique cosmological relationships and cultural underpinnings of contemporary Indigenous communities, and applies this specific cultural lens to engineered design and architecture. The development of resilience principles within the fields of architecture and engineering have created avenues for biocultural design to be translatable into engineering and architectural design documents, allowing access to large scale financial support for community development. This method is explored herein through literature and analysis of practical application in several different Indigenous communities and nations. This method lends itself to future research on biocultural design processes as a source of technological and design innovation as Indigenous communities practice placing their values and cosmologies at the center of development decisions, as well as comprehensive start-to-finish documentation of the methodology applied to diverse engineered applications, including water systems, energy systems, and building construction.

Thesis (M.S. in natural resource sciences)--Washington State University, August 2009.<br>Title from PDF title page (viewed on Sept. 21, 2009). "Department of Natural Resource Sciences." Includes bibliographical references (p. 42-44).

Pregnancy and childbirth complications are a leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries. Worldwide data shows that, by choice or out of necessity, 60 percent of births in the developing world occur outside a health institution and 47 percent are assisted by Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), family members, or without any assistance at all. This thesis argues that TBAs in India have the capacity to disseminate knowledge of beneficial maternal practices to the community. Since the 1970s the training of TBAs has been one of the primary single interventions encouraged by World Health Organisation (WHO) to address maternal mortality. However, since the 1990s international funding for TBAs has been reduced and the emphasis has shifted to providing skilled birth attendants for all births due to evidence that the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in developing countries had not reduced. Researchers have observed that the shift in policy has taken place without adequate evidence of training (in)effectiveness and without an alternative policy in place. This thesis argues further that two main types of birthing knowledge co-exist in India; western biomedicine and traditional knowledge. Feminist, anthropological, and midwifery theorists contend that when two knowledge paradigms exist, western knowledge tends to dominate and claim authority over local ways of knowing. The thesis used such theories, and quantitative and qualitative methods, to assess whether the local TBA training programmes in Ahmednagar District in India have been successful in disseminating biomedical knowledge in relation to the birthing practices of local TBAs and in incorporating local knowledge into the training. The data revealed that some biomedical knowledge had been successfully disseminated and that some traditional practices continue to be practiced in the community. There is a top-down, one-sided imposition of biomedical knowledge on TBAs in the training programme but, at the local level, TBAs and mothers sometimes follow the training instructions and sometime do not, preferring to adapt to the local perceptions and preferences of their community. The thesis reveals the significance of TBA training in the district but queries the effectiveness of not including local TBA practices into the training programmes, arguing this demonstrates the hierarchical authority of biomedicine over local traditional practices. The thesis highlights the significance of community awareness that accompanies TBA training and makes recommendations in order to enhance training outcomes.

Pregnancy and childbirth complications are a leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age in developing countries. Worldwide data shows that, by choice or out of necessity, 60 percent of births in the developing world occur outside a health institution and 47 percent are assisted by Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), family members, or without any assistance at all. This thesis argues that TBAs in India have the capacity to disseminate knowledge of beneficial maternal practices to the community. Since the 1970s the training of TBAs has been one of the primary single interventions encouraged by World Health Organisation (WHO) to address maternal mortality. However, since the 1990s international funding for TBAs has been reduced and the emphasis has shifted to providing skilled birth attendants for all births due to evidence that the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in developing countries had not reduced. Researchers have observed that the shift in policy has taken place without adequate evidence of training (in)effectiveness and without an alternative policy in place. This thesis argues further that two main types of birthing knowledge co-exist in India; western biomedicine and traditional knowledge. Feminist, anthropological, and midwifery theorists contend that when two knowledge paradigms exist, western knowledge tends to dominate and claim authority over local ways of knowing. The thesis used such theories, and quantitative and qualitative methods, to assess whether the local TBA training programmes in Ahmednagar District in India have been successful in disseminating biomedical knowledge in relation to the birthing practices of local TBAs and in incorporating local knowledge into the training. The data revealed that some biomedical knowledge had been successfully disseminated and that some traditional practices continue to be practiced in the community. There is a top-down, one-sided imposition of biomedical knowledge on TBAs in the training programme but, at the local level, TBAs and mothers sometimes follow the training instructions and sometime do not, preferring to adapt to the local perceptions and preferences of their community. The thesis reveals the significance of TBA training in the district but queries the effectiveness of not including local TBA practices into the training programmes, arguing this demonstrates the hierarchical authority of biomedicine over local traditional practices. The thesis highlights the significance of community awareness that accompanies TBA training and makes recommendations in order to enhance training outcomes.

