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Indigenous Peoples (indigenous + people)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	57%
Medical Sciences	24%
Life Sciences	5%
Law and Criminology	4%
Psychology	3%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	2%
2 Other Domains	5%

Distribution within Humanities and Social Sciences

General & Introductory Anthropology	22%
General & Introductory Geography	14%
General & Introductory History	8%
General & Introductory Political Science	3%
15 Other Subdomains	53%

Kinds of Indigenous Peoples

australia indigenous people

Terms modified by Indigenous Peoples

indigenous people right

Selected Abstracts

LÉVI-STRAUSS AND THE POLITICAL: THE ELEMENTARY STRUCTURES OF KINSHIP AND THE RESOLUTION OF RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND SETTLER STATES

THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 3 2005
Michael Asch
This article addresses the contribution of Lévi-Strauss's The elementary structures of kinship to resolving political relations between indigenous peoples and the settler states. To this end, it explores his discussion of the origins of society within the context of Enlightenment-inspired political thought and concludes that he provides a unique, counter-hegemonic alternative to conventional narratives. It then shows how this argument thwarts the presumption in Canadian jurisprudence that indigenous peoples were automatically incorporated into the state through European settlement, and fosters an understanding that a relationship based on the concept of ,Treaty' as understood in indigenous political thought promotes a political relationship that affirms the integrity of all parties. [source]

Front and Back Covers, Volume 24, Number 2.

ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Issue 2 2008
April 200
Front cover and back cover caption, volume 24 issue 2 Front cover Front cover: Front cover The front cover of this issue illustrates Peter Loizois' article on the work of filmmaker Robert Gardner. The Hamar woman in the photo bears marks of whipping, a subject which raised the first divisions between Gardner and anthropologists Ivo Strecker and Jean Lydall, as Gardner was inclined to see the practice as a facet of female subordination and male cruelty. The Streckers, after many years of research, took a different view, which can be grasped in Jean Lydall's article ,Beating around the bush' (see http://www.uni-mainz.de/organisationen/SORC/fileadmin/texte/lydall/Beating) Gardner makes clear his feelings in this note, highlighted in his book The impulse to preserve: ,Editing the Rivers of sand imagery made a huge impression on me. I kept being reminded that I especially disliked Hamar man and I don't think I would have felt differently had there been no Women's Movement. I don't see how anyone can escape feeling the same way once they see the film. It was a painful life for both sexes. So why not say so? I don't think anthropology is doing its job by being value free. I do think it should accept responsibility to look for larger truths.' (Robert Gardner 2006, The impulse to preserve: Reflections of a filmmaker, New York: Other Press, p. 158) Back cover Back cover: UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES The back cover illustrates Paul Oldham and Miriam Anne Frank's article in this issue on the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration sets the minimum international standards for the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples' rights. The display boards capture the historic moment on 13 September 2007, when UN member states overwhelmingly supported the adoption of the Declaration at the General Assembly's 61st session. Votes in favour of the Declaration are shown in green (143 + 1 not shown), abstentions in orange (11) and votes against in red (4). With the exception of Montenegro, whose vote in favour did not register on screen, absent or non-voting states are blank. Such overwhelming support within the General Assembly was by no means guaranteed , it was the outcome of lengthy and delicate behind-the-scenes negotiations. Expectations that the Declaration would be adopted in December 2006 were dashed when the African Group of countries blocked it, claiming that, despite 23 years of negotiations, more time was needed for consultation. In the ensuing period, Mexico, Peru and Guatemala, as co-sponsors of the Declaration, took the lead in negotiating an agreement with the African Group that they would support a Declaration with three main amendments, and would block other amendments or delays put forward by Australia, Canada, the US and New Zealand. The co-sponsors then sought agreement to this amended Declaration from the Global Indigenous Peoples' Caucus, who engaged in their own worldwide consultation process with indigenous peoples' organizations. The outcome remained uncertain, however, until these giant screens in the UN General Assembly Hall finally flashed green, to spontaneous applause from the delegates and their supporters. Since anthropologists work with indigenous peoples worldwide, this historic vote raises the challenge of how they, individually and as a discipline, position themselves in relation to the new Declaration. [source]

