CLASS LECTURES

A: Key Terms
Ideology: A set of interdependent ideas: values, beliefs,
myths, traditions, cultural symbols. Defend, protect,
rationalize, and legitimize the behaviours and
practices of a group.

Colonialism: Territorial conquest, occupation and

direct control of one country by another; large-scale
settlement. Acquisition of new territories throughout
the world by European powers from 1492-1945.

Imperialism: Wealthy and powerful states control the

political and economic life of other societies. Long
distance commercial ties with or without direct
political ties.

Capitalism: Private ownership and control of the

means of production. Free to sell labor in the market
place. Owners make profit and accumulate capital,
pay low wages to workers, make profit through sale of
the products, 2 classes: bourgeoisie and the proletariat
(capitalist and workers), inequalities, free market
economy, unlimited accumulation of wealth.
Socialism: Opposite to capitalism. No private
ownership and means of production control by the
state, no social class no free market economy. No
private accumulation of wealth.

Politics: Politicians and political parties means to

achieve powers; exercise of powers by politicians in
government and state: activities associated with
governance of a country, regions, municipalities, etc.
Academic studies of politics is called Political science.

Democracy: Rules for free and fair elections with

broad citizens participations and guarantees of
fundamental freedom. Constitution –separation of
powers. Executive, Judiciary, Parliament

Dictatorship: Opposite to democracy. No constitution.

A form of government by a single leader or one party
rule with no toleration of other political parties, no
pluralism.
Religion: is belief system, belief in and worship of
supernatural (superhuman) powers and forces,
Science and religion. Beliefs is specific cultural
construction concerning true or false assumptions
shared by a particular group.

Values: Culturally defined ideas of what is true, right

and beautiful. Desirable or offensive, appropriate or
inappropriate.

World views: An encompassing picture of reality

based on shared cultural assumptions about how
world works. Basic cultural construction of the
members of a society. Mental lenses that are
entrenched ways of perceiving world.
Multiculturalism: Canadian policy in which all
hyphenated cultures, such as …. Described and
celebrated as a part of cultural mosaic contrast with
the ‘cultural melting pot’ image in the U.S.

Segregation: The process and practice of separating

groups on the basis of race or culture. Racial
segregation is systematic physical, social separation of
people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life in
a country, community or establishment. Example:
Apartheid in S. Africa.
Color bar: Informal norm that there are different
rights and responsibilities for people of different skin
color. Dark skin vs. light skin.
Assimilation: Total adoption by a minority group of
the language, general culture and identity of the
dominant group.

Race: Currently defined as biologically based social

construct involving the classification of persons into
hierarchical categories on the basis of real or imagined
characteristics. Race has no empirical validity or
scientific justification ; nevertheless, people continue
to believe it does and act accordingly, thus reinforcing
the sociological axiom that phenomena does not have
to be real to be real in their consequences (Fleras
2007)

Racism: Is belief or ideas that one group is naturally

superior or better than another group. Generally
speaking, racism refers to a relatively complex and
organized set of ideas and ideals (ideology), that assert
or imply natural superiority of one group over another
in terms of entitlement and privileges, together with
the power to put those beliefs into practice in a way
that denies or excludes those who be-long to a
devalued category(Flares, 2007).
Racial Profiling: Discriminatory actions by authorities
towards negatively targeted groups. Targeting of a
group by authorities for perceived crime or actions.

Racial injustice: Discrimination of groups by

authorities based on race, police, justice system and
position of authorities.

Ethnocentrism: Evaluation of other culture from one’s

own point of view. You think that your own culture is
better and superior than other culture or, other
cultures are inferior than yours.

Cultural relativism: Culture is relative. There is no

superior or inferior culture. One must judge or
evaluate other cultures from their point of view.

Prejudice: Pre-judgement. Evaluation other’s

behavior without any facts or foundation.

Slavery: A slave is a human being considered a

private property of another human being. Example:
slavery in the Americas during the European colonial
period.

Genocide/Ethnocide: Large-scale killing. Deliberate

killings with an intention to wipe out or exterminate
one group/ethnic by another group/ ethnic. UN
definition: Article 2 of the UN.

Social justice: Fairness to healthcare, education

employment regardless of race, gender and class.

Environmental justice: Fairness with regard to

environmental laws, regulations irrespective of race,
ethnicity and class

Decolonization/indigenization:
Taking away colonial ideologies and undoing of
colonialism. It is process of deconstructing colonial
ideologies of superiority and privilege of western
thoughts and approaches. It involves dismantling of
structures that perpetuate the status quo and
addressing unbalanced power structure.

