Changing Taiga: Challenges for Mongolia’s Reindeer herders

The Dukrh are Pastoralist Nomads and are an ancient people of Turk descent. Their homeland is in the northern part of Mongolia, the ‘Taiga’. The Dukrh peoples follow a seasonal migratory pattern and are essentially self-sufficient. They are dependent both on reindeer and the forests where they hunt and in which their ancestors live. The families rely on the animals for their livelihood and also use them for transportation.

The Taiga is rich in biodiversity and natural resources and has been highlighted as an area which could negatively suffer from climate change. The wealth of biodiversity in the environment is a consequence of the unique relationship the Dukrh have had with the land. However this relationship and sustainable lifestyle is threatened. A recent United Nations Environmental Programme Report (UNEP) raises a number of concerns and recommendations. The Report (here) is part of the nomadic herders’ initiative.

Some concerns:

• Introduction of 8 million livestock onto traditional Dukrh grazing since 1990
• The unregulated mining of gold, white and green jade which in turn pollutes water sources
• Unregulated logging
• National parks which have curtailed the traditional grazing areas of the Dukrh.
• Hunting laws which prevent the Dukrh carrying out their traditional sustainable way of life and impact on their food security
• Erratic weather patterns which have caused many livestock deaths and impact on biodiversity

Main recommendations include:

• Recording reindeer herder’s traditional knowledge of land use and natural resources, as well as traditional food and culture, to promote the conservation of biodiversity in the region
• Closer monitoring of reindeer numbers, changes in migration routes, land use changes, industrial development, local climate variability and variables affecting the reindeer herding community and Taiga ecosystem
• Formation of community partnerships to support biodiversity and traditional livelihoods of the Dukha reindeer herders
• Evaluate current hunting regulations to identify how the laws affect reindeer herders’ access to food and income
• Establish a programme to increase herd size and prevent and treat reindeer diseases, using both Western science and traditional knowledge
• Provide assistance to develop local herders’ institutions, such as the reindeer herders’ information and knowledge centre in Tsagaannuur
• Organise community round table discussions and field visits to promote mutual understanding and dialogue between herders, tourism operators, local government, and other stake holders on land and resources in reindeer herding areas.
• Conduct an impact assessment of climate, environmental, and social and economic changes in the region, including tourism.

The Dukrh story is not atypical and there is evidence to suggest that particularly nomadic pastoralists are increasingly becoming marginalised. However pastoralists are a resource and pastoralsism produces meat and milk sustainably. One element in their survival is to disseminate information and an understanding of their valuable way of life and the above report seeks to do this.

Written by Fiona Batt.

Genomic Research, Informed Consent and Understanding Culture

The issue of what is required to obtain consent that is informed consent —consent that is obtained because the person or group providing consent truly understands what is encompassed by the consent—is at the heart of the issues that were raised in the lawsuit by the Havasupai peoples regarding blood they donated for research [More information on the background of the case, the legal case and its settlement can be found here].

This is as much, if not more, an issue for the medical research committee as it is for lawyers. A 2010 article by Jacobs, et al in the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics (article available at this link) comments that if researchers involved with the Havasupai had “practiced the processes of consultation, consent and collaboration here outlined [within the article], the dispute may never have started.” The point being, legal issues are unlikely to arise if meaningfully informed consent is obtained. The article by Jacobs et al points to the need for several steps to be taken to ensure that meaningfully informed consent is obtained, including an important step of consultation with the specific indigenous community from which researchers are interested in obtaining consent and doing genomic research.

An article by Roderick McInnes (available at this link) that was his 2010 Presidential Address to the American Society of Human Genetics underscores that understanding culture is a two-way exchange in the process of obtaining informed consent. It is not only important for the indigenous community and individuals to understand fully what research would be undertaken should they give consent. It is important as well for the researchers to understand the culture of the indigenous community itself. McInnes comments in his article “that the culture, priorities, values and jurisdiction of the indigenous community must be respected and that, in successful studies, it is.”

