Indigenous Studies: Ethno-Ecocide Exam Questions Research

Topic: Indigenous Studies
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Question 2: Ethno-ecocide
Ethno-ecocide refers to a situation whereby social culture is killed. The original people were against the destruction of their cultural heritage. They opposed ethno-ecocide policies and in this way they were asserting their self-determination, and asserted the liberation of diverse interests of their people and nations. Colonization led to over-exploitation of natural resources and lands belonging to the indigenous societies whom depended on such resources. They knew liberation of their natural resources as the liberation of their indigenous people. They had the individual and collective rights to oppose ethnocide policies; they had the right not to be subjected to such policies. In other words, Battiste showed that the original people had the right not to be subjected to any action that aimed to deprive them of their right or integrity as independent people, or their ethnic identities or cultural values; any action that aimed to dispose them their resources, territories, or their lands; any kind of population transfer that had the intention of undermining or violating any of their rights; any kind of integration or assimilation of other way of life or cultures imposed on them by administrative, policies, legislation or other measures; and any kind of propaganda created against them (56).
Ethno-ecocide policies were policies that aimed to deny the original people the right to transmit, develop and enjoy their own culture and their own language, whether individually or collectively. Ethno-ecocide policies were extreme policies that violated human rights and in specific the rights of the original people as an ethnic community to respect and develop their cultural identity (Ford and Rowse 79). Ethno-ecocide was a way of destroying culture (way of life) and thought of the indigenous people. Ethno-ecocide is different from genocide because whereas genocide kills people in their body, ethno-ecocide kills them in their spirit. The first European commitment to colonize aboriginals’ territories and lands through ethno-ecocide policies aimed to ruin indigenous cultures.
The original people remained united to fulfill and honor their Indigenous sovereignty to protect their territories, lands, and resources. They continued opposing all imposed ethno-ecocide policies that originated from the colonials; thus declaring that imposition of such policies as violating their rights. Colonialist activities led to the destruction of the ecosystem of the environment. Such precarious conditions influenced the original people to resist against colonization and to protect their territories and natural resources.
Colonization led to unsustainable exploitation of the indigenous community’s resources. Colonialists mostly discussed issues of how to exploit indigenous resources without consulting with aboriginal leaders for talks. The original people knew that what was being done behind their backs was bad for their interests. They knew that the colonists’ activities would lead to their destruction. They knew that ethno ecocide policies were full of lies and corruption; the policies created lies because they were manipulated by colonists. The indigenous people resisted against harmful environmental and social impact of such policies by working together across their territories (Preston 46). Indigenous resistance to the ethno ecocide policies was vital since such policies negatively impacted heavily on the indigenous people and their resources.
The Aboriginal people maintained their culture and responses and continued to liberate themselves from the Eurocentric ideologies of resource exploitation. The indigenous people remained united to struggle for their survival as distinct people based on their unique culture and heritage and attachments to their territories. They worked hard to restore their well-being and health by breaking away from different kinds of dependency (physical, psychological and financial) developed by colonialism (Attwood 18). The original people were compelled to concentrate on asserting their claims according to the principle of self-determination. Though, this led the original people to use violence, it assisted them to reinvigorate collectively and individually. The idea of assimilating to foreign policies or waiting to see what would happen failed to produce any restoration for them.
Indigenous people reconstructed and renewed the principle underlying their languages, environment, and worldview and strengthened how these build their humanity. As a result, the need for self-determination among the original people became stronger. They knew that control and power can be applied to repress and exclude their enemies. They knew self-determination required acknowledging the illegitimacy of Eurocentric conceptions in defining indigenous knowledge and culture of their people (Sawyer 163). They knew self-determination was required for recovery of local languages and ecologies.
Linguistics competence was required for the renewal of the indigenous humanity and knowledge. The indigenous people could not depend on colonial thought and languages to shape their reality. They knew that if they continued thinking their reality in the constructs and ideas derived from Eurocentric thought and languages, then they would continue plundering themselves (Sawyer 168). They reconstructed their knowledge from within the spirit of indigenous languages and territories. Indigenous language provided a communication tool for the original people to unlock knowledge and this gave then an orientation process which enabled them to remove themselves from Eurocentric thinking and dependency, and consequently they had an unfolding model process for healing and restoration. Such positive attitude helped the original people to transform and change and eventually opposed ethno ecocide policies as a way of asserting their rights of self-determination.
Question 4: Treaty Understanding
From the previous Canadian state (1870-1921) to the current national state, 11 treaties made between the British Crown and Indigenous People. In the present period, Treaty was often misunderstood by both non-indigenous people and indigenous people. Events that occurred during the historical meetings for Treaty agreement had been the source of disagreements from the beginning. The land had been the major issue. The main issue was who had the authority over the land and what were the laws governing land affairs in term of what was commonly agreed in the Treaty (Starblanket 1). Another concern was whether indigenous people abandoned their rights of governing themselves according to their traditions and laws. The source of this controversy was founded on the written account versus oral account of Treaty. The oral account of the treaty had no teaching in the main colonial education system while the written account was incorporated and adopted as the source of the only understanding. Elders’ suppression of knowledge caused further ignorance among indigenous people about the idea of Treaty. The written account of Treaty also caused further ignorance because the written version commonly showed that indigenous people abandoned their land over to the British Crown.
Since antiquity of time, the ora...