Paper short abstract:

In New Zealand, it is common for Māori to claim the colonial injustices in units of tribal groups. Here 'indigeneity' based on locality is emphasized. However, when they deal with the issues that cannot be localized, 'indigeneity' as pan-Māori becomes mobilized. 'Indigeneity' is flexible and multilayered.

Paper long abstract:

In Aotearoa New Zealand, Māori gained the solid status as the 'indigenous people' in 1970s supported by legal recognition of the Treaty of Waitangi. Since 1980s, it has become common for Māori to claim the (post-)colonial injustices including confiscations of the lands in judicial or political arena in units of tribal groups. The so-called retribalization has occurred, and 'indigeneity' based on locality tends to be emphasized. On the other hand, when they need to deal with the issues that cannot be divided or localized, 'indigeneity' as pan-Māori becomes mobilized. It could be observed in cases of the issues regarding to fishing rights or ownership of foreshore and seabed. Therefore at least in Māori case, 'indigeneity' can be understood to be flexible and multilayered.

Paper short abstract:

In Okinawa, a small group of people have claimed the rights as an “indigenous people” since the mid-1990s. Reviewing the history of this movement, the presentation emphasizes the need to reconsider the “locatedness” of the concept in local / national / global contexts.

Paper long abstract:

Since the middle of the 1990s, a small group of people have started an "indigenous movement" in Okinawa Islands, the southwestern most part of the Japanese archipelago. For the people promoting this indigenous movement, the modern and contemporary history of the islands is regarded as a history of colonization and assimilation by Japan. Basing on this understanding, they have protested against unfair realities in international conferences. These realities include 74% of the U.S. military bases in Japan being centered in Okinawa prefecture, environmental destruction related to U.S. military uses, repeated misconducts by U.S. military personnel, and the disappearance of the traditional culture and language. In addition, for the purpose of recovering their own historical identity, preserving traditional culture and language, and achieving economic independence, they have insisted on the necessity of self-identification of the locals as "indigenous people" of these islands.

In spite of their almost 20 years of enthusiastic actions, the assertion has not gained in popularity yet. Although most residents of Okinawa prefecture affirm their "local identity" and "originality" in Japan, they rarely express doubts about "Okinawa as a part of Japan" and "Okinawans as a subparts of Japanese" at all. This presentation reviews the history and socio-political environment of this "indigenous movement" in Okinawa. In conclusion, reflecting on the history and the contemporary situation of Okinawan case, this presentation indicates the importance of reconsidering the historic and geopolitical "locatedness" of the concept of "indigenous people" and relevant rights and logic in local, national, and global contexts.

Paper short abstract:

Taking the example of the Mbororo of Cameroon, this presentation explores changing political strategies and articulations of indigeneity with a focus on the period since the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Paper long abstract:

'Indigeneity' has been a highly contested concept, particularly in the African context. One the one hand, there has been an extensive debate within Africanist anthropology on the concept's analytical usefulness. On the other, several African governments have questioned its applicability to the African continent, arguing that all population groups may count as 'indigenous'. However, with the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, conceptual criticism has abated, and many African governments have made attempts to integrate the indigenous rights discourse in their policies and development programs - with varied outcomes.

This presentation focuses on the Mbororo of Cameroon, a pastoralist group who internationally has been recognized as an indigenous people, while nationally it is categorized as a marginalized population group. Over the past decade, Mbororo indigenous and human rights activists have experienced a process from enthusiasm to disillusionment to pragmatism. In the course of this process, they have refocused their activities from the international to the domestic sphere, and have adopted a more accommodating approach. Furthermore, they have diversified their lobbying strategies by venturing into the virtual and social media. As I argue, their trajectory is representative of the indigenous rights movement in in many parts of Africa and beyond, as it illustrates the continuous relevance of the nation state as well as the need for actors to articulate and position themselves in relation to changing development discourses.

Paper short abstract:

This paper will analyze the reason and the way the Naga people, who aimed for independence through an armed struggle, joined the international indigenous rights movement and contributed to establishing the concept of “indigeneity” in Asia.

Paper long abstract:

The Naga people, whose traditional territory falls between the northeastern part of India and Burma/Myanmar, declared independence and started their struggle against the Indian and Burmese governments in 1947. In the beginning, they claimed that the Naga people is a nation and thus entitled to the right to self-determination, and started armed struggle in the 1950s. However, in the late 1980s, a group of Naga people started to associate with international activities for indigenous rights movement, and began to define themselves as an "indigenous people." In collaboration with other so-called tribes, mountain peoples and other ethnic minorities, they started a network organization of indigenous peoples in Asia and urged the international community to recognize their right. By doing so, the Naga people tried to enhance a platform to allege the human rights infringement by the Governments of India and Burma, and also to assert their political rights in the international arena. In this paper, I am going to analayze the reason and the way the Naga people joined the international indigenous rights movement and contributed to establish the concept of "indigeneity" in Asia.