The Blackfoot Confederacy Keepers of the Rocky Mountains provides a first hand account of the Blackfoot intimate relationship with their mountain landscape now known as Glacier National Park, Bob Marshall Wilderness, Badger Two Medicine Unit of the Lewis and Clark Forest Service, and the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The animals shared the traditional ecological knowledge of the mountains with the Blackfoot Confederacy so they could survive through the "transfer of knowledge" in their elaborate ceremonial bundles made up of plants, animals, and rocks from the landscape. The Blackfoot agreed to share the minerals of copper and gold with the United States government through a lease agreement in 1895 following the policy of the time under the Dawes Act that allowed Indians to lease their land allotments to non-Indians. Although, the Agreement was written as a land cession with explicit reserved rights for the Blackfeet to hunt, gather, and fish upon the land, the Blackfeet have continued to maintain their ties to the mountain in secret to avoid persecution and publicly when asserting their rights. These rights have been limited, denied, and recognized depending on who is making the decision--Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and/or tested in the court of law. Despite the turmoil, the Blackfoot People have managed and preserved the area through resource utilization, ceremony, and respect for their mountain territory mapped out by Napi (Creator). Blackfoot know their status when it comes to their landscape as illustrated through the annual renewal of the bundles: "When we begin the ceremony, we call upon the water and the water animals, the sky people, the animals of the land, the plants, the rocks and so forth with the humans being the last to be called upon until all have arrived and taken their place in the lodge. Without the environment and its beings, we could not have this ceremony"

The term Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is generally interpreted as the knowledge held by Indigenous communities about their environment and the cultural frameworks in which such knowledge is transmitted. There is no universally accepted definition of TEK and interpretations can vary between Western and Indigenous lenses. TEK as an academic field has gained a vast literature base; however, there is a dearth of literature in the wildlife field that expresses TEK through an Indigenous lens. There has been growing attention on TEK in the wildlife profession, warranting further exploration of how Indigenous and Western scientific paradigms may be used together in natural resources conservation. Herein, I present my doctoral research, where I focused on a culturally sensitive approach in the pursuit of TEK studies. I conducted interdisciplinary research with the Yurok Tribe of northwestern California in two parts: (1) a human dimensions study where I interviewed Yurok people regarding TEK and their relationship with wildlife and (2) a wildlife survey on Yurok ancestral lands where I used genetic analyses of scats as a noninvasive method for determining species presence and diet. In addition, I developed a synthesis document regarding historical aspects of Indian Country in the United States and philosophical contexts of TEK as science to facilitate dialogue regarding cultural sensitivity in wildlife research with a TEK component. During an internship with the National Park Service (NPS), I developed a guidance document to provide resources regarding TEK in wildlife conservation and a case study detailing how I navigated my doctoral research. My dissertation consists of five manuscripts, each formatted for a specific journal or the NPS.