IDENTIFYING MUSCULOSKELETAL CONDITIONS AMONG RURAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2003
Dein Vindigni
ABSTRACT Objective: To critically review the methodological properties of previous musculoskeletal studies among Indigenous populations. In particular, non-rheumatic, musculoskeletal conditions of mechanical origin are examined as these appear to be commonly related to syndromes of pain and disability. Design: Systematic review. Setting: Rural, Indigenous communities throughout the world. Subjects: Indigenous peoples aged 16 and over living in rural communities. Main outcome measure: Minimum requirements for methodologically sound musculoskeletal health research according to previously published criteria. Results: Due to methodological limitations in the 14 studies reviewed, only five methodologically acceptable studies were found. Conclusion: Given the paucity of methodologically sound musculoskeletal studies among Indigenous populations, the true prevalence of musculoskeletal conditions in these communities remains largely unknown. [source]

Voyages, Encounters, and Agency in Oceania: Captain Cook and Indigenous People

HISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2008
Bronwen Douglas
Beginning with a brief historiographic survey of the prolific literature on European voyages of exploration in Oceania, in particular those of James Cook, this article considers how embodied encounters helped shape the written and visual representations of indigenous Oceanian people by Cook and his naturalists and artists in New Holland (Australia), the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). I treat encounters as situated and permeable: not as a generalised clash of incommensurate cultures but as ambiguous intersections of multiple personal agencies, both indigenous and foreign. This approach suggests an indirect liaison between particular local actors and the expanding stock of empirical information provided by travellers and drawn on by metropolitan natural historians to illustrate their deductions about mankind. I suggest that voyagers' representations of Oceanian people should be read not merely as reflections of received knowledge derived from dominant metropolitan discourses or literary and artistic conventions but also as personal productions generated in the flux, stress, high emotion and uncertainty of meetings with actual people in the vulnerable settings of voyages under sail. Such representations were often significantly, if obliquely affected by local agency. [source]

The Dark Side of Indigeneity?: Indigenous People, Rights and Development in India

HISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 6 2007
Alpa Shah
In the last two decades transnational concerns over indigenous people, indigenous rights and indigenous development has reignited a history of heated debate shrouding indigeneity. This article analyses these debates in the context of the anthropology and historiography of indigeneity in India. From the production of ,tribes of mind' to the policies that have encouraged people to identify themselves as ,Scheduled Tribes', or ,adivasis', the article reviews the context that gave rise to the tensions between claims for protection and assimilation of India's indigenous peoples. Today these debates are shown to persist through the arguments of those that seek to build a support base from an adivasi constituency and are most acute with on the one hand, the work of the Marxists and indigenous activists, and on the other hand, the Hindu right-wing. Inviting serious scholarly examination of the unintended effects of well meaning indigenous protection and development measures, the article seeks to move the debate beyond both the arguments that consider the concept of indigenous people anthropologically and historically problematic and those that consider indigeneity a useful political tool. In so doing, the article warns against a ,dark side of indigeneity' which might reveal how local appropriation and experiences of global discourses can maintain a class system that further marginalises the poorest. [source]

Inventing Mastery: Patriarchal Precedents and the Legal Status of Indigenous People in Australia

JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY, Issue 3 2000
Pavla Miller
The paper discusses some aspects of Aboriginal legal status in Australia from the perspective of survival, transformation and reinvention of early modern legal codifications of household mastery. Traces of masters' and husbands' entitlement to the labour of servants, children and wives, as well as their magistracy over household dependents, not only survive in today's laws and social relations; at times, they have been reinvented in a process which reversed the presumed movement from contract to status. The original dispossession of Australia's Indigenous peoples by British settlers set the stage for a particularly destructive instance of such process. Its legacy continues to shape contemporary struggles for Aboriginal rights. [source]

Possessing the Pacific: Land, Settlers, and Indigenous People from Australia to Alaska , By Stuart Banner

