Indigenous Perspectives on Sacred Natural Sites

Culture, Governance and Conservation

Jonathan Liljeblad, Bas Verschuuren, Jonathan Liljeblad, Bas Verschuuren

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781351234887
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Social Sciences

Much previous literature on sacred natural sites has been written from a non-indigenous perspective. In contrast, this book facilitates a greater self-expression of indigenous perspectives regarding treatment of the sacred and its protection and governance in the face of threats from various forms of natural resource exploitation and development.

It provides indigenous custodians the opportunity to explain how they view and treat the sacred through a written account that is available to a global audience. It thus illuminates similarities and differences of both definitions, interpretations and governance approaches regarding sacred natural phenomena and their conservation. The volume presents an international range of case studies, from the recent controversy of pipeline construction at Standing Rock, a sacred site for the Sioux people spanning North and South Dakota, to others located in Australia, Canada, East Timor, Hawaii, India, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria and the Philippines.

Each chapter includes an analytical introduction and conclusion written by the editors to identify common themes, unique insights and key messages. The book is therefore a valuable teaching resource for students of indigenous studies, anthropology, religion, heritage, human rights and law, nature conservation and environmental protection. It will also be of great interest to professionals and NGOs concerned with nature and heritage conservation.

1

Introduction

Indigenous voices and Indigenous sacred sites, promoting diverse perspectives in a global discourse

Jonathan Liljeblad

The assembled contributions in the present volume present various perspectives by Indigenous voices regarding sacred sites. The collective motivation involves a convergence of two elements: 1) to address the historical and present marginalization of Indigenous cultures by offering a space in book form that supports the expression of Indigenous perspectives, and 2) to direct attention to Indigenous sacred sites, which hold a particular significance to Indigenous identities and play a critical role in protecting Indigenous cultures from marginalization.

This volume looks to the notion of a sacred site as something defined by its Indigenous custodians. As such, sacred sites can be natural or human-made, can be situated in any geographic location, can be closed or open to non-Indigenous visitors and can exist inside or outside of international or national designations such as protected areas or conservation zones. The primary interest of the volume is to provide a platform for Indigenous custodians to explain how they view and treat the sacred through a written account that is available to a global audience.

Indigenous views about the sacred may differ from those held at the international level. At the international level, sacred sites are defined in different ways. For example, the ICOMOS Quebec Declaration of 2008 uses the term “spirit of place … made up of tangible (sites, buildings, landscapes, routes, objects) as well as intangible elements (memories, narratives, written documents, festivals, commemorations, rituals, traditional knowledge, values, textures, colors, odors, etc.)” (Quebec City Declaration, 2008). In contrast, the IUCN Guidelines for Protected Area Managers on Sacred Natural Sites define the term “sacred site” as “an area of special spiritual significance to peoples and communities” and the term “sacred natural site” as “areas of land or water having special spiritual significance to peoples and communities” (Wild and McLeod, 2008: 3). This volume seeks to allow expression of Indigenous views of the sacred in order to illuminate similarities and differences of Indigenous ways from existing international perspectives in both definition and approach.

Placing Indigenous voices in the discourse on Indigenous sacred sites

In gathering a body of chapters on the topic of Indigenous sacred sites, the present volume builds upon the growing literature on sacred sites management represented by works such as Elazar Barkan and Karen Barkley’s Choreographies of Shared Sacred Sites (2014); David Carmichael, Jane Hubert, Brian Reeves and Audhild Schanche’s Sacred Sites, Sacred Places (1994); Gloria Pungetti, Gonzalo Oviedo and Della Hooke’s Sacred Species and Sites (2012); Bas Verschuuren, Robert Wild, Jeffrey McNeely and Gonzalo Oviedo’s Sacred Natural Sites (2012) and Bas Verschuuren and Naoya Furuta’s Asian Sacred Natural Sites (2016). Book-length treatments provide space for comprehensive analyses of specific topics in terms of depth and breadth of study on various aspects of chosen subject matter. The above volumes are consistent with such expectations, engaging in commentaries of broad scope that use findings in relevant scholarly and policy literature to identify or synthesize over-arching trends regarding relevant laws and policies for governance of sacred sites. Such works, however, deal with sacred sites as a larger subject, with efforts involving general frameworks meant to be applicable across different countries, cultures and geographies. As a result, they tend to overlook the particularities of Indigenous perspectives on sacred sites. Hence, while perhaps unintentionally, they leave open the question of potential value of contributions from marginalized voices of Indigenous peoples. The present volume is a response to such a question, and endeavors to illustrate the value of Indigenous voices in the discourse on sacred sites by presenting an array of works involving Indigenous authors of diverse backgrounds from different locations presenting respective viewpoints about the treatment of Indigenous sacred sites.