Concept à la mode depuis quelques décennies, l’écotourisme s’est érigé comme le produit phare des parcs nationaux en régions forestières. Avec la création en 2007 du «Parc Amazonien de Guyane », les Wayana, comme les autres communautés traditionnelles autochtones, n’ont pas échappé au discours lié au développement durable de leur territoire ainsi qu’à la question de l’écotourisme. Mais quelle est la réalité d’un tel concept dans le contexte du tiers sud guyanais, enclavé, dominé par des identités culturelles fortes et marqué par une activité aurifère clandestine et criminelle ? Cette étude s’intéresse particulièrement à la dynamique culturelle et aux tentatives de maintien d’une identité culturelle, dans une société en pleine transition. Afin d’étudier le changement social et culturel, j’ai observé le mode de vie des indiens de l’intérieur de la Guyane tel qu’il se présente aujourd’hui en référence à ce qu’il était hier. Il ressort de notre étude que bien qu’attirés par la modernité, les indiens dépendent toujours des ressources de la nature et se préoccupent de maintenirleur identité. Les moyens de prélever les ressources ont certes évolué, mais ils demeurent au fond non agressifs àl’environnement et à la biodiversité parce que, ces sociétés ont opéré elles-mêmes des choix qui leur permettent de minimiser leur impact négatif sur l’environnement. Il y a donc dans ces sociétés une préoccupation de gestion durable des ressources. On le perçoit aisément dans l’agriculture itinérante, dans la pêche à la nivrée où, après exploitation et prélèvement de la ressource, la zone exploitée est laissée à l’abandon pour sa régénération. La recherche d’un compromis endogène entre un mode de vie traditionnel et un mode de vie moderne est significative à l’observation et à l’analyse de l’évolution de la structure de l’habitat amérindien. Optant aujourd’hui de plus en plus pour un habitat avec parois, cloisonné et recouvert non plus d’une simple toiture végétale mais de tôles ondulées, les Wayana ne renoncent pas pour autant au carbet-hamac, ni à la prohibition des déjections en terre ferme, c’est-à-dire le lieu où vivent les hommes. Les Indiens, dans leur tradition, utilisent les cours d’eau comme des lieux d’aisance. Notre étude montre que cette coutume est répandue chez tous les indiens de l’intérieur de la Guyane parce qu’elle va au-delà d’une simple préoccupation hygiénique et physiologique. Dans ce système culturel, cette coutume n’est pas déterminée systématiquement par l’environnement naturel. Elle obéit avant tout à une logique écologique propre à ces microsociétés, puis à une nécessite de distinguer nettement deux univers : l’univers des animaux et l’univers des hommes. Ainsi, dans lalogique interne des Wayana, ce sont des animaux sauvages qui font leurs déjections à même le sol, tandis que l’homme pour se distinguer a choisi de faire des cours d’eau ses lieux d’aisance privilégiés. Mais, face au changement imposé par le monde extérieur (sédentarisation, croissance démographique, prestations sociales..), la cohérence interne du modèle social et culturel des Wayana est plus que menacé. Dès lors, la mise en oeuvre de l’écotourisme s’apparente à une confrontation de logiques ; un ensemble de logiques exogènes, véhiculé par ses développeurs et ses promoteurs, et unensemble de logiques endogènes véhiculé par les populations autochtones traditionnelles en cohérence avec leur vision holistique du monde, aboutissant soit à des formes de compromis, soit à des formes d’antagonismes objectant toute forme de négociation<br>A fashionable concept for some decades, « ecotourism » has been selected as the leading product for National Parks and large forests areas. With the opening, in 2007, of the “Amazonian park of Guyana “, the “Wayana”, like other local traditional communities, have not escaped from theories related to sustainable development as well as the “ecotourism”. But what reality stands behind such a concept in the southern part of Guyana, geographically isolated, and under the influence of strong cultural identities and a clandestine and criminal gold extraction activity. The current study tries to understand the cultural movement and their ambition to maintain a cultural identity, in a society in complete transition. In order to study the social and cultural changes, the author has observed the Indians way of life in the heart of Guyana today, as opposed as to how it was yesterday. Our study points out that, although very interested by the modern world, Indians still depend on natural resources and are concerned with the preservation of their identity. Their ways of using resources have certainly evolved, but they remain basically respectful of the environment and biodiversity because these societies function in order to minimize any negative impacts on their environment. These societies are therefore concerned with the management of their resources in a durable way. It’s easily perceivable in the itinerant agriculture, also in the fishing “à la nivrée”, where the area is left unexploited for regeneration after resources have been used. The search for an endogen compromise between a traditional way of life and a modern one is quite significant when one observes and analyzes the evolution of the Amerindian habitat. Opting more and more for buildings with partitions and separations, not just covered with basic vegetable roofs but with metallic material, the “Wayana” have not abandoned the use of “carbet-hamoc”, nor of open air toilets where the population live. Indians, traditionally, use streams as toilets. Our study shows that this custom is the same for all Indians living in the interior territories of Guyana, because it goes beyond a simple hygienic and physiological concern. In their cultural system, this rule is not systematically imposed by the natural environment. It’s governed above all by an ecological logic, pertinent to these micro societies, followed by the necessity to clearly identify two different worlds: the animal world and the human world. According to internal “Wayana” logic, it is only wild animals that use the ground for their excretions, whilst human beings, in order to distinguish themselves, use streams. But, facing changes brought about by the external world (sedentary life, demographic expansion, social care…), the internal coherence of the social and cultural model of the “Wayana” is in jeopardy. Installing a culture of “ecotourism” therefore seems to confront logics: one set of exogenous logics brought on by its promoters and another set of endogenous logics maintained by the autochthon traditional populations fitting with their holistic vision of the universe, leading either to some form of compromise or to antagonist attitudes opposed to any type of negotiation