THE HISTORIAN, Issue 1 2010
Sandra Wagner-Wright
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Conservation Alliances with Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005
STEPHAN SCHWARTZMAN
The future of Amazonian indigenous reserves is of strategic importance for the fate of biodiversity in the region. We examined the legislation governing resource use on indigenous lands and summarize the history of the Kayapo people's consolidation of their >100,000 km2 territory. Like many Amazonian indigenous peoples, the Kayapo have halted the expansion of the agricultural frontier on their lands but allow selective logging and gold mining. Prospects for long-term conservation and sustainability in these lands depend on indigenous peoples' understandings of their resource base and on available economic alternatives. Although forest conservation is not guaranteed by either tenure security or indigenous knowledge, indigenous societies' relatively egalitarian common-property resource management regimes,along with adequate incentives and long-term partnerships with conservation organizations,can achieve this result. Successful initiatives include Conservation International's long-term project with the A'ukre Kayapo village and incipient large-scale territorial monitoring and control in the Kayapo territory, and the Instituto SocioAmbiental (ISA) 15-year partnership with the peoples of the Xingu Indigenous Park, with projects centered on territorial monitoring and control, education, community organization, and economic alternatives. The recent agreement on ecological restoration of the Xingu River headwaters between ranchers and private companies, indigenous peoples, and environmentalists, brokered by ISA, marks the emergence of an indigenous and conservation alliance of sufficient cohesiveness and legitimacy to negotiate effectively at a regional scale. Resumen:,Las alianzas actuales entre indígenas y organizaciones de conservación en el Amazonas Brasileño han ayudado a obtener el reconocimiento oficial de ,1 millón de km2 en áreas indígenas. El futuro del as reservas indígenas amazónicas es de importancia estratégica para el futuro de la biodiversidad en la región. Examinamos la legislación que rige a la utilización de recursos en zonas indígenas y sintetizamos la historia de la consolidación del territorio > 100,000 km2 de la etnia Kayapo. Como muchos grupos Amazónicos, los Kayapo han detenido la expansión de la frontera agrícola en sus tierras pero permiten actividades madereras y mineras selectivas. Las perspectivas de conservación y sustentabilidad a largo plazo en estas tierras dependen del entendimiento de su base de recursos y de las alternativas económicas disponibles por parte de los grupos indígenas. A pesar de que ni la seguridad en la posesión ni el conocimiento indígena garantizan la conservación de los bosques, los regímenes indígenas de gestión de recursos de propiedad común relativamente igualitarios en conjunto con incentivos adecuados y asociaciones con organizaciones de conservación pueden obtener este resultado. Iniciativas exitosas incluyen el proyecto a largo plazo de Conservation International con el pueblo A'ukre Kayapo y el incipiente monitoreo y control territorial a gran escala en el territorio Kayapo y la asociación durante 15 años del Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) con habitantes del Parque Indígena Xingu, con proyectos enfocados al monitoreo y control territorial, a la educación, a la organización comunitaria y a alternativas económicas. El reciente acuerdo, negociado por ISA, entre rancheros y compañías privadas, grupos indígenas y ambientalistas para la restauración ecológica del Río Xingu marca el surgimiento de una alianza indígena y de conservación con la cohesión y legitimidad suficientes para negociar efectivamente a escala regional. [source]

Christianity and Indigenous Peoples: A Personal Overview

JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS HISTORY, Issue 3 2003
Terence Ranger
This article summarizes its author's response over more than 30 years to the various arguments advanced against the possibility of the appropriation of Christianity by indigenous peoples. It sets out the intellectual and evidential reasons for rejecting these arguments. However, it admits that while indigenous appropriation of Christianity is always possible, under some circumstances it has been improbable. Many indigenous peoples have made use of Christianity but in the past there has been comparatively little appropriation by Native Americans or Australian Aborigines. This article explores the reasons for this. When the factors that have accounted for resistance and rejection rather than adaption no longer exist, it may be expected that Aborigines will indeed appropriate Christianity. The article concludes with a brief examination of academic work on African appropriations and suggests that new developments in Aboriginal Christianity will reveal how far comparisons can be made. [source]

The Underrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples on Canadian Jury Panels

