KT Indigenous peoples, beliefs and rights in the Arctic – in comparison to the Global South  5 op

The aim of the course is to analyse the status of indigenous peoples, their beliefs and rights in both the Arctic and the Global South. The course is to compare different cases from the Arctic and the Global South.

The course focuses on the status of indigenous peoples, their beliefs and rights in both the Arctic and the Global South. The course is interdisciplinary (law, political science, anthropology, theology, sociology, economy, history). First, histories and cosmologies (and “native religions”) of chosen indigenous peoples are analysed. Second, recognition of political rights (self-determination, political autonomy), land rights (including indigenous natural resources management) and cultural and linguistic rights (e.g. a traditional way of life, shamanism, indigenous languages at schools) is discussed. The course shows the two following cases. One is about chosen indigenous peoples in the Arctic or the Global North: the Sami people in the Nordic countries, the Inuit in Greenland and Canada, the Nisga’a in British Columbia, and the indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East in Russia. The second is about nine Indigenous Nations that settled across the ten administrative Regions of Guyana (a former British colony) representing the Global South. These are as follows: the Wai Wais, the Macushis, the Patomonas, the Arawaks, the Caribs, the Wapishanas, the Arecunas, the Akawaios, the Warraus. Sustainable development is about human rights, it means also indigenous human rights – both in the Global North and the Global South.

Timetable Week 1. The status of indigenous peoples and their rights globally. International standards. Week 2. Beliefs and cosmologies of indigenous peoples - introduction. Week 3. The Sami people in the Nordic countries. Week 4. The Inuit in Greenland and Canada and the Nisga’a in British Columbia. Week 5. The indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East in Russia. Week 6. Nine Indigenous Nations that settled across the ten administrative Regions of Guyana: the Wai Wais, the Macushis, the Patomonas, the Arawaks, the Caribs, the Wapishanas, the Arecunas, the Akawaios, the Warraus. Week 7. Comparison of the difficulties of the analysed indigenous peoples - from a Guyanese indigenous perspective.

Sending essays as the final exercise within 2 weeks after week 7.

Study methods: Online lecture and exercise course. The course includes lectures (Teams), group assignments and final essay. There might be an eLearn website, too.

Evaluation criteria: 0-5. The evaluation is based on the weekly assignments (50 %) and final essay (50 %).

Materials:

1. PP presentations, (scientific and popular) articles, learning materials, international reports (from the United Nations), and video lectures as well as films. All is available on eLearn.
2. Articles by D. Bunikowski:

• (with Agnieszka Szpak), Saami truth and reconciliation commissions, The International Journal of Human Rights, 2021, DOI: 10.1080/13642987.2021.1926237. 27 pp.
• (Chapter 2.) The Philosophy of Law in the Arctic, [in:] Philosophies of Polar Law, ed. by D. Bunikowski and A.D. Hemmings, Routledge Research in Polar Law, Routledge 2021. UK. 16 pp.
• (with Elena Gladun), Indigenous self-government in Finland and Russia, [in:] Innowacyjny samorząd. Rola samorządu w kreowaniu innowacyjności regionalnej (Innovative self-government. The role of self-governance in the creation of regional innovativeness), ed. by L. Czaplewski, D. Jurewicz and A. Szóstek, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek/Publishing House, Toruń 2020. Poland. 29 pp.
• Human security as philosophy of law and legal pluralism in Arctic indigenous areas, [in:] Unconventional Aspects of Human Security. Cases from the Barents Region, edited by Kamrul Hossain and Anna Petrétei, Juridica Lapponica 45, University of Lapland: Rovaniemi 2018. Finland. 60 pp.
• The Right of Indigenous Peoples to their Own Law, Nordic Journal of Law and Justice, Retfærd, Nr. 2, 2017. Denmark. 17 pp.
• Arguments from cultural ecology and legal pluralism for recognising indigenous customary law in the Arctic (chapter, with Patrick Dillon), [in:] Experiencing and Safeguarding the Sacred in the Arctic: Sacred Natural Sites, Cultural Landscapes and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, ed. by Leena Heinämäki, Thora Martina Herrmann, Springer 2017. US. 29 pp.
• Sámi reindeer husbandry: legal-philosophical and cultural: anthropological dimensions, Rajshahi University Law Journal 2014, Volume 09. The journal also mentioned that it was actually published in 2016. Bangladesh. 15 pp.
• Indigenous peoples, their rights and customary laws in the North: the case of the Sámi people, [in:] East meets North - crossing the borders of the Arctic, ed. by M. Lähteenmäki, A. Colpaert (editors), Nordia Geographical Publications 43:1, Yearbook 2014. Oulu 2014. Finland. 11 pp.

3.Chosen reports and materials of IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights, e.g. https://iwgia.org/en/guyana/4221-iw-2021-guyana.html.