Protecting the Right to Exist as a People: Intellectual Property as a Means to Protect Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Culture

The dominant Western culture has created a legal system premised upon an individualistic and commercial foundation for intellectual property rights (IPR). This system necessarily excludes the protection of traditional knowledge and other components of Indigenous cultures, as well as concepts of communal responsibility for the keeping and transfer of such ideas and knowledge. These concepts are foundational to Indigenous knowledge systems in Alaska, as well as throughout the world. Today, a focus on this issue is critical to the preservation of indigenous cultures and their ways of knowing. We examine where national and international intellectual property rights systems are in addressing Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights (Indigenous CIPR). We also examine opportunities for expansion of such rights in Alaska and around the world.Ye

World-view perspectives

The foundation of a tolerant society is an ability to foster and respond to the diversity of perspective among its people. Cognitive psychologists have described how perspective influences information processing, while our innate ability to adopt perspective has been established by neuropsychology. Literature, through the use of point-of-view, together with results from researchers adopting socio-cultural paradigms suggests perspective is also a social construct. An ecologically-based framework is described that provides cohesion to the temporal, spatial, universal and other types of world-view perspective associated, predominantly, with indigenous cultures. Culturally responsible types of creative and critical thinking are evoked when world-view perspective is engaged while reading text and reading the world. World-view perspective provides us with a means of critiquing the construction of knowledge through the de-construction of dominant discourses, re-valuing of indigenous world-views and reducing the relational distance between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples

Healing conversations: Developing a practical framework for clinical communication between Aboriginal communities and healthcare practitioners

In recognition of the ongoing health disparities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (hereafter Aboriginal), this scoping review explores the role and impact of the clinical communication process on Aboriginal healthcare provision. A medical education lens is applied, looking at the utility of a tailored clinical communication framework to assist health practitioners work more effectively with Aboriginal peoples and communities. The initial framework, building on existing communication guides, proposes four domains: content, process, relational and environmental. It places emphasis on critical self-reflection of the health practitioner’s own cultural identity and will be guided by collective Aboriginal world-views in select Australian settings. Using a two-eyed seeing approach the framework will be developed and tested in health professional education. The aim of this research journey is to enable health practitioners to have more effective healthcare conversations with Aboriginal peoples, working toward more socially just and equitable healthcare interactions and outcome

First Nations Child and Family Services and Indigenous Knowledge as a Framework for Research, Policy and Practice

This paper provides an overview of the exciting national developments in First Nations child and family service delivery in Canada with a focus on progressive research, policy and practice. Examples of how traditional concepts of interdependence and the holistic worldview inform program design and delivery within First Nations communities are reviewed. In addition, the paper introduces the mandate, strategic directions and services of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. This national organization brings together the 105 First Nations Child and Family Service Agencies in Canada to share best practices, develop professional development programs and conduct research. Emerging policy and research programs within the society are highlighted. FNCFCS, with the generous support of the Voluntary Sector Initiative, will be developing resources and programs to foster effective policy making and program design between First Nations child and family service programs, the public, private and voluntary sectors. These programs are intended to enhance interdisciplinary cooperation and practice in order to meet the needs of First Nations children, families and communities. Special emphasis is also be placed on the First Nations research agenda and the associated steps to increase research capacity within First Nations communities through the Health Canada Child Welfare Centre of Excellence First Nations Research Site in Winnipeg Manitoba

Grantmaker's Guide: Strengthening International Indigenous Philanthropy

As members of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP), we are anxious to grow the field and bring an infusion of new faces, sources of investment and expertise, along with the professional camaraderie that grows from shared commitment and passion. IFIP is an affinity group of the Council on Foundations dedicated to assembling international grantmakers in support of Indigenous philanthropies and fostering funding partnerships to improve the lives of Indigenous People globally. Over the past decade, IFIP has convened conferences and workshops that catalyze thoughtful, engaged collaboration among participants.Experienced donors recognize the resilience of Indigenous Peoples, often in the face of overwhelming odds and continual attacks on many fronts. Their diversity and creativity is an essential resource for the future of our planet. There is important work of global significance underway. Nevertheless, there are technical challenges that this guide can help identify and overcome. Many standard practices simply won't work. We need to be on the ground listening to people and stretching our imaginations. We cannot wait for the 'experts' to send us polished proposals that meet our criteria and timetables. Truly effective philanthropy has always relied on ingenuity and creative paths of understanding to effect deep change in the world.We can embrace and drive this change. This guide describes the practical experiences of those pioneers who have forged ahead

Researching in cross cultural contexts: a socially just process.

In this paper, we explore culture and its relationship to cross cultural research. The context for this research is Vanuatu, a small South Pacific Island nation. The action research process used was a collaboration between two New Zealand academics, two Ni Vanuatu women researchers and 13 participants over a two year period. The focus of the action research was the design and delivery of a culturally appropriate educational leadership development programme for women. The collaborative research process raised a number of ethical and methodological considerations, for example, the importance of mutually respectful relationships, working in partnership, collaboration, capacity building, transparent communication and consideration of the local context. Using stories from the Vanuatu context, we illustrate how we navigated culture to be able to research in socially just ways. Being involved in socially just, cross cultural research calls for a thoughtful, well-designed and culturally informed approach throughout all stages of the research process, from initial planning through to follow up and capacity building and finally, the sharing of research findings

Cultural safety: Cultural considerations

Over the course of your nursing professional education, you will study the developmental tasks and the principles of health promotion across the life span. You will learn to conduct numerous assessments, such as a complete health history, a psycho-social history, a mental health assessment, a nutritional assessment, a pain assessment, a suicide risk assessment and a physical examination of a patient. However, depending on your reactions to the person there may be wide variations in the information you gather in these assessments and in the findings of the physical examination. In the 1980s there was a change in western nurse education that recognised the interaction between culture and health and since then many nursing degrees include cultural considerations in their Bachelor Programs. It is now imperative that you, as a health care provider, come to understand how culture influences health care