Human Rights: All persons have certain inherent and

inalienable rights or entitlements as individuals or a
members of a group. Rights to life, property, freedom
of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of
movement. Examples: ………

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous

Issues (UNPFII): is a high level advisory body to the
UN Economic and Social Council. The Forum was
established on 28 July, 2000 by Resolution 2000/22
with the mandate to deal with indigenous issues
related to economic and social development, culture,
environment, education, health and human rights.

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous

People, 2007:
It is adopted by the General Assembly on Sept. 13,
2007 by a majority of 144 states in favor, 4 against, 11
abstentions.

Indigenous Identities:
DEFINITION: INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS ARE COMPOSED OF THE
EXISTING DESCENDANTS OF THE PEOPLE WHO INHABITED THE PRESENT
TERRITORY OF A COUNTRY AT THE TIME WHEN PERSONS OF DIFFERENT
CULTURE OR ETHNIC ORIGIN ARRIVED THERE FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE
WORLD, OVERCAME THEM AND BY CONQUEST, SETTLEMENT,
COLONIZATION OR OTHER MEANS, REDUCED THEM TO MINORITY STATUS.

---- GENERAL PERCEPTION: UNICIVILIZED, BACKWARD, UNDERDEVELOPED,

PRIMITIVE, SAVAGES, BARBARIANS, UNEDUCATED, POOR AND SO ON.
----- NORTH AMERICA: INDIANS, NATIVES, AMERINDIANS, AUTHOCHTONES,
FOURTH WORLD, FIRST PEOPLES, FIRST NATIONS,
---- SOUTH AMERICA: INDIANS.
------ AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: ABORIGINE
----- SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, AND CHINA:
TRIBAL PEOPLE, SCHEDULE TRIBE, ADIVASI, HILL PEOPLE, NATIONAL
MINORITIES, ETC.
------ ACADEMICS, UN, INTERNATIONAL AID AGENCIES AND INDIGENOUS
ORGANIZATIONS: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, FIRST NATIONS, NATIVE PEOPLES,
STATELESS PEOPLE, HUNTER-GATHERERS, FORAGERS, NON-LITERATE
SOCIETIES, NON-MONETIZED SOCIETIES, SIMPLE SOCIETIES, NOMADS,
MARGINAL SOCIETIES, SUBSISTENCE FARMERS, AND SO ON.

-------- INDIGENOUS PEOPLES THEMSELVES: THEY HAVE THIE OWN NAMES

AND PREFER TO INDENTIFY THEMSELVES IN THAT WAY. FOR EXAMPLE:
MOHAWK, INUIT, DENE, CREE, HURON, ETC.
Patterns of Subsistence:
Food foragers and Food Producers.

Where do the indigenous Peoples live?

Reservations(U.S.A., Canada, Australia), Tropical rainforests,

extreme cold climate (Arctic, N. Russia, N. Scandinavian ), deserts
(M. East, Africa), hills and mountains, Islands, marginal lands.
Why?
Displaced by dominant societies: Colonization, conquest, invasion,
settlement, disease
Now: resource exploitation, mining, forestry oil & gas, roads &
highways, railways, hydro-electricity, population explosion, settlers
migration, and so on

11: RELATIONSHIP TO LAND

Indigenous views:
--Land: Source of all life, a gift from the creator – earth is like
mother—mother earth centre of everything: culture, identity and
origin, and connects them with their past, present and future – idea
of owning land or, belong to someone even left unused, uncared,
uninhabited is foreign to them .
---Land cannot be given away, we belong to the land, land do not
belong to us
--ECOLOGY: all things: plants, insects, animals, skies, mountain,
rivers, rocks, people, etc. are interconnected, interrelated and
interdependent – material and spiritual worlds are interwoven
Non-Indigenous Views of land:
---Ownership: Dominant society : private ownership; land belong to
us; Indigenous: they belong to land: joint, communal and collective
ownership -- usufruct
The Indigenous Knowledge of nature
“Forest is our university”. Indigenous peoples have intimate
knowledge of nature. Especially, knowledge is held by elders and
shamans who pass down knowledge from one generation to the next.
They classify soil, climate, plants, animal species and fish and have
specific names and characteristics that botanists and entomologists
have not yet been able to identify. For example: Humano tribe of the
Philippine identified 1,600 plant species, 400, more than scientist
identified.
Knowledge of medicine: World’s 250,000 – 500,000 plant species,
85% are located in the areas where indigenous people live. 75% of
121 prescription drugs are discovered following the lead of
indigenous peoples’ medicine. Globally indigenous people (IP) use
3,000 types of plants to control fertility of women. Kallaywayas of
Bolivia use 600 medicinal herbs; Southeast Asian IP’s use 6,500
plants for drugs.
There are thousands of examples. Scientists believe that AIDS and
cancer curing medicine may be discovered from IP knowledge.
Indigenous medicine derive from: plants, roots, nuts and different
types of herbal medicine. Medicine also extracted from animal body
parts, fish oil, horn, gall blubber, intestine, snake oil, etc.
Malaria treatment: quinine is a component of the bark of the
Cinchona tree. European learned it in the 17th century Peruvian
Indians.
Extracts from the Madagascaran periwinkle help treatment of
diabetes, childhood leukemia, Hodgkin disease and some other
cancer drugs based on the plant.
Curare, a muscle relaxing drug (anesthesia) used by the surgeon
are made from Chondodendron tree was learned from South
American Indians who used it as arrow poison for hunting birds,
animals, monkeys and other games.
Aspirin, extracted from the bark of the Willow tree learned from
the North American Indian who used it for relief from pain and
fever.
Knowledge of animals: Animals are equals, respect for all living
creatures; Example: The Turkano of Brazil – fish is their main diet
allowed to fish only in the permitted areas – they have detail
knowledge and understanding of animal behavior. – maintain
balance between animal and human population – use animals as
food, shelter, transport, clothing, etc. Cultivation and deforestation
along river banks are forbidden, reserved for fish.
Fruits of the forest: The Kayapo of Brazil have sophisticated forest
management – use forest for gardening, using plants, hunting and
gathering, 250 types of fruits, hundreds of tubers, nuts and leaves,
650 types of medicinal plants.

