Indigenous Politics

From the nineteenth century to the present day, external peoples, companies, and governments have perpetrated disrespectful attitudes and behaviours toward Amazonian Originary Peoples. In response, Originary Peoples have increasingly adopted their own protocols of respectful interactions with external actors. However, research on the development and implementation of intercultural understandings of “respect” in pluri-cultural interactions has been scarce. Drawing on findings from collaborative research in the Peruvian Amazon, this article explores how Asheninka and Yine perspectives and practices of “respect” inform and could transform euro-centric conceptions and hegemonic consultation processes based on “mutual respect,” proposing instead a practice of “intercultural respect.” The study was initiated at the invitation of Asheninka and Yine community members themselves. Long-term relationships catalysed an invitation to co-design a community-based collective endeavour, which began in 2015. The discussion and findings presented in this article are part of a larger project that attempts to portray how Asheninka and Yine collaborating communities want to be respected under their own terms. This collaborative work proposes: 1. An Originary methodology; 2. A paradigm-encounter frame; and 3. Ten principles to guide “intercultural respect” for the Peruvian Amazon.

Federally-recognized tribes must adapt to many ecological challenges arising from climate change, from the effects of glacier retreat on the habitats of culturally significant species to how sea level rise forces human communities to relocate. The governmental and social institutions supporting tribes in adapting to climate change are often constrained by political obstructions, raising concerns about justice. Beyond typical uses of justice, which call attention to violations of formal rights or to considerations about the degree to which some populations may have caused anthropogenic climate change, a justice framework should guide how leaders, scientists and professionals of all heritages and who work with or for federally-recognized tribes understand what actions are morally essential for supporting tribes’ adaptation efforts. This paper motivates a shift to a forward-looking framework of justice. The framework situates justice within the systems of responsibilities that matter to tribes and many others, which range from webs of inter-species relationships to government-to-government partnerships. Justice is achieved when these systems of responsibilities operate in ways that support the continued flourishing of tribal communities.

In this essay, I provide a brief overview of the Hawaiian independence movement and discuss resurgences of independence discourse among activists, artists and other grassroots Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian people). My focus is on articulations of Hawaiian national identity in official testimonies and in contemporary Hawaiian-produced music. Testimonies at a series of hearings on federal recognition, held by the U.S. Department of Interior in Hawaiʻi in 2014, are read alongside Kanaka hip hop music expressing identification with and support for the Hawaiian sovereignty. I am interested in the ways contemporary Hawaiian independentists hold a resurgence of the common people together with the assertion of
ongoing Hawaiian Kingdom sovereignty, perhaps creating space for imagining more horizontal ways to practice independent Hawaiian governance. The article opens with a brief summary of Hawaiian political history from 1810 onward, to provide context for the ways that the contemporary political actors discussed are explicitly connecting to a recent history of internationally recognized Hawaiian national independence, and an even deeper legacy of ‘Ōiwi cultural practice, as means to asserting independent futures.

The Sámi have long desired a public process to examine and expose the Nordic states' colonial, assimilationist practices and policies, past and present, toward the Sámi people. This article considers the truth and reconciliation process in Finland, assessing it in light of recent legislative and other measures. Employing settler colonial theory, it argues that reconciliation, although seemingly progressive, signifies a continuation of colonialism unless the state terminates its current approach of overlooking Sámi rights. The article concludes with a discussion of structural reconciliation and justice and considers some concrete measures for structural change in order for the reconciliation process to be valid and successful in Finland.

"This project involved several components: a review of the national and international literature in regard to the transition to school; an analysis of quantitative data, and consultations with a range of key stakeholders including a series of case study visits to different kinds of prior-to-school education settings. The objective of these research elements was to ensure the reports and guidelines developed through the project are well grounded in practice".
The project also involved visits to a range of settings where Aboriginal children were transitioning into school that were recommended as best practice by the state and territory based education departments. These are written up as case studies within the report.

Dr. Hugh Brody (29th October, 2013) - The other side of Eden. The Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness Salon, The Institute of Ecotechnics, October Gallery, Bloomsbury, London. (Host)

For tens of thousands of years, over 90% of our life as humans, we lived as hunter-gatherers. Since the rise of agriculture and city-dwelling, this way of life has been devastated and marginalized. As our own way of life faces mounting challenges, studying foraging cultures provides precious perspective - and further highlights the importance of helping living foragers reclaim and defend their land and culture. Tonight, renowned anthropologist and filmmaker Hugh Brody will discuss his 40-year career studying, living with, and fighting for hunter-gatherer peoples, and how these cultures raise huge issues relevant to us all.