Paper short abstract:

This presentation investigates the madrasa revival movement, a social trend of restoring the traditional Islamic education system in Berber communities in Southwestern Morocco. Although the movement is strongly linked with the identity politics of the Berbers, it has not previously been explored.

Paper long abstract:

Anthropological studies in North Africa have recently focused on the Amazigh movement, an indigenous movement of the Amazigh/Berber people. This movement has spread significantly in North African countries, such as Morocco and Algeria, and also in Europe among immigrants from the region. These studies have spanned many aspects of the Amazigh movement such as transnational networks of immigrants in France and their home countries; the emergence of a new sense of their homeland; the impact of the colonial legacy of ethnic policy on self-representation; ethnic relationships in the local societies.

However, an alternative social trend—the madrasa revival movement—has not previously been included in anthropological studies on the Amazigh movement. A relatively silent social movement with its textual production to diffuse their ideas, it is aimed at restoring the traditional Islamic education system in local Berber communities. It is particularly prevalent among the Ishliḥīn, a Berber-speaking people from Southwestern Morocco.

Contrary to the Madrasa revival movement, the Amazigh movement is seen to focus on secular aspects of society in countering the Arabization of North African states, a policy aimed at national integration in the region. This is because Islam is perceived as a threat to differentiating the cultural ethnic identity of the Amazigh people.

Researching the Madrasa revival movement will also highlight another social trend of the communities in the region. That is a trend in some communities to reconfigure their identity, history, social relationships, attitudes toward religion and the secular to orientate it towards Islam and Arabic.

Paper short abstract:

People's conceptualizations of place and human selves in it have been growing as the pivotal cultural reaction in the local-global context. This paper talks about a fieldwork case of Clayoquot Sound forest and First Nations, Canada.

Paper long abstract:

The relationship between place and people's selves becomes more and more the object of political discourses and actions, beyond mere discourses of folk/native rootedness. As globalization proceeds the conceptualization or the ontology of a place becomes composed of multi-faceted but internally articulated human experiences of indigenous, local and global facing. This paper tells about a fieldwork case of Clayoquot Sound, Canada and about it's theoretical meaning. Clayoquot Sound in BC, Canada has been the political place, with it's ancient forests, Nuu-Chah-Nulth First Nations, civil society of Tofino and environmentalists from the worlds. From 1984 when Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht First Nation announced an island forest as 'Tribal Park', via historical non violent, environmental resistance in 1993, to the current reactions to the corporate developments, there has been political arena with ontology and human existence. The definitions or existential meanings of ancient forest, First Nations, civil societies, global environmental networks and markets have been continuously made and transformed. This case tells the local stories of political ecology in globalizing context.

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Paper short abstract:

Food sovereignty as an expression of indigenous peoples’ identity and autonomy is gaining recognition. This paper will explore how local indigenous peoples explore sustainable solutions based on traditional knowledge related to food production and food sovereignty aimed at empowering communities.

Paper long abstract:

Food sovereignty as an expression of indigenous peoples' identity and autonomy is gaining recognition. As Indigenous peoples face increased pressure on land, and their access to resources is increasingly threatened the need to develop mechanisms at both the local, national and global level to ensure implementation of Article 10 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People is becoming all the more critical. Food sovereignty is both an articulation of indigenous peoples' right to control their knowledge, land, and resources. Further, it is intricately linked to indigenous peoples' identity, spirituality, history, traditions, and other aspects of culture.

Concerned with increasing food insecurity, marginalization and poverty of indigenous people small scale family farmers and fishers, environmental degradation driven by unsustainable agricultural practices, monoculture, human-induced biodiversity loss and adverse impacts of climate change compounding the vulnerability of agriculture-based communities in developing countries, international organizations such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are working to explore community-based projects aimed at addressing food sovereignty of indigenous people.

This paper will explore how local indigenous peoples, specifically farming and fishing communities around the world are working with UN organizations such as FAO and multilateral environmental agreements to explore sustainable solutions based on traditional knowledge related to food production and food sovereignty aimed at empowering communities to draw on their rich heritage and knowledge systems to sustainably use and manage local resources to strengthen resilience and improve food security and livelihoods.

Paper short abstract:

This presentation tries to argue what are the necessary measures in order to restore the rights of the Ainu people.

