DOCSLIB.ORG

Biocultural Diversity: a Mongolian Case Study

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Biocultural Diversity: a Mongolian Case Study Copyright © 2019 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance. Seele, B. C., K. J. Esler, and A. B. Cunningham. 2019. Biocultural diversity: a Mongolian case study. Ecology and Society 24(4):27. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11207-240427 Research Biocultural diversity: a Mongolian case study Barbara C. Seele 1, Karen J. Esler 1 and Anthony B. Cunningham 2,3 ABSTRACT. Although conceptual frameworks describing biodiversity and cultural keystone species have been widely accepted over the past 15 years, there remains a need for an overarching framework that covers the various components of biocultural diversity. We present a conceptual framework to enable the better understanding, monitoring, and maintenance of biocultural diversity across a range of spatial scales, from the landscape and ecosystem level to the species and gene/meme level. This is done by combining the concepts of biological diversity and cultural diversity, including cultural values and symbols, ethnoscientific approaches, as well as power relations and institutions, to form a biocultural diversity framework. To illustrate the framework, we use a systems diagram and practical examples from a case study on the ethnoveterinary knowledge and practices of Mongolian pastoralists. Ethnoveterinary knowledge is an example of traditional ecological knowledge and therefore offers valuable insight into biocultural diversity. Using the conceptual framework as a tool, our investigation of biocultural diversity in the Mongolian pastoralist context strongly suggests that an understanding of the historical, political, and cultural contexts, as well as the interrelatedness of cultural processes and ecological systems, is essential for maintaining biocultural diversity. More specifically, our results indicate that retaining a mobile herding way of life as well as the associated balance and communication with nature, is vital for both the continued transmission of ethnoveterinary knowledge and the sustainable use of ecological resources that Mongolian pastoralists rely on. There is a need for national policies that acknowledge, support, and maintain the important and complex processes underlying the Mongolian landscape and the associated worldviews, knowledge, and practices. The development of a coherent framework for biocultural diversity therefore allows for a clearer understanding of the various components and the selection of appropriate indicators for monitoring biocultural diversity. Key Words: biocultural diversity; cultural keystone species; ethnoveterinary knowledge; Mongolia; pastoralists INTRODUCTION addressed in the “Florence Declaration” (UNESCO and SCBD The relationship between human culture and nature, and the 2014) and include, among others, indications that landscapes connections between cultural and biological diversity, are (including seascapes) rich in biocultural diversity are often those encapsulated in the term “biocultural diversity” (Maffi and managed by traditional pastoralists, peasant farmers, and small- Woodley 2010). This is defined by Loh and Harmon scale fishermen. (2005:231-232) as “the sum total of the world’s differences, no As traditional pastoralists, Mongolian herders actualize a social- matter what their origin. It includes biological diversity at all its ecological system that represents a working example of levels, from genes to populations to species to ecosystems; cultural biocultural diversity. For centuries they have lived in close diversity in all its manifestations ..., ranging from individual ideas connection with their livestock and the steppe ecosystem they to entire cultures; and, importantly, the interactions among all of inhabit, with a worldview that includes themselves, their livestock, these.” Notably, the consolidation of biological diversity and and the landscape they live in as a strongly interrelated unit cultural diversity into a single concept reflects the development (Humphrey et al. 1993). Because landscapes are products of both of social-ecological science, and echoes the worldview of many biological and cultural processes (Taylor 2009), understanding cultures, where people and nature are viewed not as separate cultural knowledge and practices associated with a particular entities, but as an interconnected whole (Berkes 1999). This place is crucial for the conservation of both cultural and biological interconnected “whole” can be viewed as a system with emergent diversity associated with that specific landscape, eloquently properties that are not necessarily evident when parts are viewed encapsulated by Cuerrier et al. (2015) in the term “cultural in isolation. keystone places.” For example, in a case study of the Dongba The links between biological and cultural diversity are culture among the Naxi in Yunnan Province, China, Geng et al. increasingly recognized as important constituents of social- (2017) found that understanding symbolic plant use and places ecological systems (Sutherland 2003, Loh and Harmon 2005, of ritual potency can help to better understand both communities Maffi and Woodley 2010, Agnoletti and Rotherham 2015). and the conservation of natural resources. Interactive, cross- Consequently, in 2010, the Convention on Biological Diversity cultural approaches to conservation that include a focus on (CBD) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and indigenous knowledge and cultural values thus contribute to Cultural Organization (UNESCO), launched a “Joint conserving both biodiversity and traditional knowledge Programme on the Links between Biological and Cultural associated with biodiversity (Xu et