This article argues that the (Western-oriented) right to religion has been proven inadequate in protecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights. It recognizes that this is partly because of the distinctive characteristics of Indigenous religions, which differ from other dominant religions, but also because of the way in which religion has been used by colonialism with dramatic effects on Indigenous Peoples and their beliefs, spiritualities, and worldviews. The article focuses on Latin America to argue further that in addition to colonialism, the early Constitutions also attacked Indigenous religions. As Indigenous rights are more acknowledged in Latin America, we take this region as an excellent, albeit painful, example of how Indigenous religions have been pushed aside even in the most positive contexts. The article uses the constitutional and legal arrangements in Latin American states, mainly Ecuador and Bolivia, to critically assess the protection that these favorable to Indigenous People...

Available now from UBC Press and the University of Washington Press
*Awarded the 2019 Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences Canada Prize
*Award the 2018 Canadian Studies Book Prize
*Short-listed for the 2019 Wilson Prize in Canadian History

Lacrosse has been a central element of Indigenous cultures for centuries, but once non-Indigenous players entered the sport, it became a site of appropriation – then reclamation – of Indigenous identities. The Creator’s Game focuses on the history of lacrosse in Indigenous communities from the 1860s to the 1990s, exploring Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations and Indigenous identity formation. While the game was being appropriated in the process of constructing a new identity for the nation-state of Canada, it was also being used by Indigenous peoples to resist residential school experiences, initiate pan-Indigenous political mobilization, and articulate Indigenous sovereignty. This engaging and innovative book provides a unique view of Indigenous self-determination and nationhood in the face of settler-colonialism.

The Creator’s Game will be of interest to scholars and students of Canadian history, Indigenous studies, political science, sociology, and sports history.

"Comunitaria, interculturale, bilingue, specifica e differenziata", se-condo il documento ministeriale "Diretrizes para a politica nacional de educação escolar indígena" sono queste le caratteristiche fondamentali che devono contraddistinguere ogni scuola indigena brasiliana. Con questo documento del 1993 il Ministero dell'Istruzione indica alle Secretarias de Educação dei singoli Stati della federazione, quali sa-ranno le linee da seguire per implementare programmi di educazione in-digena differenziata. In Brasile, infatti, nel 1991 la responsabilità di svi-luppare progetti educativi in contesto indigeno passa dalla FUNAI (Fundação Nacional do Índio), organo che si occupa della realizzazione delle politiche indigeniste del governo federale, alle Secretarias de Educação, i massimi organi a livello statale preposti alla realizzazione del-le politiche educative federali. Nello Stato del Minas Gerais nel 1995 si inizia a pianificare un progetto educativo destinato ai quattro gruppi in-digeni dello Stato, riconosciuti ufficialmente: krenak, maxakalì, pataxò e xacriabá. All'interno del progetto viene anche costituito il Magisterio indigena , un corso di formazione per i maestri indigeni che dovranno in-segnare nelle nuove scuole, nelle quali ci si propone di attivare le classi relative ai primi quattro anni dell'insegnamento basico. Qui c'interesseremo soprattutto alla riserva Xacriabá , dove il progetto ha mosso i suoi primi passi nel 1997, quando effettivamente è iniziata l'attività didattica.

