The University Consortium on the Global South (UCGS)

and the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC)

present a conference on

Indigenous Struggles in the Americas and Around the World:

Land, Autonomy, and Recognition

Conference Sessions

Thursday & Friday, February 10-11, 2005

McLaughlin College Junior Common Room

York University

 Welcome Social, Wednesday Evening, February 9, from 6 to 9 pm,

Founders College Senior Common Room (305)

Organized by the Aboriginal Student Association of York University

The conference will debate major issues of economic, social, political, and cultural development facing indigenous and aboriginal peoples, with a special focus on the Americas but taking into consideration Asian and African experiences. It will address a variety of topics related to indigenous social movements, including: demands for cultural recognition, practices of governance, and struggles and conflicts over the control and access to natural resources.

Conference registration fees: $20.= faculty members and general public

$10.= students

Program for printing

Thursday, February 10

9-9:30. Registration and Coffee

9:30-9:45 am. Introduction to the Conference and

Opening Prayer, Elder Pauline Shirt, Plains Cree Nation, Red-Tail Hawk Clan Native Canadian Centre of Toronto and Elders Council, City of Toronto

9:45-11 am. Keynote Presentations and Discussion: Past Struggles and Future Directions

Session Chair: Roberta Jamieson (TBC)

Presenters: Myrna Cunningham, Miskitu leader and activist, North Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua

Larry Sault, Senior Vice-President, First American Capital Management and former Grand Chief of Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians

11-11:15 am. Coffee Break

11:15 am-12:30 pm. Commentaries and Discussion

Commentators: Gabrielle Slowey, Political Science, York University

Tania Murray Li, Canada Research Chair, Anthropology, University of Toronto

Benedict Kingsbury, Law School, New York University

Pablo Idahosa, African Studies and Division of Social Sciences, York University

12:30-2 pm. Lunch  

2-3:45 pm. Human Rights: Latin America and Canada

Session Chair & Commentator: Bill Fairbairn, Human Security Fellowship Holder, CERLAC, York University

Presenters: Carlota McAllister, Anthropology, York University, “The Genocide in Guatemala and its Aftermath”

Gerardo Munarriz, PhD Program, Osgoode Law School, “Indigenous Demands for Accountability from Mining Transnationals in the Andes”

Susan Dion, Faculty of Education, York University, “Teaching and Learning from the Post-Contact Relationship Between Aboriginal People and non-Aboriginal People”

3:45-4 pm. Coffee Break

4-5:30 pm. Dimensions of Diversity: Identity, Gender, and Cosmovision

Session Chair & Commentator: Joseph Sheridan, Faculty of Environmental Studies and Faculty of Education, York University

Presenters: Aida Hernandez, CIESAS, Mexico City, “Indigenous Cosmovision as an element of resistance in the struggles of indigenous women in Mesoamerica”

Lola Figueroa, PhD Candidate, Sociology, York University, “The Contested Location of Indigenous Women’s struggles: Engendering the Agenda of Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations”.

David Newhouse, Director, Native Studies/Administrative Studies, Trent University

Evening: Dinner for speakers and organizers, Winters College Master’s Dinning Room.

Guest Speaker, Barbara Riley, Anishinaabe elder / retired Laurentian professor

Friday, February 11

9:30-11 am. Conflicts over Land and Access to/Control Over Resources: Latin America

Session Chair & Commentator: Tanya Korovkin, Political Science, University of Waterloo

Presenters: Rosamel Millaman, Mapuche leader and Anthropologist, Catholic University of Temuco

Jose Quidel, Mapuche leader and Professor, Catholic University of Temuco

Pablo Ortiz, Amazanga Institute, Pastaza (Amazon) and CUMUNIDEC Foundation, Ecuador, “Petroleum Development on Indigenous Lands in the Ecuadorean Amazon”

11-11:15 am. Coffee Break

The York University Book Store will have a small display and sale of books on Indigenous Issues at the Conference site, from 11 AM to 4 PM. Books on Indigenous Issues can also be found at a Display Table and in the Native Studies section of the Book Store of York Lanes.

11:15 am-12:45 pm. Land and Access to/Control Over Resources: Asia

Session Chair & Commentator: Peter Vandergeest, Sociology, York University

Presenters: Benedict Kingsbury, Law School, New York University

Radhika Johari, PhD Student, Anthropology, York University, “Conservation regimes and Identity in India”

Michael Stainton, PhD Student, Anthropology, York University, "Sliding Slopes
and Slippery Politicians: Taiwan Indigenous Peoples' Land Rights”

12:45-2 pm. Lunch

2-3:30 pm. Land and Access To/Control Over Resources: Canada

Session Chair & Commentator: Heather Schmidt, PhD Candidate, Psychology and Aboriginal Interest Group, York University

Presenters: Joe Linklater, Chief of Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Yukon

Ghislain Picard, Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador

Ed Bianchi, Aboriginal Rights Program Coordinator, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives

3:30-3:45 pm. Coffee Break

3:45-5:30 pm. Indigenous and Multiethnic Autonomy

Session Chair & Commentator: Susan Henders, Political Science, York University

Presenters:

Araceli Burguete Cal y Mayor, teacher and researcher at the Centro de Investigaciones en Antropologia Social (CIESAS-Sureste) in San Cristobal de las Casas Chiapas, Mexico, “Autonomy and the Municipality: Indigenous Struggles for Territorial Reorganization”

Brock Pitawanakwat, First Nations University of Canada and University of Victoria Indigenous Governance Program

Miguel Gonzalez, PhD Candidate, Political Science, York University, “Regional Multiethnic Autonomy in the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua: Achievements and Challenges” 

Evening: Concluding Panel, Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, 16 Spadina Road

7:30-7:45 pm. Introduction 

Introduction to the Native Canadian Centre and the “Indigenous History of Toronto”, Monica Bodirsky, History Project Coordinator, Native Canadian Centre of Toronto

7:45-9:45 pm: The Transnational Dimensions of Indigenous Struggles

Session Chair: Pablo Idahosa

Principal Speaker: Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, consultant on indigenous migration issues and advisor to migrant organizations in California

Possible Panelists: Myrna Cunningham, Joe Linklater (TBC), Aida Hernandez (TBC)

Conference sponsored by: AUCC/CIDA Tier 2 Linkage Project on Sustainable Development (CERLAC, York University and the Catholic University of Temuco, Chile); CIDA/ACDI Conference Secretariat; and International Development Research Center (IDRC). At York University: York International, Office of the Vice President Academic, Office of the Vice President Research, Aboriginal Student Association of York University, Social Science Division, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Environmental Studies, Department of Anthropology, York Hospitality, Founders College, McLaughlin College, and Stong College. This conference is part of International Development Week activities at York University.

Contact: For registration, e-mail: Mark Hostetler (hostetle@yorku.ca), for further information on the conference, please contact Miguel Gonzalez (migon@yorku.ca), phone 416-736-2100, extension 88706. For updates and details on the conference program, please visit: http://www.ucgs.yorku.ca/