al. 2005). Diversity” (Agnoletti and Rotherham 2015). The interconnectedness Ethnoveterinary knowledge and practices can be described as a between biological and cultural diversity also forms a form of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and in this study, fundamental ethos of the IPBES (Intergovernmental Platform on as in Berkes (1999:6), TEK is used in the same way that aboriginal Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) framing (Díaz et al. 2015). people from the Canadian North refer to their “knowledge of the Important issues concerning biocultural research activities were 1Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, South Africa, 2School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, 3School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch WA, Australia Ecology and Society 24(4): 27 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss4/art27/ land.” This dynamic body of knowledge, practices, and beliefs dried in their felt homes (gers), and stored for use during the harsh about the relationships between living beings and their winter and spring months. environment is a characteristic of societies that have for Mongolian pastoralists have a wealth of traditional ecological generations been dependent on resource use of specific lands knowledge on rangeland management (Fernández-Giménez (Berkes 1999), such as the Mongolian pastoralists. In addition, 2000) as well as ethnoveterinary practices and beliefs (Seele 2017). ethnoveterinary knowledge is embedded in a complex social- As Berkes (1999) points out, damage is done when traditional ecological system and is built upon specific cultural beliefs, ecological knowledge is separated from its cultural and historical customs, traditions, as well as the relationship of herders to the context. Baigal, the Mongolian term for nature, is closely related land and to their animals, and therefore, contains both cultural to baidal, “the way things are” or a “state of being” and includes and biological elements (Wanzala et al. 2005). animals, plants, the landscape, weather, human existence, and the Within the Mongolian pastoralist context, we use a study on the ways in which they affect each other (Humphrey et al. 1993, ethnoveterinary knowledge of Mongolian herders (Seele 2017) as Humphrey and Sneath 1999:2). Reciprocity applies to human- a case study to identify and better understand the components of animal and human-landscape relationships (Humphrey et al. biocultural diversity, and to illustrate how this information 1993). For example, herders believe that if they treat other beings contributed to the development of a two-part conceptual and the landscape around them with respect, their extended family framework for biocultural diversity. We refer to ethnoveterinary will remain strong and healthy (Fijn 2011), however, if harmed, knowledge and practice as a living example of TEK that connects nature could retaliate (Humphrey et al. 1993, Charlier 2015). biological and cultural diversity, and includes the use of medicinal During the Soviet era in Mongolia (1920s–1980s), traditions and plants, fungi, and remedies of mineral and animal origin (Seele spiritual norms regarding interactions with nature were 2017), as well as specific herding techniques that are closely linked suppressed (Bawden 1986, as cited in Upton 2010), and a more to ecological markers (Fernández-Giménez 2000). The TEK of scientific, state-led nature conservation approach was Mongolian herders has been the focal point of various studies, implemented based on species identification and enumeration including herders’ observations of rangeland change (Bruegger (Reading et al. 2006). Since the end of the Soviet era, conservation et al. 2014), herders’ perceptions of climate change (Marin 2010), programs and practices were largely influenced by donor agencies, perceptions of vegetation threshold
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Jantzen on Wempe. Revenants of the German Empire: Colonial Germans, Imperialism, and the League of Nations
    H-German Jantzen on Wempe. Revenants of the German Empire: Colonial Germans, Imperialism, and the League of Nations. Discussion published by Jennifer Wunn on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 Review published on Friday, May 21, 2021 Author: Sean Andrew Wempe Reviewer: Mark Jantzen Jantzen on Wempe, 'Revenants of the German Empire: Colonial Germans, Imperialism, and the League of Nations' Sean Andrew Wempe. Revenants of the German Empire: Colonial Germans, Imperialism, and the League of Nations. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. 304 pp. $78.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-19-090721-1. Reviewed by Mark Jantzen (Bethel College)Published on H-Nationalism (May, 2021) Commissioned by Evan C. Rothera (University of Arkansas - Fort Smith) Printable Version: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=56206 Demise or Transmutation for a Unique National Identity? Sean Andrew Wempe’s investigation of the afterlife in the 1920s of the Germans who lived in Germany’s colonies challenges a narrative that sees them primarily as forerunners to Nazi brutality and imperial ambitions. Instead, he follows them down divergent paths that run the gamut from rejecting German citizenship en masse in favor of South African papers in the former German Southwest Africa to embracing the new postwar era’s ostensibly more liberal and humane version of imperialism supervised by the League of Nations to, of course, trying to make their way in or even support Nazi Germany. The resulting well-written, nuanced examination of a unique German national identity, that of colonial Germans, integrates the German colonial experience into Weimar and Nazi history in new and substantive ways.