It should be noted that there is a growing scholarly literature on Indigenous sacred sites, with contributions from diverse disciplines spanning fields such as anthropology, art, business, history, Indigenous or aboriginal studies, international relations, law, policy, politics and religion. The reach of empirical cases spans the globe, with current or recent scholarship covering locations from the various regions of the world. For example, in Africa there are studies from scholars such as Philip Aniah and Augustine Yelfaanibe regarding the Bongo District of Ghana (2016); Runyambo Irakiza, Minani Vedaste, Bizuru Elias, Brigitte Nyirambangutse, Nsengimana Joram Serge and Ndimukaga Marc on sacred forests in Rwanda (2016); Lilian Siwila on the Gwembe Valley in Zambia (2015); Folaranmi Dapo Babalola, Ibraheem Lawal, Egbe Opii, and Abiodun Olusesi Oso on sacred forests in Nigeria (2014); Kristian Metcalfe, Richard Ffrench-Constant and Ian Gordon regarding sacred caves in Kenya (2010); and Fadhili Hamza Mgumia, Gufu Oba and Michael Sheridan about sacred groves in Tanzania (Mgumia and Oba, 2003; Sheridan, 2009). Taking North America as inclusive of Canada, the United States and Mexico, a representative sample can be seen in works from Canada regarding Gustafson Lake by Nicholas Shrubsole (2011) and Canadian Indigenous sacred sites as a whole by Natasha Bakht and Lynda Collins (2017); from the United States on the San Francisco Peaks by Michael McNally (2015), Heart Mountain by Mary Keller (2014), the Great Plains by Gregory Campbell and Thomas Foor (2004), and Indigenous sacred sites in general in the United States by Alex Tallchief Skibine (2012) and Roxanne Ornelas (2011); Indigenous sites along the border between the United States and Mexico by Angelique EagleWoman (2008); and Baja California by Rafael de Grenade, Gary Nabhan and Mechiline Olvera (2016). Taking Central and South America together, examples of scholarship include works by Bruno Ferronato and Giselle Cruzado on the Pichis Valley in Peru (2013); Stella Nair in the Peruvian Andes (2007); and Michelle Wibbelsman regarding the highlands of Ecuador (2005). For Asia-Pacific, there are representative contributions on Indigenous sacred sites in East Timor from Judith Bovensiepen and Frederico Rosa (2016); Uluru by Hannah Hueneke and Richard Baker (2009) and Australian Aboriginal lands in general by Michael Blakeney (2013); sacred groves in India from Alison Ormsby (2011, 2013); eastern Himalayas in Nepal by Jan Salick, Anthony Amend, Danica Anderson, Kurt Hoffmeister, Bee Gunn and Fang Zhendong (2007); and sacred forests in Indonesia by Reed Wadley and Carol Pierce Colfer (2004). For Europe, examples include Siv Ellen Kraft’s study on Sapmi and northern Norway (2010), Nadezhda Shutova’s work in the Udmurt region of northern European Russia (2006), and Gail Osherenko’s more general commentary on Indigenous lands in Russia (2001). As a collection of disparate perspectives, however, these various works do not provide the comprehensive overview available from book-length volumes with respect to observations on trends and distillation of principles. As a result, they call for insights with more general application regarding treatment of Indigenous concerns, particularly with respect to the relationship between non-Indigenous perspectives and Indigenous sacred sites. The present volume seeks to address this issue, drawing upon a body of current empirical work involving Indigenous voices regarding Indigenous sacred sites to provide a broad scope to highlight generalizable implications to make the governance of Indigenous sacred sites more inclusive of Indigenous concerns.

The collective sum of these various works, both in books and individual journal articles, offer a body of analysis relevant to the study of sacred sites. Each one covers a different aspect of the subject presenting various calls for further work. The books serve as comprehensive efforts addressing the broader topic of sacred sites, leaving open the more specific issues of Indigenous viewpoints and Indigenous sacred sites. The journal articles, while individually directed to the topic of Indigenous sacred sites, present a disparate panoply of analyses complicating the distillation of general lessons for larger audiences. The present volume contributes to the literature by addressing both of these challenges. In providing a book-length presentation focused on Indigenous perspectives on Indigenous sacred sites, the present volume directs its attention to 1) promoting Indigenous voices and 2) generating generalizable insights about trends and principles regarding Indigenous perspectives on Indigenous sacred sites.