Este trabalho analisa a relação estabelecida entre os Portugueses e os Indígenas logo após o descobrimento do Brasil. Muitas atrocidades foram cometidas contra os povos indígenas, aniquilando sua organização social, sua cultura e acabando com a vida de milhares de índios. Os índios são conhecedores da biodiversidade brasileira e sempre viveram em harmonia com a natureza. Porém, essa rica biodiversidade corre perigo, afinal sua proteção legal, tanto no Brasil quanto em outros países, ainda encontra-se em fase de criação. Assim como correm perigo também os conhecimentos tradicionais indígenas, que frente a biopirataria e a uma lei de patentes que não os reconhece, inviabilizando seu registro, ficam a mercê de empresas multinacionais que, desconsiderando a Convenção sobre Diversidade Biológica e a Medida Provisória 2.186-16-2001, se apropriam desses conhecimentos sem a anuência desses povos e sem fazer a justa repartição de seus benefícios. Diante disso, faz-se necessária a criação de um regime jurídico diferenciado, sui generis, a partir da realidade de cada povo e com a participação dos mesmos, como um mecanismo de proteção para a efetivação do respeito ao povo indígena, garantindo-lhes o usufruto exclusivo de suas terras, a preservação de seus conhecimentos, de sua identidade, sua cultura e conseqüente sustentabilidade, especialmente contra o processo de globalização hegemônica e os efeitos da biopirataria. Olhar para os povos indígenas e as comunidades tradicionais e reconhecê-las como potenciais defensores da diversidade biológica é um caminho para que novas políticas sejam implementadas na busca de garantir um futuro de bases sustentáveis para essas populações e para toda humanidade.<br>Submitted by Marcelo Teixeira (mvteixeira@ucs.br) on 2014-05-20T16:02:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcelo L dos Santos.pdf: 9025717 bytes, checksum: 1a4c0e762e913d76574b583fe88a906c (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2014-05-20T16:02:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcelo L dos Santos.pdf: 9025717 bytes, checksum: 1a4c0e762e913d76574b583fe88a906c (MD5)<br>This work analyses the relationship between the Portuguese and the Indians soon after the discovery of Brazil. Many atrocities were committed against indigenous peoples, annihilating their social organization, their culture and ending with the lives of thousands of Indians. The Indians are familiar deep Brazilian biodiversity, and have always lived in harmony with nature. But that rich biodiversity is danger, at last their legal protection, both in Brazil and in other countries, is still in the process of creation. As is also the danger indigenous traditional knowledge, biopiracy in front of a law of patents than those acknowledges, making impossible their record, are the mercy of multinational corporations which, disregarding the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Provisional Measure 2.186-16-2001 , appropriate the knowledge of these people without the permission and without making a fair distribution of its benefits. In front of these, it is necessary to create a legal regime differentiated, sui generis, created from the reality of each nation and with the participation of the same, as a mechanism of protection for the effectiveness of respect for indigenous people, guaranteeing them the exclusive use of their lands, the preservation of their knowledge, their identity, their culture and consequent sustainability, especially against the hegemonic process of globalization and the effects of biopiracy. Looking to indigenous peoples and traditional communities and recognize them as potential supporters of biological diversity is a way for that new politics are implemented in seeking to ensure a future with sustainable bases for these people and for all humanity.

The research aims to understand how it is configured the intercultural relation between scientific knowledge and Pataxó traditional knowledge in Kijetxawê Zabelê Indigenous State School, having Scientific Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge and Interculturality as main categories of analysis. Pataxó People belongs to the Macro - Jê Linguistic Trunk, Maxakali family, located in Kaí - Pequi Indigenous Territory, located in Cumuruxatiba/Prado - Bahia. The research has the anthropology of education as a theoretical-methodological approach, following a qualitative line in an ethnographic perspective with a socio-phenomenological inspiration, by making use of documental analysis, participant observation and open interviews, using cultural interpretation for documentary analysis. As a result, on the school census of 2012, we observe an increase in the number of indigenous schools in Northeast, second larger area in concentration of indigenous schools in the country. However, that increase is not linked to qualitative conditions, oftentimes, taking advantage of the |intercultural| category to conceal problems and social inequalities. On the other hand, it is noticed a social control of the Indigenous School Education in the state of Bahia, with indigenous teachers participation in the intercultural degrees collegiate, what has shown a greater dialogue with the communities. In the intercultural relationship between scientific knowledge and Pataxó traditional knowledge, it is shown an approximation to the multiculturalist current, which is guided by intercultural bias. Thus, some attempts of intercultural practices were noticed inside school by teachers, bumping into curriculums established by the State Department of Education, poor infrastructure, lack of specific teaching materials, among others.<br>A pesquisa objetiva compreender como se configura a relação de interculturalidade entre conhecimento científico e conhecimentos tradicionais Pataxó na Escola Estadual Indígena Kijetxawê Zabelê, tendo como principais categorias de análise: Conhecimento Científico, Conhecimentos Tradicionais e Interculturalidade. O Povo Pataxó pertence ao Tronco Lingüístico Macro-Jê, família Maxakali, localizado no Território Indígena Kaí Pequi, em Cumuruxatiba/Prado-Bahia. A pesquisa tem como enfoque teórico-metodológico a antropologia da educação, seguindo a abordagem qualitativa numa perspectiva etnográfica com inspiração sócio-fenomenológica, fazendo uso da análise documental, observação participante e entrevistas abertas, tendo a interpretação cultural para análise dos depoimentos. Como resultados, observamos no censo escolar de 2012 um aumento no número de escolas indígenas na região Nordeste, segunda maior região em concentração de escolas indígenas no país. Contudo, esse aumento não está atrelado a condições qualitativas, aproveitando muitas vezes, da categoria intercultural para escamotear problemas e desigualdades sociais. Por outro lado, se percebe um controle social da Educação Escolar Indígena no estado da Bahia, com a participação de professores (as) indígenas nos colegiados das licenciaturas interculturais, o que tem revelado um diálogo maior com as comunidades. Na relação de interculturalidade entre conhecimento científico e conhecimentos tradicionais Pataxó, evidenciou-se uma aproximação com a corrente multiculturalista, sendo esta pautada pelo viés da interculturalidade. Neste sentido, foram observadas algumas tentativas de práticas interculturais dentro da escola por parte dos (as) professores (as), esbarrando estes (as) em currículos instituídos pela Secretaria Estadual de Educação, infraestrutura precária, ausência de materiais didáticos específicos, dentre outros.