Х. Сальмон Индейцы в новой конституции Многонационального государства 211 Х. Сальмон 1 J. Salmón Индейцы в новой конституции Боливии. Indigenous presence in Bolivia's new Constitution Аннотация: С принятием новой конституции Многонационального госу-дарства Боливии, вступившей в силу в 2009 г., правительство Эво Мора-леса осуществило радикальные преобразования в стране. Она стала ре-зультатом общественных конфликтов в Боливии. Главной переменой бы-ли созыв Учредительного собрания и написание новой конституции при участии индейцев. Данная статья имеет целью рассмотреть два основных конфликта как исходящих из текста конституции, так и отражающих об-щественные противоречия: историческую точку зрения индейцев и труд-ность формирования единого национального субъекта, коллективного «мы» (народа), роли государства в унификации институций и в создании новых. Ключевые слова: Конституция Боливии 2009 г., индейская общественная мысль, Альваро Гарсия Линера, роль государства, Учредительное собра-ние. Abstract: With the approval of Bolivia (Plurinational State of)'s Constitution of 2009 the new government of Evo Morales brought radical changes to the country and at the same time it was the product of many conflicts in Bolivian society. The major change was the establishment of a Constituent Assembly and the writing of the new Constitution with indigenous participation. This paper tries to look at two basic conflicts inherent in the Constitution as a text and as a reflection of social antagonisms: the historical indigenous point of view and the difficulty of forming a common subject, a "we" [the people] and the role of the State as a unifying institution and at the same time as an entity in the making.

Hvilke konsekvenser har 70 dr med sovjetiske reformer hatt for de russiske samenes etnopolitiske organisering etter 1989? F0rste del av denne artikkelen tar for seg utviklingen av de russiske samenes etnopolitiske organisasjoner og lederskap pa 1990-tallet. I andre del belyses sammenhengen mellom dennepostsovjetiske utviklingen og politikken i sovjettiden.

Desde o início da colonização, o trabalho compulsório dos indígenas esteve entre as questões mais debatidas na Espanha e em suas possessões americanas. Nos anos finais do século XVI, os repartimientos, instituição de recrutamento de mão-de-obra nativa, estiveram sob o julgamento de franciscanos e jesuítas. Teólogos dessas duas ordens religiosas foram chamados a dar seus pareceres a respeito da licitude e legitimidade do repartimiento no México. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar e confrontar as duas visões sobre aquela instituição, avaliando e enumerando os seus respectivos argumentos.

Depuis le début de la colonisation, le travail forcé des indigènes a été largement discuté en Espagne et ses possessions américaines. Dans les dernières années du XVIe siècle, les repartimientos, institution de recruter la main-d’oeuvre indigène, ont été examiné et jugés par les jésuites et franciscains. Les théologiens de ces deux ordres religieux ont été invités à donner leurs avis sur la légalité et la légitimité des repartimientos dans le Mexique. L’objectif de cet article est d’analyser et de comparer les deux points de vue sur cette institution, en train d’évaluer et d’énumérer leurs arguments respectifs.

Some Brazilian military voices have recently turned to condemn indigenous lands in Amazonia as a threat to national sovereignty. Under this manifestation (actually, a rhetorical attack to indigenous rights established by a large indigenist tradition), military criticism try to discredit the State indigenist politics as a whole. This article appreciates both the anachronism of these critics regarding the large Brazilian indigenist legal tradition and their affiliation with a more recent authoritarian tradition; but it also observes how discursive elements of this last one (the authoritarian tradition) face the new debate about social regulation, regarding the notion of difference and the meaning of collective rights concerned to it.

Modern ethnic processes in different groups of Enets occur, depending on the specific ethno-demographic situation. In the northern (tundra) group of weak processes of cross-breeding with Caucasians, but actively mixing with the Nenets. The southern group is dominated by Russian, and in the northern Nenets. In the northern group, Mixed Enets-Nenets Nenets population gradually fixed identity. certain "ethnic balance" observed in the south. Natural population growth more noticeable in the southern group, as there are more Caucasoid Métis, who are more likely than the Nenets, Enets people define themselves as Enets. For example, we are seeing the results of Enets passive adaptation of the ethnic group. Enets, long time to adapt to changes in the cultural and natural environment, have come under the influence of numerous and more capable of adapting Nenets ethnos. As a result, Enets lost many members of their own ethnic culture. In the future, we can predict the complete dissolution of the tundra Enets groups among neighboring peoples and the preservation of a formal identity among Enets Forest Enets group.

The only account of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by somebody who was actually on board. Robie was on board as a journalist for 11 weeks leading up to the sabotage by French secret agents. His media coverage of the Rainbow Warrior affair led to Robie being awarded the New Zealand Media Peace Prize. More than 60 photographs (mostly by the author), cartoons and other illustrations.