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of Palestinian and Native American Literature
    INDIGENOUS CONTINUANCE THROUGH HOMELAND: AN ANALYSIS OF PALESTINIAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE ________________________________________ A Thesis Presented to The Honors Tutorial College Ohio University ________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation from the Honors Tutorial College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English ________________________________________ by Alana E. Dakin June 2012 Dakin 2 This thesis has been approved by The Honors Tutorial College and the Department of English ____________________ Dr. George Hartley Professor, English Thesis Advisor ____________________ Dr. Carey Snyder Honors Tutorial College, Director of Studies English ____________________ Dr. Jeremy Webster Dean, Honors Tutorial College Dakin 3 CHAPTER ONE Land is more than just the ground on which we stand. Land is what provides us with the plants and animals that give us sustenance, the resources to build our shelters, and a place to rest our heads at night. It is the source of the most sublime beauty and the most complete destruction. Land is more than just dirt and rock; it is a part of the cycle of life and death that is at the very core of the cultures and beliefs of human civilizations across the centuries. As human beings began to navigate the surface of the earth thousands of years ago they learned the nuances of the land and the creatures that inhabited it, and they began to relate this knowledge to their fellow man. At the beginning this knowledge may have been transmitted as a simple sound or gesture: a cry of warning or an eager nod of the head. But as time went on, humans began to string together these sounds and bits of knowledge into words, and then into story, and sometimes into song.
    [Show full text]
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation Department of Homeland Security
    Federal Bureau of Investigation Department of Homeland Security Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism Submitted to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the Committee of the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives, and the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and the Committee of the Judiciary of the United States Senate May 2021 Page 1 of 40 Table of Contents I. Overview of Reporting Requirement ............................................................................................. 2 II. Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 2 III. Introduction...................................................................................................................................... 2 IV. Strategic Intelligence Assessment ................................................................................................... 5 V. Discussion and Comparison of Investigative Activities ................................................................ 9 VI. FBI Data on Domestic Terrorism ................................................................................................. 19 VII. Recommendations .......................................................................................................................... 27 Appendix ....................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Civil Defense and Homeland Security: a Short History of National Preparedness Efforts
    Civil Defense and Homeland Security: A Short History of National Preparedness Efforts September 2006 Homeland Security National Preparedness Task Force 1 Civil Defense and Homeland Security: A Short History of National Preparedness Efforts September 2006 Homeland Security National Preparedness Task Force 2 ABOUT THIS REPORT This report is the result of a requirement by the Director of the Department of Homeland Security’s National Preparedness Task Force to examine the history of national preparedness efforts in the United States. The report provides a concise and accessible historical overview of U.S. national preparedness efforts since World War I, identifying and analyzing key policy efforts, drivers of change, and lessons learned. While the report provides much critical information, it is not meant to be a substitute for more comprehensive historical and analytical treatments. It is hoped that the report will be an informative and useful resource for policymakers, those individuals interested in the history of what is today known as homeland security, and homeland security stakeholders responsible for the development and implementation of effective national preparedness policies and programs. 