<p> In the arid landscapes of the southern Great Basin and northern Mojave Desert, issues surrounding water resource management are often politically contentious. Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) have known and managed these resources for thousands of years prior to Euro-American arrival in the region. A variety of factors, including federal policies that resulted in the creation of reservations and forced placement in boarding schools, as well as contemporary resource commodification, have influenced Nuwuvi knowledge and practice. In this thesis, I examined the character of Nuwuvi ethnohydrological knowledge, including management knowledge, of two protected areas: Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (SMNRA), managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR), managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In addition, I investigated perceptions of water health and restoration among participants from the two managing agencies and six Nuwuvi Nations. I addressed these topics using the theoretical framework of political ecology and a methodology that included semi-structured interviews and demographic questionnaires with 16 Nuwuvi knowledge holders and four federal agency participants. I conducted text analysis of partial interview transcripts using the inductive coding method in order to identify recurring themes and concepts related to hydrology, management, and restoration. My results illustrated that Nuwuvi ethnohydrological knowledge, which developed incrementally over time, conceptualized water as a sentient being that required human interaction to remain healthy. There was also evidence that Nuwuvi knowledge of water was changing as a result of political, economic, and social forces. Furthermore, these findings suggest that Nuwuvi and agency approaches to hydrological management and restoration were built upon differing epistemologies, though there was convergence among specific management and restoration techniques. Based on these results, a report of findings from the Nuwuvi Knowledge-to-Action project, including recommendations for collaborative stewardship approaches, was delivered to participants in August 2013.</p>

Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) have inhabited the southern Great Basin for thousands of years, and consider Nuvagantu (where snow sits) in the Spring Mountains landscape to be the locus of their creation as a people. Their ancestral territory spans parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California. My research identifies and describes the heterogeneous character of Nuwuvi ecological knowledge (NEK) of piñon-juniper woodland ecosystems within two federal protected areas (PAs) in southeastern Nevada, the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (SMNRA) and the Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR), as remembered and practiced to varying degrees by 22 select Nuwuvi knowledge holders. I focus my investigation on four primary aspects of NEK. First, drawing from data obtained through ethnoecological research, I discuss how Nuwuvi ecological knowledge evolved through protracted observation and learning from past resource depletions, and adapted to various environmental and socio-economic drivers of change induced since Euro-American incursion. Second, I argue that Nuwuvi management practices operate largely within a framework of non-equilibrium ecology, marked by low to intermediate disturbances and guided by Nuwuvi conceptions of environmental health and balance. These practices favor landscape heterogeneity and patchiness, and engender ecosystem renewal, expanded ecotones, and increased biodiversity. I then consider the third and fourth aspects of NEK as two case studies that consider NEK at the individual, species, population, habitat, and landscape scales. These case studies operationalize NEK as a relevant body of knowledge and techniques conducive to collaborative resource stewardship initiatives with federal land management agency partners. In the first case study I suggest that the Great Basin piñon pines are Nuwuvi cultural keystone species (CKS), evaluating their central importance to Nuwuvi according to several criteria including number of uses, role in ritual and story, and uniqueness relative to other species. In the second case study I contend that local social institutions regulated Nuwuvi resource use in the past and in some cases continued to do so at the time of study. These local social institutions included a system of resource extraction and habitat entrance taboos that may have mitigated impacts and supported sustainable resource use and conservation. The implications of this research are that Nuwuvi ecological knowledge, disturbance-based adaptive management practices, and resource and habitat taboos are relevant to contemporary land management concerns in piñon-juniper woodlands, offering complementary approaches to adaptive management as practiced in the SMNRA and the DNWR despite divergent epistemological foundations. My research contributed to the Nuwuvi Knowledge-to-Action Project, an applied government-to-government consultation, collaborative resource stewardship, and cultural revitalization project facilitated by The Mountain Institute among seven Nuwuvi Nations, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The present thesis focuses on Indian experience in the traditional knowledge sector. It argues that strong patent protection has not been conducive to the indigenous people and their traditional medicinal knowledge. Moreover, this protection has supported the pharmaceutical sector by entitling it with the patents, sourced from traditional herbal medicinal knowledge on the ground of novelty and usefulness. The thesis also investigates the scenarios, where time and again it has been proved that the current patent tool does not provide free hand to indigenous people. It advocates that the production and dissemination of legal clauses promoted by the Indian patent system is not an adequate legal tool for the protection of traditional medicinal knowledge. Finally the thesis explores India’s obligation to protect and preserve traditional medicinal knowledge and proposes model guidelines for the pharmaceutical sector in order to exploit herbal medicinal knowledge.

The traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of a language community is not only a repository of that community's cultural and intellectual heritage, but also a rich source of detailed information with the potential to inform conservation policies and basic scientific research. In this thesis, I present some key aspects of Solega TEK, which is shown to be a complex, inter-related network of detailed observations of natural phenomena, well-reasoned and often highly accurate theorising, as well as a belief system, derived from cultural norms, regarding the relationships between humans and other species on the one hand, and between non-human species on the other. In addition, the appendices to the thesis contain a sketch grammar of Solega and a small lexicon of around 2,300 entries. The thesis begins with a brief survey of the types of research usually carried out under the heading of ethnobiology, and shows that language-based studies are stongly biased towards investigations of ethno-taxonomy and nomenclature. I then argue the importance of studying TEK in its proper context, and that making context and encyclopaedic knowledge the objects of study are essential for a proper understanding of TEK. In Chapter 2, I provide a further critique of the acontextualised approach to uncovering 'universals' in ethno-taxonomy and nomenclature, and suggest that some basic assumptions implicit in this enterprise are seriously flawed. Chapter 3 develops this theme further by investigating Solega ways of naming and classifying birds, and provides an alternative approach - one that takes into account not only linguistic context and variation, but also Solega knowledge of the behaviour and ecology of these birds. Moving away from classifications, in Chapter 4, I describe the manner in which the Solega perceive various named landscapes. These, along with the plants and animals that inhabit them, form a mental map - a three dimensional mosaic - that is constantly updated in sync with the annual cycling of the seasons, the life cycles of plants and the migrations of culturally significant animals. Further details of these seasonal cycles, as well as other forest 'signs' that Solega people can detect and use to their advantage, are to be found in Chapter 5, along with Solega perspectives on the place of humans in the natural environment. Chapter 6 focuses in some detail on the Solega's knowledge of the behaviour, reproductive biology and ecology of one very important group of animals, the honeybees. Comparing Solega observations with those of a pre-industrial beekeeping society, I show that the former's knowledge of certain hard-to-observe honeybee behaviours rivals, and in some cases exceeds, that of the latter. Finally, in the last chapter, I reiterate the need to develop novel approaches to carrying out ethnobiological research from a linguistic perspective - approaches that acknowledge the fact that classifications are but a small part of a language community's TEK, and that contextualised studies, which take into account variation, diachrony and encyclopaedic knowledge, are required to obtain an unbiased picture of people's understanding of the natural world. -- provided by Candidate.

There is a low percentage of First Nations students participating in senior high school sciences and pursuing the field of science. This thesis describes the development of a cross-cultural science and environmental education program using traditional Kwakwaka'wakw stories as a focus for exploration. Conversational interviews with elders, resource persons and cultural teachers provided invaluable interpretations of time honored stories, their place in Kwakwaka’wakw culture, how they were passed down from generations as teaching stories, and how they tied Aboriginal students to the land and to each other. Lessons were pilot tested in grade 6/7 at the T'lisalagil'akw Band School in Alert Bay, BC. Observations and a range of evaluative techniques all combined to show that the students understood the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the people, they understood a range of western science concepts, they practiced mayaxala (respect for the people and land), and they understood what it means to be Kwakwaka'wakw.