Nested Federalism and Inuit Governance in the Canadian Arctic traces the political journey toward self-governance taken by three predominantly Inuit regions over the past forty years: Nunavik in northern Québec, the Inuvialuit Settlement Region in the western Northwest Territories, and Nunatsiavut in northern Labrador. The Canadian federal system was never designed to recognize Indigenous governance, and it has resisted formal institutional change. But change has come. Indigenous communities have successfully mobilized to negotiate the creation of self-governing regions. Policymakers and politicians have responded by situating almost all these regions politically and institutionally within existing constituent units of the Canadian federation. The varied governance arrangements emerging as a result are forms of nested federalism, a new and largely unexplored model of government that is transforming Canada as it reformulates the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the state. ...

Why is it that Chief Joseph Brant, one of the key indigenous North American leaders, is fondly remembered in Canada, but largely forgotten or dismissed in the United States?  How did his strong Anglican heritage shape his leadership?  How did Brant face betrayal and setback in his life?  What can we learn from his life?  Would Canada still exist without his contribution?

"This book provides the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of the factors that explain both completed and incomplete treaty negotiations between Aboriginal groups and the federal, provincial, and territorial governments of Canada. Since 1973, groups that have never signed treaties with the Crown have been invited to negotiate what the government calls “comprehensive land claims agreements,” otherwise known as modern treaties, which formally transfer jurisdiction, ownership, and title over selected lands to Aboriginal signatories. Despite their importance, not all groups have completed such agreements – a situation that is problematic not only for governments but for Aboriginal groups interested in rebuilding their communities and economies.

Using in-depth interviews with Indigenous, federal, provincial, and territorial officials, Christopher Alcantara compares the experiences of four Aboriginal groups: the Kwanlin Dün First Nation (with a completed treaty) and the Kaska Nations (with incomplete negotiations) in Yukon Territory, and the Inuit (completed) and Innu (incomplete) in Newfoundland and Labrador. Based on the experiences of these groups, Alcantara argues that scholars and policymakers need to pay greater attention to the institutional framework governing treaty negotiations and, most importantly, to the active role that Aboriginal groups play in these processes."

Manu National Park was founded in 1973 on a profound contradiction: the “untouchable” core area is in fact the homeland of a large Amerindian population, including the Matsigenka (Machiguenga). Some view the Westernization of native communities living in protected areas as a threat to biodiversity conservation and suggest that such populations should be enticed to resettle outside parks. Here, we present an overview of the indigenous populations of Manu, outline the history of the park and its anthropological policies, and discuss evolving park-Matsigenka conflicts as well as areas of common interest. Analysis reveals that resettlement has no political, legal, or practical viability. Thus, given the options available, we propose that long-term biodiversity conservation can best be achieved through a ‘tenure for defense’ trade: indigenous communities receive explicit benefits (direct and indirect) in exchange for helping to defend the park against incursion and managing vulnerable resources such as game animals.

UN bodies have increasingly emphasized the need to improve the political participation of indigenous peoples. This book proposes a composite right to political participation of indigenous peoples, identifies its recognition in international law, and explores its application in two – apparently divergent but substantially more similar than expected – case studies in Latin America: Bolivia and Chile. The core sources of international law, including the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, serve as the main sources for the recognition of this right. This analysis ultimately integrates the non-(strictly)-legally binding outcomes of international organizations, the writings of publicists, and the scholarly literature of other disciplines (political science, sociology, and anthropology).
For the two case studies, it covers a period of approximately ten years (2005-2015), and assesses the national legislation and their implementation, as well as the domestic jurisprudence.

Ten years ago, Scott Wallace electrified the world with his groundbreaking story in National Geographic that revealed the ongoing presence of uncontacted indigenous tribes in the deepest recesses of the Amazon rainforest.

Now, in his bestselling book, THE UNCONQUERED, Wallace tells the extraordinary story his journey with a Brazilian government expedition into the deep Amazon to track the mysterious "Arrow People" -- one of the planet's last uncontacted tribes. Laced with lessons from anthropology and the convulsed history of colonization of the New World, THE UNCONQUERED reveals this critical battleground in startlingly new light, all wrapped in a page-turning tale of adventure.