The relevance of Indigenous perspectives and Indigenous sacred sites can be demonstrated in several ways: 1) Indigenous perspectives on sacred sites are of unique value to the existing discourse, and 2) they help to redress the continuing marginalization of Indigenous voices tied to the lingering legacy of colonialism. With respect to the value of Indigenous perspectives, there have been debates over romanticized claims that Indigenous cultures have a sacred relationship with the natural world (see for example Harkin and Lewis, 2007; Krech, 1999; Ross et al., 2011), but despite the opposing arguments in the literature the international community has proceeded to adopt instruments recognizing a unique relationship between Indigenous peoples and nature that gives rise to identifiable Indigenous sacred sites (Butzier and Stevenson, 2014; Gilbert, 2011). The United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) proffers a non-binding assertion of rights of Indigenous peoples to “maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites” (UNDRIP, 2007: Art. 12(1)) and to “maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas” (UNDRIP, 2007: Art. 25). The International Law Organization’s (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 169 makes binding upon ratifying countries the duty of respecting “the special importance for the cultures and spiritual values of the peoples concerned of their relationship with the lands and territories … they occupy or otherwise use” (ILO, 1989: Art. 13(1)) and the duty of protecting the rights of Indigenous peoples to access traditional lands (ILO, 1989: Art. 14(1)). On a regional level, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights asserted in Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador (Sarayaku) that the American Convention on Human Rights recognizes that “Indigenous people cannot be denied the right to enjoy their own culture, which consists of way of life strongly associated with the land” (Inter-American Court of Human Rights, 2012). Similarly, the International Law Association recognized that Indigenous land rights are “a prerogative with a primarily spiritual purpose … functional to the safeguarding—through ensuring the maintenance of the special link between Indigenous peoples and their traditional lands” (ILA, 2012: 540). The recognition in international law of the unique nature of Indigenous sacred sites calls for consideration of Indigenous voices to help inform understanding of their relationship with such sites. Hence, on legal grounds alone there is justification to include Indigenous viewpoints as a matter of furthering the ends of existing international legal instruments.

With respect to redress, there are lingering legacies of colonialism that have marginalized Indigenous peoples from discourses affecting their welfare. The history of Indigenous peoples encompasses colonial experiences which subordinated their status beneath imperial powers. In the post-colonial era, such subordination continued as states assumed the power previously held by imperial authorities and consolidated their control by modifying or suppressing Indigenous cultures in service of non-Indigenous elites (Battiste, 2011; Coates, 2004; Kirkby and Coleborne, 2010; Lenzerini, 2011). As a result, the exclusion of Indigenous voices from subjects that affect Indigenous interests echoes a colonial legacy of marginalization. Mitigation or prevention of such a legacy calls for dedicated effort to promote Indigenous perspectives in areas involving Indigenous interests. Hence, apart from a utilitarian consideration of value, there is a normative concern for the consequences of history that justifies the inclusion of Indigenous voices as a means of averting perpetuation of past wrongs.

The relevance of Indigenous voices in understanding Indigenous sacred sites

From a scholarly perspective, it is possible to provide a theoretical basis for the relevance of Indigenous viewpoints by appropriating concepts from Foucault’s notions of discourse. Foucault’s ideas describe the nature of power relations between different actors, and so are helpful in clarifying the contestation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous actors over identities and interests. Foucault has been used in Indigenous studies with scholars employing his concepts to identify the mechanisms of domination and resistance affecting the outcomes of Indigenous issues (see for example Batty, 2005; Brigg, 2007; Howard-Wagner, 2010; Kulchyski and Tester, 2007; Kurkiala, 2002; Lindroth, 2011).

Foucault conceives of “discourse” as “practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak” (Foucault, 1972 [2010]: 49). Discourse can be speech, writing, acts or symbols that generate frameworks within which people interact (Hunt and Wickham, 1994). Within a discourse Foucault sees “discursive formations,” which are the stable elements at the centre of discourse (Foucault, 1972 [2010]; Hunt and Wickham, 1994: 9) that reflect an “episteme,” which is a worldview comprised of postulates and modes of reason (Foucault, 1972 [2010]: 191). Through these components a discourse directs the substance of information to include or exclude actors and ideas, and thereby dictates the distribution of power—and thus the outcomes of actions—between them (Hunt and Wickham, 1994: 8–9). For Foucault, “power and knowledge directly imply one another” (Foucault, 1977: 27–28; Hunt and Wickham, 1994: 12).

Following such theory, the literature on Indigenous sacred sites can be seen as a Foucauldian discourse in that it involves interactions between people using spoken and written communications, attendant actions and associated symbols regarding Indigenous sacred sites. It also involves discursive formations, since the interactions centre around a collection of stable elements in the form of concerns over the meaning ideas such as indigeneity, the sacred and locations that connect both. These elements reflect an episteme, in that they imply a worldview framing practices regarding the treatment of Indi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Contributor biographies
• 1. Introduction: Indigenous voices and Indigenous sacred sites, promoting diverse perspectives in a global discourse
• PART I: Identity and embodying the sacred
• PART II: Resistance, advocacy and perseverance
• PART III: The sacred in intangible heritage and education
• PART IV: Recognition and preservation of the sacred in place
• PART V: Conclusions
• Index