The Regional Indigenous Fair with the theme 'Affirmation of Indigenous Knowledge in MMSEA' was held at the (Open) Tribal Museum on Sunday, 18 November 2007. It was officiated by the Vice-Governor of Chiang Mai, Mr. Chuchart Khampaeng who was welcomed by representatives of the indigenous peoples from the six countries, led my Mien musicians. click here to see the report and picture
Indigenous Women’s Understanding of Gender Workshop: What We Know, How We Know Mae Sa Valley, 9-12 October 2005
Mien woman shares her experience.
Lisu woman shares her knowledge about midwifery.
The aims of the Gender Workshop were to clarify the concept of gender among Indigenous women with special knowledge about healing, seed conservation, midwifery, and arts and crafts; to identify issues on gender relations and equity related to Indigenous women world view and specialised knowledge on healing, seed conservation, midwifery, and arts and crafts; to develop relevant gender criteria or guidelines for ACBC and related training and institutional work which encompass both Affirmation of Cultures and Biodiversity Conservation.
Women participants at the workshop in Mae Sa Valley.
The three day workshop affirmed what the participants know - that knowledge has been transmitted not only by parents and relatives but also comes from nature and the spirits. The participants confirmed the need for a symbiotic relationship with nature in order to sustain and renew the cycle of life. The strength to regenerate the cycle of life relies in women’s full exercise of their self-determination rights. The workshop clarified the shared responsibilities and complimentary roles of men and women.
Rotational Farming Workshop Menglun, Xishuangbanna, China, 11-18 March 2006
The conference participants, Rotational Farming Workshop
One of the field trips as part of the Conference.
Preparing a presentation for the workshop.
The Rotational Farming Workshop was organised by the ACBC Topic Working Group on Rotational Farming. It was an opportunity for a range of farmers from different Indigenous groups to gather to learn from each other and discuss the future needs and hopes for rotational farming. The workshop involved presentations and discussion as well as field trips to various villages to share in their experiences.
The participants learnt about and shared experiences in defending their rights in cooperation with NGOs regarding the government restrictions to practice shifting cultivation, progressing Land Rights to defend themselves from policy that forces farmers to sell land, houses, forest, cultivation fields to outsiders, dealing with the impact of loosing their cultures due to missionary work and the links between the environment and spiritual practices.
Indigenous Education Workshop, 7-11 May, 2006, Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Song Province, Thailand.
Participants from Cambodia
Lua Village Mae La Up, one of the destinations for the field trips which were part of the workshop.
The Indigenous Education Workshop was organised by the ACBC Education Working Group and the IKAP Regional Secretariat.
The aims of the workshop were to offer a platform and forum for exchange between practitioners of Indigenous education in MMSEA (elders, teachers, youth); to create common understanding on the concept of Indigenous education; to define perspective and constraints of Indigenous education; to explore possibilities of collaboration among IKAP networks involved in Indigenous education.
The workshop enabled a forum for exploring different experiences and approaches to Indigenous Education and included field trips to various villages for grass roots insight into particular projects. The workshop participants requested that the Secretariat develop some guidelines for country work plans. The secretariat in turn would like to have work plans from the country networks and the country networks can send applications for different activities for IE as well as networking to IKAP to ask for support.
Conferences
Indigenous Peoples Forum (as part of the Conference on the Impact of Globalisation on Ethnic Minorities) Chiang Mai, Thailand 15-18 November, 2004
Presenting the tasks
The Indigenous Peoples Forum created a platform for Indigenous peoples from China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Burma to learn from each other, to elaborate on specific topics related to Indigenous Knowledge and to dialogue between each other and academics on issues of how to strengthen Indigenous Knowledge against the negative impacts of modernization and globalization. There were three main topics at the conference which guided the parallel workshops. These topics were Rotational Farming and a view from within; Indigenous Health Care; and “Tasoo Tapla” – all kinds of seeds, plants and animals (Indigenous conservation of biodiversity in the context of land use and change).
Participants of IP Forum share and exchange ideas.
The academic participants of the Globalisation Conference joined the Indigenous Forum as observers. They listened to the discussions of the Indigenous participants, and the facilitators involved them as part of the working groups.
The Forum involved field trips to a number of Indigenous villages in northern Thailand and resulted in the development of a number of work plans to guide Indigenous peoples in their community development initiatives.
This conference was held as a partner event to the International Conference on Bridging Scales and Epistemologies and included groups of people from different continents to contribute to the epistemological debate, to define the role of science and Indigenous Knowledge and to enhance cross-cultural dialogue.
During two congress sessions, each participant gave a personal account of their understanding of three themes: how they perceive nature and its changes from their point of view, how they perceive science, and how they imagine a bridge between themselves and scientists and development actors.
Bridging epistemologies by means of intercultural dialogue takes us away from a universal way of thinking and other fundamentalisms and the conference provided participants with insightful and vibrant perspectives of the multi-dimensionality of knowledge and the inter-relationship of myths, values and concrete practices.
The Poverty of Development: Poverty Dialogue with Mountain Peoples MMSEA4 Conference, Sa Pa, Vietnam 16-19 May 2005
Pre-conference field trip
After six days of voluntary field work in four ethnic areas of Northern Vietnam the participants gathered in Sapa to attend the Mountain Festival and Indigenous Knowledge Fair of Arts, Crafts, Seeds, Food and Games and then the three and a half days of the IVth MMSEA Conference. The networks already operating within MMSEA had the opportunity to apply the new insights and organise their action plans for the next year (or longer). All four events were linked to each other and constituted important steps to achieve poverty dialogue between researchers, development workers, donor agencies, politicians and indigenous peoples.
Women present at the Poverty of Development Conference
Drawings showing how and where learning takes place.
Products for sale at the Indigenous Fair
The Conference started with a look at the actual situation in each country based on the experience and knowledge of the respective participants from different disciplines or origins and an opportunity to understand the field practice of indigenous communities, the indigenous conceptions and values within specific topics of land use, healing, seed conservation and Indigenous education systems.
After understanding the diversity and richness of cultures in the MMSEA the Conference addressed the existing initiatives and their failures and successes in overcoming material and spiritual poverty. Finally all participants helped to elaborate a regional framework and strategy to apply general principles to each country’s specific socio-cultural and political conditions.
