2005 Annual Meeting, Association
of American Geographers
April 5-9, Denver, Colorado
A ‘Politics of Place’: Exploring settler-state
landscapes for evidence of Indigenous self-determination.
Sponsorships: Indigenous Peoples Specialty Group;
Socialist and Critical Geography Specialty Group
Description:
The exercise of self-determination by any Indigenous community
does not happen against an inert backdrop but is grounded in the
local politics and history of the place. While self-determination
may be an intangible, much like sovereignty and power, unable to
be touched or measured, I believe that as Augie Fleras and Paul
Spoonley have asserted, "that the exercise of [Indigenous self-determination]
provides tangible evidence of its existence." (Fleras and Spoonley
1999: 27) By exploring specific landscapes within settler-states,
I believe it is possible to discern tangible evidence of the exercise
of Indigenous self-determination. This paper session will seek to
ground critical theory concerning Indigenous self-determination
by "connect[ing] the metaphoric site 'in theory' with a politics
of place 'on the ground'," (Moore 1997: 101) Papers which explore
the effect of Indigenous self-determination through cultural-site
preservation, resource management practices, monument/sacred site
creation, etc, on a specific landscape are appropriate for this
session.
Organizer: Jay T. Johnson
Chair: Brian J. Murton
Participants:
Jay T. Johnson
Waitangi: a bicultural landscape
Joseph H. Bryan
Implementing Awas Tingni: Maps, Human Rights and Neoliberal
Multiculturalism
Steve Smith
Hemp for Sovereignty: geographic scale and the recognition
of Lakota sovereignty
Sunny Stevens
Protecting Land Rights in Belize: Identifying Obstacles to Mapping
Indigenous Territory
Sara Kindon
River Travel, Relations and Tino Rangatiratanga: Exploring Indigenous
Self-determination in Aotearoa/New Zealand
