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- Convenor:
-
Robin Roth
(University of Guelph)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 27 October, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Panelists highlight lessons from unique Indigenous-University-Conservation partnerships. Collectively, we seek to understand how such partnerships can transform conservation practice away from colonial logics of separation towards Indigenous logics of strengthening relations.
Long Abstract:
State-led conservation has become nearly synonymous with the displacement and marginalization of Indigenous Peoples and can be understood as part of the very fabric of colonialism, used as a means through which colonial and modern states gain and maintain control over Indigenous territory. In Canada, as elsewhere in the world, Indigenous peoples have experienced conservation-induced injustices, including hunting quotas, hunting bans and the establishment of protected areas. This session seeks to bring diverse attempts at decolonial partnerships into conversation with the Conservation through Reconciliation Partnership (CRP), a growing network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, conservation organizations and agencies in Canada formed to help catalyze transformative change in the conservation sector. It seeks to move conservation practice away from colonial logics that separate humans from nature towards Indigenous logics of strengthening relationships between human and nature and cultivating an ethic of reciprocity and mutual care. The conversation will highlight the kinds of organizational change necessary to truly decolonize conservation. The Panel of Indigenous thought leaders, scholars and conservation partners will discuss the range of collaborative projects underway that illustrate ethical partnerships that respectfully draw on multiple knowledge systems and governance systems to instill principles of reciprocity and respect in efforts to transform mainstream conservation. Collectively, the panelists will identify successes, persistent challenges and barriers to decolonizing conservation in Canada.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 27 October, 2021, -Paper short abstract:
Through an interrogation of the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership, a network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, conservation organizations and agencies, this paper outline what decolonial partnerships for conservation might look like and their potential for transformation.
Paper long abstract:
Colonial logics have informed the vision and practice of mainstream conservation and helped shape its practice. State-led protected areas have become nearly synonymous with the displacement and marginalization of Indigenous Peoples and can be understood as part of the very fabric of colonialism, used as a means through which colonial and modern states gain and maintain control over Indigenous territory. Moving away from such logics of separation and disconnection towards logics of connection and re-attachment is what drives a movement supporting Indigenous-led conservation in Canada. Through an interrogation of the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership, a growing network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, conservation organizations and agencies, this paper discusses how the support of Indigenous-led conservation in settler-colonial societies marks a shift towards a potential decolonial conservation practice. Engaging Indigenous scholarship and teachings, we will examine the work of the Partnership, which weaves together research, gatherings, capacity building and education in ethical space, to outline what decolonial partnerships for conservation might look like and argue for their potential to catalyze change in the conservation sector and reconciliation more broadly. We will also identify the persistent challenges and potential barriers to such partnerships.
Paper short abstract:
Decolonizing conservation will require transformational shifts in the approaches, ideas and conceptual frameworks of dominant institutions, organizations, governments and communities. Decolonization of conservation must enable Indigenous systems to function with autonomy (i.e. language and culture, knowledge, decision-making, stewardship, etc.). How can we co-create or support decolonized Indigenous-led conservation?
Paper long abstract:
Decolonizing conservation will require transformational shifts in the approaches, ideas and conceptual frameworks of dominant institutions, organizations, governments and communities. Decolonization of conservation must enable Indigenous systems to function with autonomy (i.e. language and culture, knowledge, decision-making, stewardship, etc.). How can we co-create or support decolonized Indigenous-led conservation? How should we think about our respective roles in achieving such an ideal? A relatively new approach called Ethical Space (Ermine 2007,Crowshoe 2007-2019, Indigenous Circle of Experts 2018). Ethical Space is an invitation for different systems to come together, to encounter and engage with one another, in an innovative relational framework that supports transformational outcomes.
Ethical Space will be described in terms of process and outcome, framed by emergent standards like international law pertaining to Indigenous Peoples, biodiversity and conservation, as well as domestic standards such as the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action. Ethical Space also includes established standards such as law, policy and practice. Ethical Space attempts to create a strengthened leadership role for Indigenous Peoples, strives to achieve implementation of emergent standards /rules of engagement between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Peoples and encourages the advancement of reconciliation.
Works Cited:
Ermine, W. 2007. The Ethical Space of Engagement Indigenous Law Journal 6 (1) 193-203
Crowshoe, R. Elder and Knowledge Keeper, Piikani Nation, Treaty 7, Various Teachings, Presentations and Oral Contributions 2007-2019
Indigenous Circle of Experts Report and Recommendations 2018 We Rise Together: Achieving Pathway to Canada Target 1 through the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas in the spirit and practice of reconciliation Online: https://www.conservation2020canada.ca/home PDF Available at: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57e007452e69cf9a7af0a033/t/5ab94aca6d2a7338ecb1d05e/1522092766605/PA234-ICE_Report_2018_Mar_22_web.pdf
Paper short abstract:
Over the last 13 years Macquarie University ecologists have worked with Aboriginal communities of east Arnhem Land, northern Australia, to develop a suite of cross-cultural ecological research, management and capacity projects for reconciliation in conservation.
Paper long abstract:
Over the last thirteen years the cross-cultural ecology lab based at Macquarie University in Sydney has co-evolved a suite of research, management and capacity building projects with the late Ngandi Elder Mrs C. W. Daniels, the Yirralka Rangers and Aboriginal communities of east Arnhem Land. This long-term collaboration brings together local Indigenous knowledge and Western science to better understand local environmental issues in the eastern Arnhem Land Indigenous Protected Areas and make recommendations for local cross-cultural management and education. Research projects focussed on understanding wetland health, impacts of invasive feral ungulates (mainly buffalo and pig) and biodiversity decline. Recommendations for multifunctional landscape management for feral ungulates and nuanced burning programs that protect culturally significant and government listed threatened species have occurred. Integral to the research is incorporation of local Aboriginal cultural knowledge and local languages and the involvement of Elders and youth in sharing and maintaining traditional knowledge. Support for youth involvement in conservation and leadership was also supported by the development of the Wuyagiba Bush University which offers cross-cultural University courses out bush and a pathway to higher education, filling a 30-year University education gap in southern Arnhem Land. This Reconciliation through Conservation "down under" program has seen many successes and also many challenges which we will discuss in our presentation.
Paper short abstract:
Clint Carroll is Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, he works at the intersections of Indigenous studies, anthropology, and political ecology, with an emphasis on Cherokee land-based resurgence and conservation.
Paper long abstract:
This paper assesses a historic agreement between Buffalo National River (BNR) and the Cherokee Nation regarding the implementation of a federal rule that allows tribes to gather within national parks with which they are traditionally associated. Members of the Cherokee Medicine Keepers lent their expertise on land-based knowledge that provided the basis for such a landmark agreement. Gathering within BNR offers Cherokee people a way to continue our stewardship of plants that are impacted by climate change in eastern Oklahoma, and to reestablish our connection to the park lands as a collective source of traditional sustenance, cultural knowledge, and health.