LAW & POLICY, Issue 1 2003
Mark Israel
Under common law, Canadian jury panels, or arrays, are supposed to be broadly representative. In the early 1980s, the Law Reform Commission and, in the early 1990s, the Supreme Court claimed that provincial legislation virtually guaranteed that this was the case. However, evidence presented to various provincial and federal commissions and a series of court cases has pointed to the continuing underrepresentation of Indigenous Canadians resulting from both the content and the administration of provincial laws. In this article, I examine evidence of underrepresentation and review various political and legal attempts to challenge bias in out-of-court selection. I suggest that contemporary practices in some jurisdictions have not consistently provided a representative jury pool or panel. As a result, the jury selection process has not always appeared to offer justice to Indigenous people and, in doing so, may not have served the Canadian legal system well. [source]

Indigenous Peoples, State-Sanctioned Knowledge, and the Politics of Recognition

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 4 2005
DARREN J. RANCO
Invisible Indigenes: The Politics of Nonrecognition. Bruce G. Miller. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. 248 pp. Forgotten Tribes: Unrecognized Indians and the Federal Acknowledgement Process. Mark Edwin Miller. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. 355 pp. Gambling and Survival in Native North America. Paul Pasquaretta. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2003. 202 pp. [source]

Complexities of indigeneity and autochthony: An African example

AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 1 2009
Michaela Pelican
ABSTRACT In this article, I deal with the complexities of "indigeneity" and "autochthony," two distinct yet closely interrelated concepts used by various actors in local, national, and international arenas in Africa and elsewhere. With the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2007, hopes were high among activists and organizations that the precarious situation of many minority groups might be gradually improved. However, sharing the concerns of other scholars, I argue that discourses of indigeneity and autochthony are highly politicized, are subject to local and national particularities, and produce ambivalent, sometimes paradoxical, outcomes. My elaborations are based on in-depth knowledge of the case of the Mbororo in Cameroon, a pastoralist group and national minority recognized by the United Nations as an "indigenous people" although locally perceived as "strangers" and "migrants." For comparative purposes, and drawing on related studies, I integrate the Bagyeli and Baka (also known as Pygmies) of southern and southeastern Cameroon into my analysis, as they share the designation of indigenous people with the Mbororo and face similar predicaments. [indigeneity, autochthony, identity, United Nations, Cameroon] [source]

Reflexive ethnography: a guide to researching selves and others; decolonizing methodologies: research and indigenous peoples

AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 1 2000
Barry Michrina
Reflexive Ethnography:. Guide to Researching Selves and Others. Charlotte Aull Davies. New York: Routledge Press, 1999. viii. 257 pp., bibliography, index. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. Linda Tuhiwai Smith. New York: Zed Books, 1999. ix. 208 pp., notes, index. [source]

Front and Back Covers, Volume 24, Number 2.

The Role of Indigenous Peoples in Guatemalan Political Advertisements: An Ethnographic Content Analysis

COMMUNICATION, CULTURE & CRITIQUE, Issue 3 2010
Colleen Connolly-Ahern
This study investigates the current status of indigenous peoples within Guatemalan society, as articulated in one of the most relevant forms of modern communication, political advertising, and defined by one of the most relevant forms of self-expression to the indigenous peoples of Guatemala, the traje. Using ethnographic content analysis, the study examines the roles and characterizations of indigenous people in 67 television commercials from across the Guatemalan political spectrum. Results indicate that indigenous people are most often seen as "crowd members," and are never given important roles, such as "candidate endorser" or "undecided voter." Overall, wearing traje is associated with helplessness and separateness. The commercials of Q'iché Maya candidate Rigoberta Menchú exhibited many of the same characteristics of other candidates. Le rôle des peuples autochtones dans les publicités politiques guatémaltèques : une analyse de contenu ethnographique Colleen Connolly-Ahern & Antoni Castells i Talens Cette étude explore le statut actuel des peuples autochtones dans la société guatémaltèque, telle qu'elle est articulée dans l'une des formes les plus appropriées de communication moderne, les publicités politiques, et telle que définie par l'une des formes d'expression des peuples autochtones du Guatemala les plus pertinentes, le «traje». Par une analyse de contenu ethnographique, l'étude explore les rôles et les représentations des peuples autochtones dans 67 publicités télévisées couvrant le spectre politique du Guatemala. Les résultats indiquent que les peuples autochtones sont le plus souvent vus comme des «membres de la foule». Ils n'ont jamais de rôles importants comme celui de «partisan d'un candidat» ou d'«électeur indécis'. Dans l'ensemble, le port du «traje» est associéà l'impuissance et à la différence. Les publicités de la candidate maya k'iche' Rigoberta Menchú présentaient plusieurs des mêmes caractéristiques que celles des autres candidats. El Rol de las Personas Indígenas en la Publicidad Política de Guatemala: Un Análisis de Contenido Etnográfico Colleen Connolly-Ahern & Antoni Castells i Talens Advertising and Public Relations College of Communications, Penn State University, State College, PA 16802, USA Resumen Este estudio investiga el estado corriente de las personas indígenas dentro de la sociedad Guatemalteca, articulado en una de las formas más relevantes de la comunicación moderna, la publicidad política, y definido por una de las formas más relevantes de auto expresión de las personas Indígenas de Guatemala, el traje. Usando un análisis de contenido etnográfico, este estudio examina los roles y las caracterizaciones de las personas indígenas en 67 comerciales de televisión a través del espectro político Guatemalteco. Los resultados indican que las personas indígenas son vistas más a menudo como "miembros de la multitud'' y nunca se les da roles importantes tales como ,,el candidato de la representación'' o ,,el votante indeciso. '' En general, el uso del traje está asociado con la impotencia y la separación. Los comerciales de la candidata Q'ich,e Maya Rigoberta Menchú exhibieron muchas de las mismas características de los otros candidatos. [source]