Paper long abstract:

The Ainu people have demanded the Government of Japan to restore their rights and to introduce Indigenous Peoples' bill in accordance with the international human rights standards, and have attended the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations since 1986. Responding to their demands, the Government of Japan introduced Act on the Promotion of Ainu Culture in 1997 and recognized Ainu people as an indigenous people in the Diet in 2008, after the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. The situation of Ainu people has improved to some extent.

However, even after the recognition of the Ainu people as an indigenous people, the Government has done little to introduce the Indigenous peoples' bill, to discuss the way to restitute and compensate the deprivation of land and resources and to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which are central to the restoration of Ainu people's rights. In order to accomplish this, the Government should make clear the historical responsibility on deprivation of their lands, ban on the traditional livelihood, enforcement of slavery, exploitation and impoverishment by forced relocations, and total ban on their ethnic culture including their language, traditions, customs and religion. In this presentation, I am going to argue what are the necessary measures in order to restore the rights of Ainu People.

Paper short abstract:

I explain the process of the Texas Yaquis’ petition for state recognition in order to discuss the social and political meaning of being recognized in the contemporary US.

Paper long abstract:

In fall 2013, a non-profit organization representing the Yaquis mainly in the state of Texas, U.S., sent documents to the state governor, hoping to be recognized as an indigenous group of Texas. The Yaquis are an indigenous people of Uto-Aztecan language family, who have lived in an area covering what is currently northwestern Mexico and the southwestern U.S. The estimated population of the Yaquis in Mexico is 30,000. In the U.S., 17,000 individuals are registered with the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, a federally recognized indigenous tribe. In addition to these people, several hundred people self-identify themselves as Yaquis. On the U.S. side, those in the state of Arizona were federally recognized in 1978 as the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. However, the majority of the Yaquis outside Arizona have been excluded from enrollment in the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Therefore, the Texas Yaquis' petition for state recognition is a significant milestone in Yaqui history. Although the Texas Yaquis have received much criticism, many people also support them for various reasons. In this paper, I explain (1) how this movement for the recognition of the Texas Yaquis developed, (2) how the local people reacted to this movement, and (3) which indigenous and non-indigenous groups or individuals would be affected by this movement. Through examining these points, I will discuss the social and political meaning of being recognized by the state or the federal government as an indigenous group in the contemporary U.S.

Paper short abstract:

Examining a legal battle over land rights and contemporary residential practices of the San in Central Kalahari, this paper discusses dilemmas and possibilities of indigenous land claims of mobile foraging communities in Africa.

Paper long abstract:

A growing number of marginalized groups in Africa recently began to use the term 'indigenous' to describe their situation, in attempts to draw international attention to the reality that dominant African groups and post-colonial African states have also been repressed these groups. The San known as nomadic hunter-gatherers of Southern Africa have also been involved in this global indigenous peoples' movement, and become one of the best-known "indigenous peoples" of Africa.

In 2006, Central Kalahari San were allowed to return to their lands in a game reserve, after a long legal battle that followed the relocation of the 1997. They have been displaced and impoverished for long time, and successfully acquired land rights with the support of the global indigenous peoples' movement. However many challenges are still remaining. In particular, current legal and institutional frameworks of land rights are inconvenient for the San communities where the mobility and flexibility of land use play important role for the social life.

Examining the legal battle over land rights and the contemporary residential practices of the Central Kalahari San, this paper discusses dilemmas and possibilities of indigenous land claims of mobile foraging communities in Africa.

Paper short abstract:

This article investigates the historical processes through which the concept of indigeneity gained state recognition in the Philippines and analyzes the making of the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) and the contestation it generates.

Paper long abstract:

The concept of indigeneity has strong historical connections with settler colonialism. However, it receives state recognition in the Philippines in the late 1980s even though the country is not a former settler colony. The success of local land rights movement in drawing discourses from the burgeoning development of global indigenism or indigenous transnationalism has contributed to bringing about such recognition. This article investigates the historical processes through which the concept of indigeneity gained state recognition in the Philippines and analyzes the making of the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA) and the contestation it generates. The challenge of the IPRA's constitutionality in the Supreme Court has resulted in the diminishment of indigenous peoples' rights to natural resources within their traditional territory. In my fieldsite, the Bugkalot (Ilongot) were awarded the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) in 2006, but their attempt in using the IPRA and the CADT as weapons against hydro-electronic dam and gold mining projects achieve little success. Conflicting state mandates and inadequate capacity in state institutions have produced dispossessory effects despite the existence of legal institutions that were designed to protect indigenous land rights.