3 Introduction the Nation’s diverse communities, be carefully planned, capable of quickly providing From the air raid warning and plane spotting pertinent information to the populace about activities of the Office of Civil Defense in the imminent threats, and able to convey risk 1940s, to the Duck and Cover film strips and without creating unnecessary alarm. backyard shelters of the 1950s, to today’s all- hazards preparedness programs led by the The following narrative identifies some of the Department of Homeland Security, Federal key trends, drivers of change, and lessons strategies to enhance the nation’s learned in the history of U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • US Responses to Self-Determination Movements
    U.S. RESPONSES TO SELF-DETERMINATION MOVEMENTS Strategies for Nonviolent Outcomes and Alternatives to Secession Report from a Roundtable Held in Conjunction with the Policy Planning Staff of the U.S. Department of State Patricia Carley UNITED STATES INSTITUTE OF PEACE CONTENTS Key Points v Preface viii 1 Introduction 1 2 Self-Determination: Four Case Studies 3 3 Self-Determination, Human Rights, and Good Governance 14 4 A Case for Secession 17 5 Self-Determination at the United Nations 21 6 Nonviolent Alternatives to Secession: U.S. Policy Options 23 7 Conclusion 28 About the Author 29 About the Institute 30 v refugees from Iraq into Turkey heightened world awareness of the Kurdish issue in general and highlighted Kurdish distinctiveness. The forma- tion in the 1970s in Turkey of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a radical and violent Marxist-Leninist organization, also intensified the issue; the PKK’s success in rallying the Kurds’ sense of identity cannot be denied. Though the KEY POINTS PKK has retreated from its original demand for in- dependence, the Turks fear that any concession to their Kurdish population will inevitably lead to an end to the Turkish state. - Although the Kashmir issue involves both India’s domestic politics and its relations with neighbor- ing Pakistan, the immediate problem is the insur- rection in Kashmir itself. Kashmir’s inclusion in the state of India carried with it provisions for considerable autonomy, but the Indian govern- ment over the decades has undermined that au- tonomy, a process eventually resulting in - Though the right to self-determination is included anti-Indian violence in Kashmir in the late 1980s.
    [Show full text]
  • Download My Fact Sheet
    Institute for a College of Humanities Sustainable Earth and Social Sciences Christopher Morris, PhD Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology Education PhD, Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder Key Interests Environmental Governance | Extractive Economies | Biological and Genetic Resources | Pharmaceutical Politics | Indigeneity | Ethnicity | Property | Colonialism and Postcolonialism | Land Rights | Southern Africa CONTACT Phone: 720-988-8763 | Email: [email protected] Website: https://gmu.academia.edu/ChristopherMorris SELECT PUBLICATIONS Research Focus › Morris, C. (2016). Royal My recent work particularly examines the environmental, indigenous, and spatial politics of pharmaceuticals: contestation over biological resources in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The resources Bioprospecting, rights, and are removed and marketed around the world as medicines by multinational companies. My book traditional authority in South manuscript on this subject highlights the complex relationship between the global governance of Africa. American Ethnologist, biodiversity conservation and commercialization, explosions in indigenous rights consciousness, 43(3), 525–539. and the role of foreign firms in local politics. In another recently completed study, I used › Morris, C. (2019). A interviews with medical doctors and researchers to examine a unique clinical trial in South Africa ‘Homeland’s’ harvest: Biotraffic that assessed the safety and efficacy of an African traditional medicine in HIV-seropositive and biotrade in the persons. contemporary Ciskei region of South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies, 45(3), 597–616. › Morris, C. (2017). Biopolitics and boundary work in South Africa’s sutherlandia clinical trial. Medical Anthropology, 36(7), 685–698. › Morris, C. (2013). Pharmaceutical Bioprospecting and the law: The case of umckaloabo in a former apartheid homeland of South Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • Removing Squaw: a Trickle-Down
