Master's theses in indigenous studies

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Master's theses in indigenous studies

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• The impacts of Modernization on the traditional Sakawa Sili festival in the Rai Kirat community of Nepal: a case study of the Rai community

  Rai, Dik Bahadur (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 03-Oct-2012)

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  Abstract:

  Abstract. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the different aspects of the Sakawa Sili indigenous festival where the Sili dance is performed. Modernization and rituals theories are deeply observed to analyze my research questions. The main leading questions are: what is the importance of Sakawa Sili festival in Rai community? How it is celebrated? How is this festival affected by modernization and globalization? How do younger generations understand this festival? And how does this festival help to revitalizing the Rai’s culture? These questions will be addressed in this study based on research collected during fieldwork. Basically this traditional indigenous festival is a celebration of praying to the Goddess of nature for good crops and protection from the natural calamities. Its meanings lie in the movements of bodies and how the dancers respond. Viewer can feel its music, sounds, shapes and directions. Every movement has its own senses while performing the dance. This study focused on how these movements are influenced by modernization and globalization. It is visible during the festival period that participants move their body in different ways like fast, slow and mixed. However, the important thing is that it is a way of motions that is found in Kirati land from more than thousands years. Several questions are raised to question the knowledge about the festival such as history, origin, importance and its rituals values. Mainly in order to answers my research questions, several tools and techniques were implemented. Through qualitative data my research questions will be observed and the impacts of modernization in the festival will be analyzed. How the impacts of modernization and globalization could positively and negatively affect the ritual will also be observed from this thesis. Important aspects like its origin, types, importance, rituals values and cultural revitalization are also analyzed in this study. The study examines the impacts of modernization and the complex relationship with globalization. Research closely observed its impacts on the Sakawa Sili festival in multiple ways. This thesis also discusses the fundamental questions about rights of indigenous people, questions of self-determination, indigenous identity and power. However, this study focuses on the impacts of modernization on the festival and examines the impacts on cultural and rituals values in Rai Kirati indigenous community in Nepal.

  URI:

  http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5105

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (5.842Mb)
• First Nations healing in the hospital : On the quest to implement indigenous healing in a clinical setting

  Zarcos Jimenez, Beatriz (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 25-May-2012)

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  This thesis focuses on the interaction of so-called indigenous and Euro-American healing traditions in one of the most formal institutional settings: the hospital. The setting for this study is the Canadian Prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, and the main indigenous population are Plains First Nations. In the study I wish to discover if indigenous healing practices are able to adapt to a setting that is so central to the definition of settler states. I do so within a broader perspective that sets healing within a study of the decolonization process. The main argument is that part of the road to healing lies through the official institutions of the Canadian medical system and that it involves decolonization process for both the indigenous and the dominant society. The thesis asks why are hospitals settings being chosen today as the places to establish indigenous healing services and practices? To answer this question the thesis employs qualitative interview data and a reading of the literature. One of the key answers is that the hospital context permits the community of biomedical practitioners and the indigenous healers to interact. On the one hand, this interaction is seen as an important step for the revalorization and formal recognition of indigenous knowledge, and as determinant for the preservation and survival of it. On the other hand the field research shows that aboriginal patients feel extremely vulnerable when hospitalized and that the integration of indigenous healing within hospitals would improve the quality health care. Despite these strong answers, the project remains explorative. The conclusions show that there is no simple answer for how these two traditions can come together. One of the main reasons is that this process of implementation is at the very beginning. It shows as well that not all healers think that this is a good idea, and are worried about the expropriation and integrity of the knowledge. Some questions remain inconclusive and further research will be necessary in order to give further answers

  URI:

  http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5098

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (8.331Mb)
• Exploring Indigenous Methodological Perspectives in Cultural Resource Management: The Case Study of the Ram’s Head Medicine Tree

  Nicolai, Dean (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, May-2012)