,Land Moves and Behaves': Indigenous Discourse on Sustainable Land Management in Pichataro, Patzcuaro Basin, Mexico

GEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3-4 2003
Narciso Barrera-Bassols
ABSTRACT An ethnoecological study was carried out in the Purhepecha community of San Francisco Pichataro, west central Mexico, with the purpose of investigating how land degradation, in terms of soil erosion and fertility depletion, was (and still is) handled by indigenous farmers so that traditional agriculture could remain sustainable over centuries. After briefly reviewing opposite views on the land degradation issue in the regional context of the Patzcuaro lake basin, the paper focuses on land management at local level. The indigenous concept of land is discussed as an integrated whole, including water cycle, climate, relief and soils. Indigenous people venerate land as the mother of all living beings, including humans. Therefore, people's health and survival require good land care and management. Local knowledge on land management is organized around four basic principles: land position, land behaviour, land resilience and land quality. Fanners recognize land as a dynamic subject, a concept reflected in the expression ,land moves and behaves'. Soil erosion and fertility depletion are perceived as ,normal' processes the farmers control by means of integrated management practices. Farmers recognize several land classes, primarily controlled by landscape position, which require different land care. The example of San Francisco Pichataro demonstrates that traditional agriculture does not necessarily lead to land degradation. But the collective knowledge, or social theory, on land management is increasingly exposed to be fragmented as the community undergoes structural changes and loses its social cohesion under the pressure of externalities such as off-farm activities, out-migrations and governmental intervention, among others. [source]

The Native Police of Queensland

HISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2008
Jonathan Richards
The European colonisation of Queensland largely depended on the armed and mounted men of the Native Police , a brutal force which killed many Indigenous people on the frontier. Detachments of mounted Aboriginal troopers led by European officers would surround Aboriginal camps and fire into them at dawn, killing men, women and children. The bodies were often burned to destroy the evidence. Jonathan Richards has spent many years researching this controversial and distressing subject, finding his way through the secrecy, misinformation and supposed ,lost' files. In this article, based on the first comprehensive study of the force's history in Queensland, he argues that the Native Police was a classic example of ,divide and rule' practices. This colonising tactic, successfully used by the British and other imperial powers, was approved by government and by most European settlers. [source]

Barriers and facilitators to the utilization of adult mental health services by Australia's Indigenous people: Seeking a way forward

