collaboration

Capturing Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Torres Strait

Producer
World Indigenous Network
Year

Protecting and preserving cultural and ecological knowledge for the future is essential. The Torres Strait Regional Authority has recently developed and piloted a traditional knowledge database working with members of the Boigu Prescribed Body Corporate and the Malu Ki'ai Rangers. The database allows communities to record and store important documents, videos, photos, stories, practices, locations, special and sacred sites, areas and tracks, and hunting places among other cultural and natural values.

With the use of technology, communities can ensure knowledge is maintained within a framework for protecting culturally sensitive information. An important objective of the TEK project is to share cultural and ecological knowledge with young people and for future generations to carry on their cultural practices. A collaborative approach to deliver the project involves ranger groups, an external consultant for training and financial support from the Torres Strait Regional Authority.

Ranger groups benefit from the mix of traditional knowledge and western science to manage their land and sea country in a sustainable manner. This presentation will discuss the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Project, its expansion to other interested communities, the lessons learned and the reasons for its success.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

McGrath, Vic & Nelson Gibuma. Capturing Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Torres Strait. World Indigenous Network. Darwin, Australia. May 28, 2013. Video. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkNVvQxLkYc, accessed March 14, 2023)

Economic/Political impact of tribal health programs on/off reservation

Producer
Arizona State University
Year

In Brent D. Simcosky's presentation, "Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe: Tribal Best Practices-Providing Better Healthcare By Thinking Outside the Circle," he discusses the approach Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe developed to provide the best healthcare possible to its citizens despite inadequate resources.  

Stephen Cornell argues that focusing on social determinants of health examines health care at the community level then works toward the individual. For Native nations, factors such as control, efficacy, and self-governance impact the entire community and individual lives; and result in a healthy community. 

Inder Wadhwa presents "Northern Valley Indian Health Inc.: Examples of Positive Impacts and Outcomes of Tribal Health Programs in the Communities." Inder's presentation highlights how North Valley Indian Health Inc.'s has collaborated with various health care centers to service the entire Northern Valley community. 

Native Nations
Citation

Simcosky, Brent D. "Economic/Political impact of tribal health programs on/off reservation." Opportunities and Challenges to Providing Health Care in Indian Country CLE Conference. Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. Arizona State University. Tempe, Arizona. February 27, 2015. Presentation. (http://mediasite.law.asu.edu/media/Play/9daf4296c8724c93b083f45602048e331d, accessed March 25, 2015)

Cornell, Stephen. "Economic/Political impact of tribal health programs on/off reservation." Opportunities and Challenges to Providing Health Care in Indian Country CLE Conference. Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Arizona State University. Tempe, Arizona. February 27, 2015. Presentation. (http://mediasite.law.asu.edu/media/Play/9daf4296c8724c93b083f45602048e331d, accessed March 25, 2015)

Wadhwa, Inder. "Economic/Political impact of tribal health programs on/off reservation." Opportunities and Challenges to Providing Health Care in Indian Country CLE Conference. Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Arizona State University. Tempe, Arizona. February 27, 2015. Presentation. (http://mediasite.law.asu.edu/media/Play/9daf4296c8724c93b083f45602048e331d, accessed March 25, 2015)

The Ngaanyatjarra Lands Telecommunications Project: A Quest for Broadband in the Western Desert

Year

Vast regions in Australia still have limited access to adequate telecommunications. With the rollout of the National Broadband Network underway, remote Indigenous Australia risks being left out, increasing its isolation and widening the ‘digital divide’. In the past, the vast Ngaanyatjarra Lands of south-eastern Western Australia have had one of the poorest levels of telecommunications service in Australia. However, the regional shire, land council and the community media organisation have worked together with the WA Government to address this problem. This effective collaboration led to the Ngaanyatjarra Lands Telecommunications Project (NLTP): a fibre optic network connecting six remote desert communities, a broadband satellite solution to connect the remaining six outer communities and community-wide WiFi in all twelve sites. This article describes the process of creating the NLTP and some of the flow-on benefits for the region and Yarnangu (Ngaanyatjarra people).

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Featherstone, Daniel. "The Ngaanyatjarra Lands Telecommunications Project: A Quest for Broadband in the Western Desert." Telecommunications Journal of Australia. Volume 61. Number 1. 2011. Paper. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289248976_The_Ngaanyatjarra_Lands_Telecommunications_project_A_quest_for_broadband_in_the_Western_Desert, accessed February 12, 2024)

Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State Curriculum

Year

Welcome to “Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State,” a ground-breaking curriculum initiative made possible through federal, state, and tribal funding. This project seeks to build lasting educational partnerships between school districts and their local tribes via elementary, middle, and high school curriculum on tribal sovereignty.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Curriculum. Office of Native Education. Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Olympia, Washington. 2012. Tools. (http://www.indian-ed.org), accessed April 14, 2015)

Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin: Food Sovereignty, Safe Water, and Tribal Law

Year

An example of a Native American community working to achieve food sovereignty not only with physical nutrients but also with social elements is the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin. This article analyzes the strengths of the Oneida Tribe's approach to preserving water quality and fishing habitats.