Las actuales politizaciones indígenas en el Perú y Bolivia, más allá de su proyecto de recuperación cultural, obedecen fundamentalmente a las pautas de una incorporación al espacio público moderno. En rigor, de política indígena se trata. Los autores indagan el difícil tema de las categorías identitarias, argumentan que el nacer de una auténtica política indígena no legitima en absoluto una etnicización del análisis y subrayan cómo su auge ha producido un nuevo tipo de dirigente. Si al decir de Henri Favre, con la república “el indio se convirtió en ciudadano y cesó de existir”, digamos que actualmente el indígena volvió a existir para ser plenamente ciudadano.

Au-delà même d’un projet de réappropriation culturelle, la politisation actuelle des Indigènes au Pérou et en Bolivie présente toutes les caractéristiques d’une incorporation à l’espace public moderne. Au sens strict, il s’agit bien de politique indigène. Les auteurs de cet ouvrage explorent le thème difficile des catégories identitaires. Ils défendent l’idée que la naissance d’une authentique politique indigène ne légitime en rien une ethnicisation de l’analyse. Ils soulignent enfin comment le développement de celle-là a engendré un nouveau type de dirigeant. Si, aux dires d’Henri Favre, avec la république « l’Indien devient donc un citoyen et cesse d’exister », il faut admettre qu’aujourd’hui l’Indien a recommencé d’exister pour être pleinement citoyen.

Palabras clave: Población indígena ; Participación política ; Multiculturalismo ; Liderazgo indígena ; Bolivia ; Perú.

Mots clefs: Populations amérindiennes ; Participation politique ; Multiculturalisme ; Leadership indigène ; Bolivie ; Pérou

The Creator's Game returns to a classic political question in colonial contexts: What forms of resistance and life meet material and symbolic theft and trickery in "new lands"? The book's anchoring in the philosophy, practice and economy of lacrosse offers an extensive account of an answer: by foregrounding Indigenous organizing and resurgence in Canada from the nineteenth century to the near present, the book extends its analysis beyond an account of state power or formation. Downey begins this history with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) creation story as retold by Delmor Jacobs of Six Nations of the Grand River. With this ancient narrative and theory of origins, we encounter a woman generating life, the cooperation and autonomy of animals , the axis of good and bad ("good twin / evil twin")-what some might see as some of the standard fare found in creation stories across the globe. But within this story of life, we also find something unique: sport. Known as the Creator's Game, lacrosse was brought from the Sky World to the earth by the first woman, Sky Woman, who introduced it to her grandchildren (the aforementioned twins) to resolve conflict (7). Jacobs explains that lacrosse, originally a stick-ball game, required that hands not touch the ball. Lacrosse sticks were made from spiritually loaded trees and tied to the spiritual, familial and political life of the sky and earth worlds (167, 191). As the twins staged one of their most dramatic conflicts through this game, it is considered a mode of resolution so powerful that it can guarantee life beyond the earthly world to the ancestors in the Sky World (11). With that, Downey sets the tone for all that follows: the political life of this practice; its deep metaphysical, medicinal and political purpose; its repackaging as "sport"; and its appropriation by Canada as a national sport, which is then rebranded as a symbol of white masculinity and civilization and used as a tool of assimilation for Indian students in residential schools. Downey draws from multiple sources to tell this story. He augments his work in the archives with oral histories and his rendering of an imagined present, introducing his readers to both himself as the book's author and to a trickster figure, "Usdas," who acts throughout the book to cue in readers to the location and timeframe of each chapter as well as the key organizing issue or conflict to follow. This playful figure, in Downey's hands, is also suggestive of trickery-of colonial deception and wrongdoing and of Indigenous responses to that wrongdoing. Not only was an Indigenous sport taken out of its context and then claimed as the "national sport" of Canada, Indigenous peoples were limited from play in 1867 and then barred entirely from competition in 1880 (43). This racialized and colonial exclusion was justified first by arguments that Indigenous peoples were perceived to be professionals and thus had an unfair advantage in a sport that was to be played by amateurs and then by arguments that they were too rough, that they played an "Indian style of the game" that was too savage, disordered and "ungentlemanly" (80). In spite of this ban, Indigenous players participated in exhibition games, including spectacular displays for white consumption during a visit to Queen