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 2 2010
Anton Neville Isaacs
ABSTRACT Mental disorders are the second leading cause of disease burden among Australia's Indigenous people after cardiovascular disease. Yet Indigenous people do not access mental health services in proportion to their need. This paper explores the barriers and facilitators for Indigenous people seeking mental health services in Australia and identifies key elements in the development and maintenance of partnerships for improved service delivery and future research. The process of seeking help for mental illness has been conceptualized as four consecutive steps starting from recognizing that there is a problem to actually contacting the mental health service. We have attempted to explore the factors affecting each of these stages. While people in the general population experience barriers across all four stages of the process of seeking treatment for a mental disorder, there are many more barriers for Indigenous people at the stage of actually contacting a mental health service. These include a history of racism and discrimination and resultant lack of trust in mainstream services, misunderstandings due to cultural and language differences, and inadequate measures to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. Further research is required to understand the mental health literacy of Indigenous people, their different perceptions of mental health and well-being, issues around stigma, and the natural history of mental illness among Indigenous people who do not access any form of professional help. Collaborations between mainstream mental health services and Aboriginal organizations have been promoted as a way to conduct research into developing appropriate services for Indigenous people. [source]

About being Mununga, (Whitefulla): making covert group racism visible

JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2006
Terry Ngarritjan Kessaris
Abstract The main focus of this paper is to expose what goes on between Mununga (White people) in Australia that contributes to the maintenance of racism in hidden and often unconscious ways. Mununga racism in Australia commonly occurs as normal, shared, social activity amongst ordinary, decent, Mununga folk, and it is covert and linked to colonial beliefs and practices. In this context, Mununga are co-opted by their own society to oppress others, particularly Blekbala (Indigenous people). However, some challenge that custom and strive to step outside their prevailing social practices. The processes of being co-opted into and challenging colonial practices are explored through the counter-narratives of Mununga allies who are engaged in the work of anti-racism and decolonization. Using an outsider Blekbala perspective with the help of Mununga insider perspectives, I put forward a description and critique of these covert, social practices under the themes of ,Making, unmaking and remaking the Mununga self', ,Deep shared understandings', ,Violence, silence and benevolence', ,Unconstrained Mununga talk' and ,Turning things around'. This is a Black story of White on White. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Reflections on practice: Ethics, race, and worldviews

JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2002
Brian J. Bishop
Two case studies involving Indigenous Australians are described, which pose ethical and conceptual problems. Over two decades ago Sarason (1972) gave the warning that we are socialized into a culture so well that our interventions can be ineffective or misguided unless we attempt to come to grips with history and the broader social context. Understanding worldviews of both the targeted community and ourselves is imperative if we are going to do more good than harm. The two case studies involve White practitioners working with Indigenous people, and as such, bring into sharp relief the ethical issues and worldviews of those involved. Reflection on the process of intervention provides a mechanism for insight into informed practice and the development of professional knowledge and theory. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

The burden of kidney disease in Indigenous children of Australia and New Zealand, epidemiology, antecedent factors and progression to chronic kidney disease

JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 9 2010
Andrew White
Aims: To review and present the most important issues related to kidney disease in Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Maori and Pacific Islander children from Australia and New Zealand. Methods: A review of medical literature about: 1. incidence of kidney disease in Indigenous children in Australia and New Zealand, especially where rates are different from the general populations, 2. factors in early life which increase risk for chronic kidney disease in adult life, and 3. early identification and primary and secondary interventions in childhood which may prevent chronic kidney disease in adults. Results: Kidney diseases, both acute and chronic are more common in Maori, Pacific Islander, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The reasons are multiple and include genetic, environmental and socio-economic factors. In childhood post streptococcal glomerulonephritis, haemolytic uraemic syndrome, renal stones and acute kidney injury all occur at higher frequency in at least some of the Indigenous populations. Chronic kidney disease CKD occurs more commonly, and at a younger age in Indigenous than non Indigenous people. Factors involved may include reduced nephron endowment at birth, and subsequent insults including nephritis, obesity, and early onset type 2 diabetes, as well as underlying socioeconomic and environmental determinants. Conclusion: A lifecourse understanding allows one to conceptualise multiple risk factors and target interventions. [source]

The Underrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples on Canadian Jury Panels

Colorectal carcinoma among Indigenous people: a public hospital-based study in Townsville and Cairns, North Queensland, Australia

