AlterNative celebrates the 10th anniversary of the journal this year.

The first issue in 2014 the 10th anniversary milestone, Volume 10(1), is on education with important and thought-provoking articles from scholars in Australia and Botswana. Other submissions come from those working in Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and Costa Rica.

Whereas the latest issue of AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples Volume 10, no. 2 (2014) covers topics including Native American oratory tradition, Pacific theatre, indigenous health, research ethics, education and social work. To subscribe and read AlterNative visit www.alternative.ac.nz

Further details of the 2014 issues contents are below:

AlterNative; Volume 10(1), 2014

The focus for milestone Volume 10(1) is on education with important and thought-provoking articles from scholars in Australia and Botswana. Other submissions come from those working in Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and Costa Rica.
A four-paper submission comprises ‘At the Heart of Learning’, a series which is coordinated by Sam Osborne, from Victoria University, Melbourne. The focus is on indigenous territories in the north-west corner of South Australia, and local (Anangu) educators join the coordinator to speak to remote educators about key ideas in education from their own perspectives. Mainstream education priorities are counter-balanced by the deeper aspects of local knowledge, values and perspectives within the context of Anangu communities and schools.

Associate Professor Lily Mafela from Botswana in “Education and perceptions of “other”: Colonial education of Batswana and formal education of Indigenous San in Botswana” considers how a marginalized people, who experience a dominating educational curriculum that continues to dominate, alienate and demean. Dr Mafela’s paper looks at how the San have formulated and implemented policies and strategies that ameliorate the educational challenges facing the San.
Cindy Gaudet, from the University of Ottawa, in “Dismantling the patriarchal alter from within”, explores the relationship with identity, memory and power and how personal and collective relationship is negotiated within patriarchal and colonial ideology - all from a Métis perspective. She considers the notion of dominant discourse, the patriarchy with, the subjugation of the body, the perpetuation of trauma and healing.

A collaboration of seven scholars from Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand has combined to author “Embodying colonization: Methodologies and indigenization.” This article explores the role of the body in decolonizing and Indigenous methodologies through the experiences and perspectives of four researchers and research teams living and working in different contexts in both countries.

This issue’s Commentary (“The dynamics between indigenous rights and environmental governance: A preliminary analysis and focus on the impact of climate change governance through the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation [REDD] programme”) evaluates the complex relationship between international environmental governance and indigenous rights and the specific connects that forest dwellers and other indigenous populations have with their lands, the knowledge stemming from this bond and the major role this plays in resource protection. The author, Inès Ayari, is from the University for Peace, San José, Costa Rica.

AlterNative; Volume 10, Issue Number 2 2014

The latest issue of AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples Volume 10, no. 2 (2014) is now available online and in print. The topics covered in this issue are Native American oratory tradition, Pacific theatre, indigenous health, research ethics, education and social work.

Three of the seven contributions in this issue foreground questions regarding the right way of conducting indigenous research and the importance of indigenous peoples having self-determination over the knowledge-construction process. In “Resisting condescending research ethics in Aotearoa New Zealand” Juan Tauri critiques the process employed by New Zealand Research Ethics Boards to assess indigenous-focused or indigenous-led research. Paola A. Torres Slimming, E. Roberto Orellana and Jeiser Suarez Maynas in “Structural determinants of indigenous health”, present findings from their photovoice study in which they partnered with three Shipibo- Konibo indigenous villages in the Peruvian Amazon to develop more structurally and culturally appropriate solutions to the health problems these indigenous people face. Ngārewa Hāwera’s and Merilyn Taylor’s article “Researcher–teacher collaboration in Māori - medium education: Aspects of learning for a teacher and researchers in Aotearoa New Zealand when teaching mathematics” emphasizes how effective collaboration with Māori must be based on adhering to aspects of kaupapa Māori research principles.

Thomas F. Thornton and Ishmael Hope present an appreciative enquiry into Tlingit ritual oratory and show that oratorical traditions remain vital among the Tlingit. They argue that oratory does not only function as a source of comfort in memorial rituals but also as a guidance and expression of the “integrity of indigenous values and ways of knowing and being in the world”.

In “Cultural crisis in postcolonial Pacific theatre: John Kneubuhl’s Mele Kanikau: A Pageant”, Michelle Johansson critically examines the theatrical legacy of Afakasi (half- caste) American Samoan playwright John Kneubuhl (1920–1992) by focussing on one of his lesser known plays.

David Mayeda and co-authors identify three broad themes which, alongside a positive indigenous ethnic identity, contribute to indigenous students’ educational success in “You’ve gotta set a precedent”: Māori and Pacific voices on student success in higher education”. Finally, Bindi Bennett looks at the extensive social and psychological consequences of racism and lateral violence directed at light-skinned Aboriginal Australians and reflects on implications for social work practice.

AlterNative is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal that aims to present indigenous worldviews from native indigenous perspectives. AlterNative welcomes articles for inclusion in general issues throughout the year. Visit www.alternative.ac.nz or email editors@alternative.ac.nz