Tribal governments face a variety of challenges in developing programs to protect access to healthy food and clean water. However, the Oneida Tribe’s struggles and successes will aid other tribes in creating their own culturally-relevant tribal scheme to improve their food security.

The Oneida people have used tribal ordinances to protect their food supply and drinking water. Tribal ordinances are a straightforward approach because they can be implemented by a tribe’s authority and do not rely on federal or state approval. Other approaches such as creating a tribal regulatory agency are possible, but more complex to implement...

Resource Type
Citation

Vesely, Rachel M. "Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin: Food Sovereignty, Safe Water, and Tribal Law." William Mitchell College of Law. Saint Paul, Minnesota. January 2014. Paper. (http://www.northeastern.edu/law/pdfs/academics/phrge-vesely.pdf, accessed January 24, 2014)

Native Organizations: Working Together for Our Common Benefit

Year

On November 14, 2010, 45 people gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the NCAI's Annual Convention to participate in the pre-session: "Native Organizations; Working Together for Our Common Benefit." This twelve-page report outlines the key findings from this meeting - highlighting communications messaging best practices and strategies...

Resource Type
Citation

National Congress of American Indians. "Native Organizations: Working Together for Our Common Benefit." National Congress of American Indians partnered with Pyramid Communications. Washington, D.C. 2010. Paper. (http://www.ncai.org/news/tribal-communicators-resources/Native_Orgs_Work..., accessed January 13, 2014)

Crime-Reduction Best Practices Handbook: Making Indian Communities Safe

Year

In 2009, the Secretary of the Interior and the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs established a High Priority Performance Goal (HPPG) to reduce violent crime by a combined 5% within 24 months on targeted tribal reservations. The selected reservations were Rocky Boy’s (Montana), Mescalero (New Mexico), Wind River (Wyoming), and Standing Rock (North and South Dakota). By the end of 2011, the strategies implemented and practiced by the law enforcement agencies operating on these reservations resulted in a combined reduction of violent crimes by 35%. This handbook is a compilation of the strategies that were instrumental in achieving and surpassing the goal...

Resource Type
Citation

Office of Justice Services. "Crime-Reduction Best Practices Handbook: Making Indian Communities Safe." Office of Justice Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington, DC. 2012. Paper. (http://www.bia.gov/cs/groups/xojs/documents/text/idc-018678.pdf, accessed September 11, 2013)

Community-Led Development

Year

The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept and practice of community-led development. It is an approach to tackling local problems that is taking hold throughout the world. While its expression may vary depending upon the community and the specific area of focus, there are nonetheless some common principles that hold it in place.

"Community" is a broad term that can refer to both physical places and groups of people with common interests or concerns. For the purposes of this discussion, the notion of community is used only in its geographic sense. Community-led development in this paper focuses on initiatives undertaken in physical places, be they neighborhoods, cities or towns, rural or remote regions of the country, or First Nations reserves.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Torjman, Sherri and Anne Makhoul. "Community-Led Development." Report prepared on behalf of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. The Caledon Institute of Social Policy. Ottawa, ON. January 2012. Report. (https://maytree.com/wp-content/uploads/978ENG.pdf, accessed March 29, 2023)

Improving Indigenous community governance through strengthening Indigenous and government organisational capacity

Author
Year

Strengthening the organisational capacity of both Indigenous and government organisations is critical to raising the health, wellbeing and prosperity of Indigenous Australian communities.

Improving the governance processes of Indigenous organisations is likely to require strengthening of Indigenous and government organisational values, goals, structures and arrangements that influence employees' behaviour and wellbeing.

Involvement of Indigenous people in decision-making about their own development is critical...

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Tsey K, McCalman J, Bainbridge R & Brown C. Improving Indigenous community governance through strengthening Indigenous and government organisational capacity. Resource sheet No. 10. Produced for the Closing the Gap Clearinghouse. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare & Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. 2012. Paper. (https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/..., accessed July 21, 2023)

Best Practices Case Study (Respect the Spirit in the Land): Haisla First Nation

Year

The primary residence of the Haisla people is Kitamaat Village, found at the head of the Douglas Channel on British Columbia's north coast. In 1990, elders of the Haisla First Nation found a logging road flagged into the Kitlope Valley -- the largest unlogged coastal temperate rainforest watershed in the world. Six years later, the Huchsduwachsdu Nuyem Jees / Kitlope Heritage Conservancy was designated through the provincial Order-in-Council under the Environment and Land Use Act to protect the cultural and ecological values of the area. The Heritage Conservancy is collaboratively managed by the Haisla First Nation and the Province of B.C. through the Kitlope Management Committee...

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

National Centre for First Nations Governance. "Best Practices Case Study (Respect the Spirit in the Land): Haisla First Nation." A Report for the National Centre for First Nations Governance. The National Centre for First Nations Governance. Canada. June 2009. Case Study. (https://fngovernance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/RSL_Haisla.pdf, accessed March 8, 2023)