Two further points should be taken from this:

• Firstly, the important task of understanding culture should not be ignored in genomic research and is a vital part in obtaining meaningfully informed consent. Nor is understanding culture a need limited to medical research. It is very much a required ingredient in legal education. Understanding culture is not restricted either to an indigenous sphere—it is potentially an issue anywhere that there are legally pluralistic jurisdictions. The place of culture in legal education will be the topic of a future blog post. An article by Professor Aliza Organick ( available at this link) provides important insight into the necessity and challenges of the inclusion of the idea of culture into legal education.
• Secondly, indigenous groups themselves have established research boards whose standards scientists must meet as part of the requirements to obtain informed consent. One example is the Navajo Nation Human Research Code (available here).

Self-determination and autonomy means that many indigenous groups have their own laws, and certainly this can extend into requirements for human subjects research. Yet so often, legal education neglects to provide this understanding of indigenous groups and communities, as addressed in this article by Professor Tonya Kowalski, http://washburnlaw.edu/faculty/kowalski-tonya-fulltext/2009-36floridastateuniversity765.pdf.

These points will be further discussed in future posts on this blog.

Written by Sarah Sargent.

Protecting traditional knowledge and culture: Colombia gives an example

The protection of traditional knowledge is seen this time by way of Intellectual Property law: collective marks and Geographical Indication (GI). The news that I bring you today relates to the legal recognition (granted by the Colombia Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC)) and thus protection of some of the most recognised products in Colombia which have aboriginal origin. The legal certification granted to the products would give the makers the possibility of defending their product against piracy and initiate legal proceedings that arise when another trader makes a copy or takes advantage of the reputation of their products on the market.

Both legal figures relate to the follow:
Collective marks as any other trade mark distinguish the goods/services from those of others. It signifies membership of a particular group; it does not have anything to do with quality but just identifying a particular association and thus designating who can use the mark.

Geographical indications are policies designated to highlight a link between the natural geographical advantages or the reputation associated with a place and the products produced in that place. There is however no definition of GI in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property but the TRIPs Agreement defined them as “indications which identify a good as originating in the territory of a member, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of the goods is essentially attributable to its geographic origin” (art 22(1)). Note that according to TRIPs this measure applies to ‘all’ products. There is also the Lisbon Agreement and the Madrid Agreement -- the latter protects GIs at international level.

It is good to bear in mind that all these treaties exhibit different approaches but with a key point – to protect a product from passing off, in other words where one trader sells goods/services in the appearance of another trader’s goods/services. Another important point here is perhaps that many countries do not recognise handicraft as GIs but just foodstuff as the EU for example.

On December, Colombia saw the recognition of seven artisan products as a GIs (in the form of Denominations of Origin) and added to this, six associations were granted a collective mark also for artisan products. What caught my attention from these products was that all of them were born before the colonization and were made by different ethnic groups.
The base of the Colombian handicrafts is from natural products offered by this land and is at hand. For instance: clay, bamboo, leather, fibers, sisal, wool, wood, calabash, and precious metals. They do reflect the cultural expressions. Hammocks, pieces of gold, silver filigree, basketry, tapestry, ceramics, accessories in coconut or seeds, embroidery, sculptures, wooden objects and hand-woven items are an excellent showcase of Colombia to the world.

The products that received GI protection were:

• ‘ Mochilas Wayuú’: bags made by the Wayuu, a group of indigenous people who live in La Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia. Each ‘mochila’ is hand-made by one woman and each woman has her own signature.
• ‘Tejeduría Zenú’ (weaving)
• ‘Hamacas de San Jacinto’ (hammock)
• ‘Sombrero Aguadeño’ (hat)
• 'Sombrero de Sandoná (hat)
• ‘Cerámica de Carmen de Víboral’ (ceramics)
• ‘Mopa Mopa Barniz-Pasto’: pasto varnish is a decorative technique developed by indigenous communities of Nariño in southern Colombia. Mopa-mopa is extracted from a plant that grows in the department of Putumayo in the Colombian jungle. The plant produces a gelatinous pulp, and through a traditional process of heating (previously there was the chewing and then the throwing in boiling water) is converted into a thin resin sheets- the artisan, with the help of his hands and even teeth ends to stretch; this then is tinted with vegetable dyes which will cover the surfaces of wooden objects.