ANZ JOURNAL OF SURGERY, Issue 11 2005
Ping-Yan Lu
Introduction: There are very little clinical and pathological data on colorectal cancer among Indigenous people in Australia. Methods: A retrospective study on Indigenous patients treated for colorectal cancer at the Townsville and Cairns Base Hospitals from 1999 to 2004 was carried out in order to better characterise this disease in the Indigenous population. Results: There were 25 patients (12 M, 13 F) with a median age of 57.3 years. The majority (56%) of the tumours were left-sided, being in the sigmoid colon, rectosigmoid junction and rectum. Of the patients, 60% had American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system Stage I and II disease at presentation. There was a relatively high proportion of poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas (40%). Six patients died of the disease. The median follow-up was 20.5 months (range 2,51). Conclusions: Comparisons were made with available data on colorectal cancer in the general Australian population. The limitations and deficiencies of the study, as well as problems of data collection on Indigenous people were discussed. [source]

Older Indigenous Australians: their integral role in culture and community

AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL ON AGEING, Issue 1 2007
Jeni Warburton
This review explores the social and cultural roles played by older Indigenous Australians within their communities. In the absence of a body of conventional academic literature on this topic, we used a broad range of sources including stories, articles, videos, and other narratives to present the lived experiences of older Indigenous Australians illustrated in their own words. The intention is to move beyond the usual negative focus of reporting the significant health and social problems experienced by older Indigenous Australians, whilst still recognising that their present-day roles within the society have to be understood against a backdrop of such lifetime disadvantage. The major underlying theme of this review is the crucial roles played by older Indigenous people and how these roles have adapted over time to contemporary circumstances. Roles include kinship relationships, support for the young, transmission of cultural knowledge, as well as the key concept of respect for older people as ,survivors'. [source]

Socio-economic gradients in self-reported diabetes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians aged 18,64

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2010
Joan Cunningham
Abstract Objective: To examine and compare socio-economic gradients in diabetes among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Methods: I analysed weighted data on self-reported diabetes and a range of socio-economic status (SES) measures for 5,417 Indigenous and 15,432 non-Indigenous adults aged 18,64 years from two nationally representative surveys conducted in parallel by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2004,05. Results: After adjusting for age, diabetes prevalence was significantly higher among those of lower SES in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. The age- and sex-adjusted odds ratios (OR) for diabetes for the lowest versus the highest SES group were similar for the two populations on many variables. For example, the OR for the lowest quintile of equivalised household income (compared with quintiles 3,5 combined) was 2.3 (95% CI 1.6,3.4) for the Indigenous population and 2.0 (95% CI 1.5,2.8) for the non-Indigenous population. However, Indigenous people of high SES had greater diabetes prevalence than low SES non-Indigenous people on every SES measure examined. Conclusion: Socio-economic status explains some but not all of the difference in diabetes prevalence between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Other factors that may operate across the socio-economic spectrum, such as racism, stress, loss and grief, may also be relevant and warrant further examination. Implications: Indigenous Australians do not constitute a homogeneous group with respect to socio-economic status or diabetes prevalence, and this diversity must be recognised in developing measures to redress Indigenous health disadvantage. [source]

Living longer with a greater health burden , changes in the burden of disease and injury in the Northern Territory Indigenous population between 1994,1998 and 1999,2003

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2010
Yuejen Zhao
Abstract Objective: To measure changes over time in the burden of disease for Northern Territory (NT) Indigenous and non-Indigenous population. Methods: The numbers, and crude and age-adjusted rates of disability adjusted life years (DALY) were calculated for periods 1994,1998 and 1999,2003. A measure of information bias was developed to adjust for the tendency of years lost to disability (a component of DALY) to increase over time because of increasing data availability. The jackknife method was used for DALY uncertainty assessment. Results: The all-cause DALY rate was stable for the non-Indigenous population, but increased for the Indigenous population. For both populations, the burden of premature death decreased while the burden of disability increased. For the Indigenous population, there were substantial increases in DALY rates for type 2 diabetes, depression, nephritis/nephrosis, suicide and sense organ disorders. Conclusions: The burden of disease for Indigenous people increased over the study periods, with improvement in the burden of fatal outcomes more than offset by substantial increase in the prevalence and severity of non-fatal conditions. Implications: The paradoxical shift of living longer with a greater health burden has not been previously reported for Indigenous Australians, and highlights the critical importance of prevention for sustaining life expectancy improvement and managing escalation of health costs. This study also demonstrated the usefulness of the DALY to monitor population health. [source]

Re: ,An overview of cancer and beliefs about the disease in Indigenous people of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US'Aust NZ J Public Health.