BIO-PIRACY: Stealing indigenous knowledge of medicine

12 RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Highly durable and sustainable economy: hunting, fishing,
gathering and subsistence farming such as horticulture, slash &
burn/shifting /swidden farming. Allows much leisure time: only
two/three days for work per week – rest of the week days spend in
singing, dancing, story telling, gift giving, visiting each other. They
take only what they need. Economy based on cooperation, not
competition, elaborate system of sharing food, exchange and trading
goods.
We need to learn from them : respect for the earth, conservation of
resources, equitable distribution, harmony, balance and modest
cooperation.
Examples: Potlatch: circulation and redistribution of wealth.
Potlatch of Pacific Northwest Indians, It takes place when anyone
undergoes significant personal change such as puberty, marriage,
accession to chiefdom, death, etc. The idea that all wealth must
circulate. When ritual privileges are publicly transmitted to the next
generation , prestigious objects are given away , accompanied by
feasts, speeches, songs and dancing. Affirming social and political
prerogatives as well as placing obligation on friends, strengthening
kinship ties and village solidarity, ending hostilities and re-establish
good relations. During colonial time, it was considered subversive
and outlawed.

Resource Management in Modern Societies:

Market economy: deplete resources, unsustainable; IP economy:
sustainable and durable.

13. Social Relationships

In IP society, no one person was more important than another –
each person is parts of the whole. Every activity is measured by
contribution, participation and accountability.
Social cohesion, peace, harmony are key for survival of IP because
hunting fishing, gathering and foraging requires, cooperation and
mutual support

Kinship, descent, marriage, household, lineage, clans, tribes and

nations
Definition of Kinship: A culturally defined
relationship established on the basis of blood ties or through
marriage or the network of culturally recognized interpersonal
relations through which individuals are related to one another by
ties of descent or marriage.
Definition of marriage: Marriage is a personal relationship between
a woman and a man/two individuals involving love, exclusive sex,
cohabitation, reproduction and childbearing, and the sharing of the
joys and burdens of life.
IP marriage is integral part of socio-economic, political and
spiritual system.

14: THE SPRIRIT WORLD (RELIGION): Indigenous peoples

belief system
First peoples see existence as a blend of spirits, nature, and people.
Belief in supernatural being.
Animism: Believing that inanimate objects (hills, mountains, stone,
big trees, thunder, volcanoes, earthquakes) birds, animals, (clan and
lineage names), origins or descended from such as animals, or birds)
has supernatural powers, worship them or try to please them or
control them through magic (what is magic?)
Spirits causes sickness or illness to individual or do harm to the
community. Shaman perform ritual , sacrifice animals or apply
magic to control the spirit.
Sorcery: is the performance of rites and spells intended to cause
supernatural forces to harm others.
Witchcraft: is the explanation that people in many societies give for
misfortune.
Mutual aid: Ritual offerings in Bolivia – offerings made to male
mountains, female birth spirit, lightning, lords of the weather, male
and female spirits. Personification of spirits via living and non-
living objects.
Children of the universe: creation for the Hopi Indians – legend of
the creation of earth, water, air, man, women and other living and
non-living objects.
Dreamtime: Ancestors of the Aborigines – stories of how world
created, created land a human female form gave birth to people.
Different creator created different form of life.
Charged with vital energy – Shamanism in Columbia—
intermediary between spirit and human world.
Polytheism, monotheism
Science, religion and magic

15. Problems of Indigenous People