The early ethnological works of Alfred Métraux are analysed bearing in mind his first fieldwork trip to the Chiriguano, in 1929. The paper discusses personal, academic and professional features of Métraux’s ethnological experience, the nature of the 1929 trip and his concrete relationships with the Chiriguano groups and individuals. Next, we analyse his ideas on material culture as a privileged means of understanding the synthesis of Andean, Chaco and Amazonian cultural influences. Finally, the dilemmas and limitations of his analytical approach regarding Créole cultural influence and social and cultural change are discussed. [Key words: Alfred Métraux, Chané, Chiriguano, material culture, change.]
Se analiza la etnología temprana de Alfred Métraux a la luz de su primer viaje de campo a los chiriguanos, en 1929. Se discute el perfil personal, académico y profesional de Métraux, las peculiaridades de su trabajo de campo en 1929 y sus relaciones concretas con los indígenas chiriguanos en el terreno. Se examinan luego sus ideas sobre la cultura material como campo experimental privilegiado para rastrear procesos de síntesis de influencias culturales andinas, chaqueñas y amazónicas, así también sus dilemas y límites a la hora de interpretar el factor de la influencia criolla y el proceso de cambio social y cultural en un sentido amplio. [Palabras clave: Alfred Métraux, Chané, Chiriguano, cultura material, cambio.]

Chapter presents an overview of the oral history work carried out in 1992 and 1993 with Gwichya Gwich'in Elders living in Tsiigehtchic (Arctic Red River), N.W.T.  Includes discussion of methodology used, the different types of place names and the insight they provide in regards to Gwich'in culture, knowledge and relationship to the land, the importance of the project to the Elders and the current uses of this information by the Gwich'in Tribal Council and a newly created Gwich'in Social and Cultural Institute.

"Sametinget welcomes the visit of Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz to Sápmi  this August 2015 in her examination of the current status of the Indigenous Rights of the Sami People residing in Sápmi and Sweden.

Sápmi is the traditional territory of the Sami People currently politically and territorially divided by the borders of the Nation-States of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. In preparation for Ms. Tauli-Corpuz’s visit, this Report provides some follow-up and additional information concerning both new developments and issues addressed and not addressed in conjunction with the previous visit (2010) to Sápmi and Sweden of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Mr. James Anaya, and his concluding Report to the Human Rights Council of the status of the Sami People in Sweden, Finland and Norway produced in 2011 . In addition to any other materials and submissions she receives from other institutions, groups and persons, Ms. Tauli-Corpuz will receive in-person input regarding the status of the Sami People during her visit to Sápmi in late August 2015 during pre-arranged, interactive dialogues with State and Sami representatives and speakers as well as local visits to specific Sami areas with a highlighting of specific issues the Sami People are facing in the context of Indigenous Rights, among other activities..."

https://www.sametinget.se/92639

Academic Reference:

Zuckermann, Ghil'ad & Monaghan, Paul (2012). "Revival linguistics and the new media: Talknology in the service of the Barngarla language reclamation", pp. 119-126 of Foundation for Endangered Languages XVI Conference: Language Endangerment in the 21st Century:Globalisation, Technology & New Media. Auckland, New Zealand.

------------------------------


Revival Linguistics and the New Media:
Talknology in the service of the Barngarla Language Reclamation


Ghil‘ad Zuckermann

Chair of Linguistics and Endangered Languages
School of Humanities, University of Adelaide, SA Adelaide 5005, Australia
[ghilad.zuckermann@adelaide.edu.au]


Paul Monaghan

Mobile Language Team
School of Humanities, University of Adelaide, SA Adelaide 5005, Australia
[paul.monaghan@adelaide.edu.au]


Abstract

Revival Linguistics is a new branch of linguistics, currently being established at Adelaide. It analyses comparatively and systematically the universal constraints and global mechanisms on the one hand (see Zuckermann 2009), and local peculiarities on the other hand, apparent in revival attempts across various sociological backgrounds, all over the world (see Zuckermann & Walsh 2011). A branch of both linguistics and applied linguistics, it combines scientific studies of native language acquisition and foreign language learning (language reclamation is the most extreme case of Second Language Learning).