In this study I explore two understudied aspects of India's informal economy, viz. the institutions that sustain informal knowledge, and gender disparities among self-employed workers using a combination of primary survey and interview methods as well as econometric estimation. The data used in the study come from the Indian National Sample Survey (NSS) as well as from fieldwork conducted in the city of Banaras (Varanasi) in North India. The vast majority of the Indian work-force is "uneducated" from a conventional point of view. Even when they have received some schooling, formal education rarely prepares individuals for employment. Rather, various forms of apprenticeships and on-the-job training are the dominant modes of knowledge acquisition. The institutions that enable creation and transfer of knowledge in the informal economy are poorly understood because informal knowledge itself is understudied. However, the rise of the so-called "Knowledge Society" has created a large literature on traditional and indigenous knowledge and has brought some visibility to the informal knowledge possessed by peasants, artisans, and other workers in the informal economy. The present study extends this strand of research. In Chapter Three, taking the weaving industry as a case-study, work is introduced into the study of knowledge. Thus informal knowledge is studied in the context of the production relations that create and sustain it. Further, the family mode of production and apprenticeships are foregrounded as important institutions that achieve inter-generational transfer of knowledge at a low cost. Clustering of weaving firms ensures fast dissemination of new fabric designs and patterns which holds down monopoly rents. In Chapter Four taking advantage of a recently issued Geographical Indication (GI), an intellectual property right (IPR) that attempts to standardize the Banaras Sari to protect its niche in the face of powerloom-made imitation products, I investigate the likely effects of such an attempt to create craft authenticity. Through field observations and via interviews with weavers, merchants, State officials and NGO workers, I find that the criteria of authenticity have largely been developed without consulting artisans and as a result tend to be overly restrictive. In contrast, I find that weavers themselves have a more dynamic and fluid notion of authenticity. Homeworking women are widely perceived to be among the most vulnerable and exploited groups of workers. Piece-rates and undocumented hours of work hide extremely low hourly wages and workers themselves are often invisible. Though women form a crucial part of the Banaras textile industry, to the outside observer they are invisible, both because they are in purdah and because women's work proceeds in the shadow of weaving itself, which is a male occupation. In Chapter Five, using field observations, interviews, and time-use analysis I show that women perform paid work for up to eight hours a day but are still seen as working in their spare time. Because the opportunity cost of spare time is zero, any wage above zero is deemed an improvement. Hourly wage rates in Banaras are found to be as low as eight to ten cents an hour, well below the legal minimum wage. In Chapter Six, I use National Sample Survey data on the informal textile industry to test the hypothesis that emerges from ethnographic work in Banaras. If women are indeed penalized for undertaking joint production of market and non-market goods, women working on their own without hired workers are expected to perform much worse than men working by themselves. I find that after accounting for differences in education, assets, working hours, occupation and other relevant variables, women working by themselves earn 52% less than their male counterparts. This gender penalty disappears in case of self-employed women who can afford to employ wage-workers. I also show that women in the informal economy are more likely to be engaged in putting-out or subcontracting arrangements and suffer a gender penalty as a result.

Using Indigenous methodology and a story telling method this thesis is the result of research that looks at the benefits of traditional Indigenous ceremony and healing practices as a way to heal from traumatic experiences. A thematic analysis technique was employed to reveal four themes that emerged from the stories told by Indigenous Knowledge Keeper participants. The first theme is the importance of our connection to all living things including our own selves. Another is recognizing our greatest teachers nature and animals. Cleansing emerged at the center of all traditional healing strategies and the final theme encompasses all that we are as life on this planet spirit or energy. Trauma can be understood as any event that creates difficulty for the individual to cope whether the event that caused the experience was purposeful or accidental. While people do find amazing ways to cope with circumstances that are overwhelming, neurobiology tells us how trauma is processed and impacts the workings of the brain. Trauma in the nervous system can be understood as the result of a person or group or community’s inability to stay safe or to feel safe during the experiences. Indigenous people live with the ongoing effects of intergenerational trauma caused by colonization including the Indian Residential School experience, as well as ongoing systemic oppression. All traumas can activate the deeply held traumas that have been transmitted trans-generationally. In essence we carry intergenerational traumas. I believe that Indigenous people were practicing healing on a regular basis within their traditional ceremonies, dances and practices before contact and these practices may inform a model of health and wellness that could be useful in healing the effects of trauma that impacts Indigenous people today. Ceremonies and traditional teachings were shared communally before contact and are now being revived as we embrace the cultural practices of our ancestors across this land. Within our Indigenous ways of knowing we recognize that we are related to everything in creation we are connected and depend on one another. In 1884, under the Potlatch Law & section141 of the Indian Act our ceremonies, spiritual practices and traditional knowledges were made illegal; our people were imprisoned for practicing them (UBC First Nations Studies, 2009). Today we are in a state of desperation for healing strategies that work for who we are as a people. The Elders in this research shared how this can be done.<br>Graduate<br>0452<br>0622<br>0347<br>sheilanyman@shaw.ca

