Home

Bylaws

Officers
&  Membership

AAG
Annual Meetings 

Student Paper
Competition

Links

2005 Student Paper Competition,
Indigenous Peoples Specialty Group

Student Paper Competition > 2005

2005 Winner: Julia Christiansen, MA Candidate at the University of Calgary

"Traditional Knowledge, Political Change, and Local Participation in Resource Management in the Northwest Territories, Canada"

Abstract:

Recent policy implemented in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, has attempted to formalize the legitimacy of traditional knowledge in resource management. In this paper, I focus on the dimensions of the increased application and consideration of traditional knowledge in resource management in the Mackenzie Valley region of the NWT. Post-colonial literature provides a theoretical framework from which to explore how the formal application of traditional knowledge in resource management demonstrates shifting power relations in the NWT, as well as changing dynamics in the social production of space. Moreover, it allows for an exploration of the use of traditional knowledge within a broader politics of knowledge and of the ways in which knowledge systems reflect power relations in a given place. I also explore how political developments, such as comprehensive land claims negotiations and settlement, self-government agreements and the devolution process, are leading to shifts in local participation in resource management decision-making. A qualitative analysis based on ethnographic interviews, case studies and secondary data is employed to assess how the application of traditional knowledge in the Mackenzie Valley indicates increasing Aboriginal control over local lands and resources.

2005 Honourable mention: Victoria Guyatt, MA Candidate at the University of Canterbury

"Mana Wahine and Science: Exploring relationships between Maori women, Indigenous knowledge and Western science."

Abstract:

This paper critically reviews Western science through a mana wahine (Maori feminist) framework. This analysis highlights the importance for Maori women to define reality for themselves, and not allow outsiders definitions of knowing to be placed upon them. Critiques on science appear to rethink much of what is valued in western culture, in which scientific reasoning and individualism are emphasized in an attempt to bring the world into a single ‘science of order’. Women have been excluded from these processes of defining culture, because it is argued they are not inherently rational beings, and have thus been constructed as Other. Based on information drawn from interviews and analysed using discursive analytical techniques, I argue that while literature suggests women, especially women of minority ethnic groups, are severely disadvantaged and disempowered by a number of factors within science, the Maori women within this research, while at times exhibiting some negative experiences, more often than not felt there position of being a Maori women in science was empowering. While there were a number of examples of the Maori women’s worldview working in conflict within their chosen scientific discipline, there were also many positive examples of the role of science enriching their lives, and the Maori women’s worldview providing a new space for science to work within. I argue that focusing on the positive working relationships between Indigenous knowledge and Western science is an integral part of moving forward and re-writing Maori women’s roles within science, and science’s role within Maori women’s lives.

General Information:

The Student Paper Award is given for a meritorious student paper which addresses geographic research, education, mapping, theory and/or applications by, for and/or about indigenous people(s).

Criteria: The award is based on evaluation of a written manuscript by the IPSG Chair and Board. Papers will be evaluated based on their overall contribution to new knowledge and understanding in the geographies of indigenous peoples. That contribution may be theoretical, empirical or methodological in nature.

Eligibility: To be eligible for this competition, papers must be presented at the AAG meeting, regional geography meetings or other professional conference, and the student must be the first or sole author of the paper. Student participants do not have to be members of the IPSG to enter the competition. The same individual may receive the award twice in different years for different papers.

Award Committee: The award committee shall consist of the IPSG Chair(s) and the Board of Directors. In the event that there are Co-Chairs, those Co-Chairs shall submit only one evaluation, for a total of four possible paper evaluations from the committee. Members of the award committee must recuse themselves from judging the papers of current or former students, but they may participate in discussions during which final selections are made.

Award. The Student Paper Award shall consist of $150 and a one-year honorary student membership in the IPSG. Whenever possible, the award recipient will also receive recognition in the AAG Newsletter.