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  This thesis suggests that the state of cooperation between Native American peoples and the archaeological community today is a product of historical circumstances. The historical situation is characterized by the frustration felt by Native American communities as to the treatment of cultural resources. Two questions were posed: How can an indigenous methodological perspective operate effectively within state and federal Cultural Resource Management (CRM) frameworks concerning the identification, evaluation, assessment, and treatment of cultural properties? How are the laws and practices that regulate indigenous and scientific communities in the practice of archaeology and CRM, adaptable to the ideals of an indigenous methodological perspective? This thesis aims to clarify distinctions between western scientific and indigenous methodological perspectives within the practice of cultural resource management. The basis of the discussion is centered on authority and cultural values, and illustrated in the case study of the Ram’s Head Medicine Tree. A landscape perspective is utilized as a bridge for understanding, which accounts for scientific and traditional knowledge systems. Ultimately this thesis suggests that an indigenous methodological paradigm concerning the research and management of traditional cultural properties can contribute to archaeological knowledge and understanding of indigenous peoples within the western scientific archaeological community.

  URI:

  http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5096

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (3.638Mb)
• Ethiopia: when the Gadaa democracy rules in a federal state. Bridging indigenous institutions of governance to modern democracy

  Sirna, Zelalem Tesfaye (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 22-May-2012)

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  Abstract:

  As student of law and later as a teacher, I was questioning whether Gadaa System has something to contribute to democratic values and sustainable institutions of governance in contemporary Ethiopian legal system. In particular, in sub-Saharan African countries where democracy and rule of law are proclaimed but not translated into practice, it appears vital to look into alternatives that can ll governance de cits. It is against this backdrop and after series of research processes; eld work among the Boran and Guji- Oromo, that Ethiopia: When the Gadaa Democracy Rules in a Federal State; Bridging Indigenous Institutions of Governance to Modern Democracy came into focus. The main objective of this research is, therefore, to respond to the search of alternative solution to hurdles democratisation process, Africa as a region as well as Ethiopia as a country faces, through African indigenous knowledge of governance, namely the Gadaa System. Accordingly, institutional and fundamental principles analysed in this thesis clearly indicate that indigenous system of governance such as the Gadaa System embraces archaic democratic values that are useful even today. However, bridging two separate institutions and political systems is not without challenges. This study is committed to discerning tensions and compatibility issues. The incompatibilities arise from both political systems; indigenous as well as modern. However, they bear not only tensions but also solutions. Hence, where the challenges that arise from indigenous political system could be resolved by progressive principles of modern political systems; tensions that arise from modern political system are sought to be addressed by embracing legally viable values of the Gadaa System through the instrumentality of federalism and legal pluralism. In sum, three main reasons support the approach of this study: in Africa no system of governance is perfect divorced from its indigenous institutions of governance; indigenous knowledge of governance as a resource that could enhance democratisation in Ethiopia should not be left at peripheries; and an inclusive policy that accommodates diversity and ensures the advancement of human culture appeals.

  URI:

  http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5080

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (7.466Mb)
• Acknowledging the past while looking to the future: exploring indigenous child trauma

  Swanson, Shanley (Master thesis; Mastergradsoppgave, 15-May-2012)

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  Abstract:

  Trauma affects children from all races, ethnicities, nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds. However, indigenous children may experience trauma differently than their majority population peers due to traumatic histories of colonization and ongoing marginalization. This thesis explores how service providers in Western Montana and Northern Norway conceptualize Native American and Sámi children’s experiences of trauma today. Additionally, I ask if these providers draw links between the historical traumas of the past and current traumatic events facing indigenous children in these two locations. Interviewees spoke about the effects of historical trauma in eight identified themes. The diversity of the themes and concepts discussed imply that providers regard their indigenous clients as being impacted by the historical traumas suffered by indigenous peoples in Montana and Northern Norway. Acknowledging past histories of injustice and focusing future research on the unique resiliencies of indigenous children, families, and communities were two main recommendations for promoting the treatment and understanding of indigenous child trauma. The thesis provides a brief look into the experiences of Native children in Montana and Sámi children in Norway facing trauma, as seen from the eyes of their social workers, therapists and advocates.

  URI:

  http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5079

  File(s) in this item: 1

  thesis.pdf   (7.220Mb)

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