<p>This dissertation is a policy driven ethnography of smallholder and alternative farmers in Indiana that centers food justice and utilizes interdisciplinary frameworks to analyze the adaptive strategies that farmers use to address the specific challenges they face. Through the implementation of adaptive strategies such as regenerative growing practices, the cultivation of community, stewardship of the land, and an emphasis on transparency, the smallholders I worked with over the course of this study negotiate complex agricultural spaces and build the resilience of their farmsteads and the communities they serve. Smallholder and alternative farmers in Indiana are reimagining the agricultural spaces they occupy and driving transformational change of dominant narratives and local food systems. Critiques of conventional agriculture and commodity production are not intended to reify binary perceptions of the agricultural paradigm, but rather to demonstrate that the critical role of smallholder and alternatives farmers should be valued as well. </p> <p> </p> <p>This research draws on four years of ethnographic research, archival sources, and close readings of policy measures and media reports to illuminate the historical context that has positioned smallholders in juxtaposition to large-scale conventional agriculture, and the critical role of smallholder farmers in driving food systems change while centering food justice and community resiliency. The driving research questions for the following essays follow: Why have small scale and alternative farmers chosen to farm (and farm differently)? What specific challenges do they face and how might these challenges be better addressed by existing support systems and new legislation? What can be learned from the alternative narratives and reimagined spaces smallholder farmers engage with? This work joins the growing body of research that challenges agricultural meta-narratives by presenting a counter-narrative of smallholder resilience and the <i>a priori</i> notion that posits agricultural technology as a panacea for everything from world hunger to economics to environmental concerns. </p>

Ce mémoire de maîtrise porte sur la participation locale des Cris de Waswanipi lors de consultations à propos de l’exploitation forestière de leur territoire ancestrale. Depuis la signature de l’Entente concernant une nouvelle relation entre le gouvernement du Québec et les Cris du Québec, communément appelée la Paix des braves en 2002, les Cris d’Eeyou Istchee ont obtenu des dispositions de consultation distincte concernant la gestion du territoire forestier. Entre autres, le régime forestier adapté assure la mise en place de Groupes de travail conjoints, où le gouvernement du Québec et les Cris négocient la planification forestière sur une base territoriale. Ce mécanisme de mise en oeuvre de la Paix des Braves fait suite aux nombreuses revendications des Cris. Toutefois, plus de dix ans après la signature de l’entente, il est pertinent de se demander si les processus de consultation orchestrés par les Groupes de travail conjoints répondent aux besoins et aspirations des Cris. Cette recherche sociologique réalisée dans la communauté de Waswanipi s’efforce de mettre en lumière l’expérience des tallymen, intendant du territoire familial et représentant de la famille aux Groupes de travail conjoints, lors des processus de consultation. À l’aide d’une douzaine d’entretien avec des tallymen, ce mémoire cherche à soulever l’impact que ces derniers possèdent dans la planification territoriale ainsi que la place accordée aux savoirs traditionnels lors des rencontres de consultation.<br>This thesis focuses on the local participation of the Waswanipi Cree during consultation meetings concerning forestry operations on their ancestral territory. Since the signing of the the Agreement Concerning a New Relationship Between le Gouvernement du Québec and the Crees of Québec, commonly called Paix des Braves Agreement in 2002, the Crees of Eeyou Istchee have gained distinct consultation provisions related to forest land management. Among other things, the adapted forestry regime ensures the establishment of Joint Working Groups, where the Quebec government and the Crees negotiate territorially-based forest planning. This mechanism for implementing the Paix des Braves falls in line with the initial demands made by the Crees. Acknowledging this, it is pertinent to ask whether the consultation processes orchestrated by the Joint Working Groups meet the needs and aspirations of the Crees more than a decade after the signing of the agreement. This sociological research conducted in the community of Waswanipi strives to highlight the experience of tallymen, stewards of traditional family lands and family representatives in Joint Working Groups, during consultation processes. Through a dozen interviews with tallymen, this thesis seeks to highlight the impact tallymen have on territorial planning as well as the place given to traditional knowledge during consultation meetings.