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 1 2010
2009; 33: 109-18.
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Betting on the evidence: Reported gambling problems among the Indigenous population of the Northern Territory

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 6 2009
Matthew Stevens
Abstract Objectives: To address a shortfall in evidence with which to justify gambling-specific interventions for the Indigenous population, we analysed two surveys (2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey and General Social Survey) that contain information on reported gambling problems for the NT. Methods: Estimates of reported gambling problems are presented for each state and territory by remoteness for the Indigenous and total population for 2002. Factor analysis was used to identify the relationship between gambling problems and other negative life events for the NT Indigenous and total population. Results: High levels of reported gambling problems were apparent for the Indigenous population particularly in the remote parts of the NT and Queensland. Gambling problems were associated with other stressors relating to social transgressions. Among the NT Indigenous population, gambling problems were correlated with levels of crowding, community involvement, personal and community violence and self-assessed health status. Conclusions: The high levels of reported gambling problems suggest that gambling is causing significant problems for Indigenous people. The multivariable adjusted associations indicate that gambling-related problems are intimately connected to a range of community contexts. Implications: Policies of intervention need to address broader social and environmental contexts that are intrinsically associated with gambling (and associated problems), in addition to public education in harm associated with gambling and provision of counselling services to assist problem gamblers. [source]

Hospital admissions of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians due to interpersonal violence, July 1999 to June 2004

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 3 2009
Jesia G. Berry
Abstract Objective: To compare the incidence of injury-related hospitalisations and the injury profiles for interpersonal violence, in the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations of Australia. Method: Descriptive analysis of the National Hospital Morbidity Database (NHMD), using data for the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland for the period 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2004. Results: Indigenous people were twice as likely as non-Indigenous people to be hospitalised for injury (age-standardised rate ratio [SRR] 2.26, 95% CI 2.24,2.29), and had a 17-fold greater hospitalisation rate for interpersonal violence (SRR, 16.9, 95% CI 16.6,17.3). Indigenous males and females were most commonly injured by a family member or intimate partner and females constituted 54% of Indigenous cases. Most non-Indigenous cases were males (82%), most commonly injured by stranger(s). Head injuries by bodily force were the most frequent injuries. Age-standardised hospitalisation rates of interpersonal violence increased with remoteness of usual residence for Indigenous people and, less so, for others. Conclusion: The largest differential between Indigenous and non-Indigenous injury-related hospitalisations was for interpersonal violence, particularly for women. About half the excess morbidity from interpersonal violence among Indigenous people is due to factors associated with remote living. Implications: Culturally appropriate interventions that tackle a wide range of social and economic issues are needed to mitigate Indigenous interpersonal violence. [source]

An overview of cancer and beliefs about the disease in Indigenous people of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 2 2009
Shaouli Shahid
Abstract Objective: Cancer among Indigenous populations in the developed world appears to have increased over past few decades. This article explores issues related to cancer among the Indigenous populations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US and examines variations in the epidemiology, Indigenous peoples' perceptions about cancer and potential effects on care-seeking behaviour. Methods: A search of peer-reviewed journal articles, government reports, published and unpublished theses and other grey literature was undertaken using electronic databases and citation snowballing. Both epidemiological and qualitative studies were included. Results: Cancer in Indigenous populations in these four countries is characterised by high incidence and mortality rates for specific cancers and lower survival rates as a result of late diagnosis, lower participation and poorer compliance with treatment. A higher prevalence of many cancer risk factors occurs across these populations. Fear of death, fatalism, payback, shame and other spiritual and cultural issues are reported in the few qualitative studies examining Indigenous beliefs and understanding of cancer which undoubtedly influences participation in cancer screening and treatment. Conclusions and implications: The holistic approach (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) to healing and well-being, and the concept that individual, family and community are inseparable underpin Indigenous care-seeking behaviour. Further community-based research is needed to increase understanding of the needs of Indigenous people with cancer, and to guide policy and practice towards more supportive and effective care. [source]