Those that were registered as a collective marks were:

• ‘Sombrero Vueltiao’: hat resulting from weaving iraca palm fibres called ‘caña flecha’ that are native to Aguadas and has its origins in the Zenú Indian culture. This natural fibre is transformed into black and white fibers that are braided by a traditional Zenú technique—originally, it was only white, as the artisans had not discovered a painting technique until later on.
• ‘ Filigrana de Mompox’ (weaving gold jewellery)
• 'Tejeduría de Usiacurí’ (weaving)
• ‘Artesanías del Valle de Sibundoy’: handcrafted products in beads, wool, yarn, fiber, seeds, wood carving located in the Department of Putumayo (Colombia), home of lnga and Camentsá Indians.
• ‘ Mochilas Arhuacas’: bags made from wool of sheep by the Arhuaco Indians.
• ‘Werreregue de los Wounaan’:Wounaan Indians who produce basket and trays made of werreregue palm. Originally, the Waunana women manufactured werregue vases quite solid and compact so it could be used to carry water.

Source Bulletin Latinpymes.

Chile: Bilingual Intercultural Education

Bilingual Intercultural Education (EIB), is a proposition taken by the Chilean government in 1993 that serves as the foundation for a demand of indigenous peoples, and particularly Mapuche people, in educational programs. Today this scheme can find support in the General Education Law and Supreme Decree 280 of the Ministry of Education.

However, the experience from the Bilingual Intercultural Education in the metropolitan region has emerged thanks to the continuance and efforts of traditional educators, and thus, as it is not yet being recognized institutionally, traditional educators have been victims of discrimination and strong racism. This is noted for example from lack of budget allocation for the development of the EIB, to racist actions from the own State institutions in charge of education such as the Municipal Corporations of Education and moreover from schools’ principals.

This month a traditional educator Pamela Huichalao Cona, a staff from the School Paulo Freire, situated in the Commune of Cerro Navia, Chile has had to seek ‘recurso de amparo’ (‘writ of protection’) before the Court of Appeals of Santiago against the City Council of Cerro Navia represented by its Mayor and Councilor of the same community. The defendant party appears to have participated in constant acts of racist and xenophobic persecution - even threaten individual liberty and individual security. The reason being that the defendant aims to make the traditional educator to desist promoting and defending indigenous languages and cultures in the community and quit the EIB program that is taking place in the mentioned school.

For those of you not familiar with the writ of protection (recurso de amparo), this is a remedy quite common in jurisdiction from South America for the protection of constitutional rights- this action is used not only for habeas corpus but also for the protection of individual rights.

Added to this, Miss Pamela together with more than a hundred community members and educators attended the Presidential palace in order to put to the attention of Chile's President Mr Sebastián Piñera, a series of events raised in recent months in relation to racism and discrimination that Indigenous Peoples are suffering and are victims of. The letter left to the President noted that this is a “serious cultural and social problem that deserves to be approached from public policy and which call on your government to adopt relevant policies in this area.” It also mentioned that intercultural education should not only be aimed at Indian students, but to everyone so as to make aware the new generations to cultures, principles and philosophy of indigenous peoples.

The information started to remind the readers [I guess making their point stronger and making clear to Mr Sebastian Piñera] that Chile has ratified many international treaties and thus having the duty to respect and guarantee human rights and moreover those of indigenous peoples. Some of these Treaties are: International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention No. 169, American Convention on Human Rights and the Covenants on Human Rights at the United Nations Organization of 1966.

I would like to point out the information that the Minister of Education gives in its webpage as part of a very simple explanation regarding the details that the General Education Law has. It mentions that the law establishes an institutional framework for school education which, among other things:

• Promote and respect the diversity of methods and school projects, as well as cultural, religious and social learners.
• Propose the inclusion of students from different social, ethnic, religious, economic and cultural rights.
• Last but not least it noted that the educative system must recognize and value persons in regards to its culture and origin, and taking into account their language, worldview and history.

I believe therefore that the President does not need to look further than its own national legislation motto.

Source Informatico Mapuche manuexpress.