The study: The Barngarla language (spelled Parnkalla by Schürmann 1844) is a no-longer spoken Thura-Yura Pama-Nyungan Aboriginal language of the Lakes Cultural Region of South Australia. Most recently Zuckermann, Monaghan and the Barngarla community have launched a reclamation of this sleeping beauty in three major rural/urban centres on the Eyre Peninsula, namely Port Lincoln, Whyalla, and Port Augusta. The presence of three Barngarla populations several hours drive apart presents the revival linguist with a need for a sophisticated reclamation involving ‘talknological’ innovations, such as online chatting, newsgroups, photo and resource sharing through a Barngarla wiki. This paper also examines the tensions accompanying the creation of a Barngarla ‘community of practice’ (cf. Wenger 1998) in a post-traditional Aboriginal context. In important ways, the new talknology poses a direct challenge to existing authority structures relating to the everyday management of knowledge, collaboration and participation. We predict that how the broader Barngarla community negotiates these issues will have an important bearing on the ultimate results of the reclamation project.




Revival Linguistics

Revival Linguistics is a new branch of linguistics, currently being established at Adelaide. It analyses comparatively and systematically the universal constraints and global mechanisms on the one hand (see Zuckermann 2009), and local peculiarities and idiosyncrasies on the other hand, apparent in revival attempts across various sociological backgrounds, all over the world (Zuckermann & Walsh 2011). A branch of both linguistics and applied linguistics, it combines scientific studies of native language acquisition and foreign language learning (language reclamation is the most extreme case of Second Language Learning).

Revival Linguistics complements the established field of documentary linguistics, which records endangered languages before they fall asleep. Revival Linguistics ought to revise the fields of grammaticography (writing grammars) and lexicography (writing dictionaries): Grammars and dictionaries ought to be written for language reclamation, i.e. in a user-friendly way, for communities, not only for linguists. For example, juxtapose Lutheran missionary Clamor Wilhelm Schürmann’s 1844 spelling of the Barngarla word nunyara ‘recovery’, which ignores the English environment, thus resulting in the pronunciation nanYAra rather than NOONyara.

Closely related to contact linguistics, Revival Linguistics changes the field of historical linguistics, e.g. by weakening the Family Tree model, which implies that a language ought to have only one parent. Assisting Aboriginal communities in a realistic, non-purisitic way, without selling them myths, Revival Linguistics promotes efficiency and efficacy in language reclamation.

Certainly Australia has been made the ‘Unlucky Country’ through the historical processes of linguicide (language killing) and glottophagy (language eating). These twin forces were in operation from the early colonial period. In her detailed study of the role missionary language practices in the early years of the South Australian colony, Scrimgeour quotes the following colonial language ideology: ‘Mr Forster afterwards adverted to the present mode of teaching the children in their own language. He, with all respect to the Missionaries, would say, on several grounds, that this was wrong. The natives would be sooner civilized if their language was extinct. The children taught would afterwards mix only with whites, where their own language would be of no use – the use of their language would preserve their prejudices and debasement, and their language was not sufficient to express the ideas of civilized life.  He gave the Missionaries full credit for their talents and zeal, but he thought it would be better to teach the children in English’ (from Report on a public meeting of the South Australian Missionary Society in aid of the German Mission to the Aborigines, Southern Australian, 8 September 1843; Scrimgeour, 2007: 116, italics added).

In the case of glottophagy, Governor George Grey noted: ‘The merchant in London who lays on a vessel for a certain port, regards the affair as a mere mercantile speculation, but could he trace out the results he effects in their remotest ramifications, he would stand astonished at the changes he produces.  With the wizard wand of commerce, he touches a lone and trackless forest, and at his bidding, cities arise, and the hum and dust of trade collect – away are swept ancient races; antique laws and customs moulder into oblivion.  The strong-holds of murder and superstition are cleansed, and the Gospel is preached amongst ignorant and savage men. The ruder languages disappear successively, and the tongue of England alone is heard around’ (Grey 1841: 200-201, italics added). Grey was a strong supporter of Aboriginal languages, encouraging Schürmann’s work documenting the Adelaide language (Kaurna) and Barngarla at Port Lincoln (see below).

With globalization, homogenization and Coca-colonization there will be more and more groups all over the world added to the forlorn club of the lost-heritage peoples. Language reclamation will become increasingly relevant as people seek to recover their cultural autonomy, empower their spiritual and intellectual sovereignty, and improve their wellbeing. There are various ethical, aesthetic and utilitarian benefits of language revival: for example, social justice, diversity and employability, respectively.

Zuckermann (2012) has enthusiastically called for Native Tongue Title and linguistic human rights, suggesting that the Australian government ought to compensate Indigenous people not only for the loss of land but equally importantly for the loss of language. Zuckermann has suggested to the Australian government to define Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander vernaculars as official languages.

Furthermore, it is predicted that in the future the very insights offered by Revival Linguistics will themselves become part of Indigenous Intellectual Property, when Slovenes and Estonians come to Australia and New Zealand to ask Aboriginal Australians and Maori to assist them in their own European language resurrection.

There is an urgent need to produce perspicacious LINGUISTIC and socio-linguistic insights relevant to language reclamation. Otherwise, linguists or language workers would not be able to offer, if asked by Indigenous people, efficient and efficacious advice. There are linguistic constraints applicable to all revival attempts. Mastering them would help revivalists and First Nations leaders to work more efficiently; for example, to focus more on basic vocabulary and verbal conjugations than on sounds and word order – see Zuckermann (2009: http://www.zuckermann.org/pdf/Hybridity_versus_Revivability.pdf.

Revival linguistics would assist revivalists to be more realistic and to abandon discouraging slogans such as "Give us authenticity or give us death!" The following are among the basic principles that the revival linguist encourages in Aboriginal communities:

i. If your language falls asleep: stop, revive, survive!
ii. If you revive a language, embrace the hybridity of the emerging tongue; and
iii. If your language is healthy, assist others in linguistic need.

One day we may invent devices to “inject” a language into our brains. But until then, any attempt to reclaim a hibernating language will result in a hybrid that combines components from the revivalists' and documenters' mother tongues and, of course, the target language. In the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld: "Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

The Study


Figure 1: Map of Traditional Aboriginal Country after Norman Tindale (adapted from Hercus 1999)

The Barngarla language reclamation project has arisen through partnerships between the University of Adelaide (Linguistics and the Mobile Language Team) and the Barngarla people. Although still in its infancy, consultations began in September 2011, a number of very significant steps have been made towards reclaiming this ‘sleeping beauty’. Without doubt, the key challenge has been to develop a strategy for the reclamation of the language simultaneously and without favour in three major regional centres. In ways that will be elaborated below, this multi-sited, regional or peripheral reclamation makes demands that are very different to those often found in metropolitan reclamation contexts (e.g. Kaurna, cf. Amery...

Townsend Middleton's The Demands of Recognition is an invitation to think through the everyday dilemmas of ethnic minorities as well as the state anthropologists who certify them as 'scheduled tribes' in contemporary India. Through an extended case study of Nepali-speaking groups that are collectively known as 'Gorkhas', Middleton shows how late liberal governmentality and what he calls the 'ethno-contemporary' make and remake each other. As the postcolonial state has devised affirmative action policies to redress the historical disadvantages of socially marginalized groups, a new kind of 'ethnopolitics' has emerged to claim the loaves and fishes offered by the state. In turn, this new ethnopolitics has compelled the state to rethink its classificatory schemas and mechanisms in order to decide which groups ought to be considered as 'tribes', and hence, merit affirmative action. In most cases, the primary aim of ethnopolitics in contemporary India is to enter official lists or 'schedules' that record castes and tribes as well as other groups deemed to be 'backward' enough to warrant affirmative action. The situation with the Gorkhas was no different after their demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland went unmet a generation ago. By undertaking a fine-grained ethnographic exploration of the Gorkhas' ethnopolitics and the travails of their interlocutors within the postcolonial ethnographic state, Middleton challenges us to interrogate our received notions of ethnicity and about the place of anthropology in our world.

"All the Real Indians Died Off," a new book by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker, takes aim at what the authors call "myths about Native Americans."  The Authors' Note makes clear they are using the word in its negative sense. They refer to "myths and stereotypes," saying the "narratives behind those myths" are "lies" and "misperceptions." On the other hand, the antidote they offer to the false narratives involves "reclaiming stolen pasts through scholarship, storytelling, relationship building, and acknowledging our ancestry."  "All the Real Indians Died Off" thus posits countering stories with other stories, with one set of stories said to be "a more accurate history." This leaves us with a second definitional question: What do we mean by "history"? "All the Real Indians Died Off" will hit the market in time for this year's debates about celebrating or mourning the arrival of Columbus and his boat people from their ocean-crossing journey to this continent.