    Truckee/North Lake Tahoe 10 September – 7 October 2020 Vintage 18, Nip 10 Independent Newspaper • Priceless My COVID Summer ... 41 Removing Squaw: A Trickle-Down ... 9 Face-Off: McClintock vs. Kennedy ... 13 Community Corkboard Corkboard in the Center ... 26 WANT TO EARN STABLE MONTHLY INCOME FROM YOUR VACATION HOME? With the instability in short-term rentals because of COVID-19, have you been thinking about renting longer-term? Our team handles everything needed to find a vetted, locally-employed tenant so you can earn guaranteed monthly income. LandingLocals.com (530)213-3093 CA DRE #02103731 Green Initiatives Over the past fi ve years, we’ve developed a number of initiatives that reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and keep our community clean and blue. New fl ight tracking program (ADS-B) allows for GOING GREEN TO KEEP more e cient fl ying Implementation of Greenhouse Gas Inventory & GHG OUR REGION BLUE. Emission Reduction Plan Land management plan for forest We live in a special place. As a deeply committed community partner, health and wildfi re prevention the Truckee Tahoe Airport District cares about our environment and Open-space land acquisitions for we work diligently to minimize the airport’s impact on the region. From public use new ADS-B technology, to using electric vehicles on the airfi eld, and Electric vehicles & E-bikes used on fi eld preserving more than 1,600 acres of open space land, the District will continue to seek the most sustainable way of operating. Photo by Anders Clark, Disciples of Flight Energy-e cient hangar
    [Show full text]
  • Ilan Pappé Zionism As Colonialism
    Ilan Pappé Zionism as Colonialism: A Comparative View of Diluted Colonialism in Asia and Africa Introduction: The Reputation of Colonialism Ever since historiography was professionalized as a scientific discipline, historians have consid- ered the motives for mass human geographical relocations. In the twentieth century, this quest focused on the colonialist settler projects that moved hundreds of thousands of people from Europe into America, Asia, and Africa in the pre- ceding centuries. The various explanations for this human transit have changed considerably in recent times, and this transformation is the departure point for this essay. The early explanations for human relocations were empiricist and positivist; they assumed that every human action has a concrete explanation best found in the evidence left by those who per- formed the action. The practitioners of social his- tory were particularly interested in the question, and when their field of inquiry was impacted by trends in philosophy and linguistics, their conclusion differed from that of the previous generation. The research on Zionism should be seen in light of these historiographical developments. Until recently, in the Israeli historiography, the South Atlantic Quarterly 107:4, Fall 2008 doi 10.1215/00382876-2008-009 © 2008 Duke University Press Downloaded from http://read.dukeupress.edu/south-atlantic-quarterly/article-pdf/107/4/611/470173/SAQ107-04-01PappeFpp.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 612 Ilan Pappé dominant explanation for the movement of Jews from Europe to Palestine in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was—and, in many ways, still is—positivist and empiricist.1 Researchers analyzed the motives of the first group of settlers who arrived on Palestine’s shores in 1882 according to the testimonies in their diaries and other documents.
    [Show full text]
  • Texas Homeland Security Strategic Plan 2021-2025
    TEXAS HOMELAND SECURITY STRATEGIC PLAN 2021-2025 LETTER FROM THE GOVERNOR Fellow Texans: Over the past five years, we have experienced a wide range of homeland security threats and hazards, from a global pandemic that threatens Texans’ health and economic well-being to the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and other natural disasters to the tragic mass shootings that claimed innocent lives in Sutherland Springs, Santa Fe, El Paso, and Midland-Odessa. We also recall the multi-site bombing campaign in Austin, the cybersecurity attack on over 20 local agencies, a border security crisis that overwhelmed federal capabilities, actual and threatened violence in our cities, and countless other incidents that tested the capabilities of our first responders and the resilience of our communities. In addition, Texas continues to see significant threats from international cartels, gangs, domestic terrorists, and cyber criminals. In this environment, it is essential that we actively assess and manage risks and work together as a team, with state and local governments, the private sector, and individuals, to enhance our preparedness and protect our communities. The Texas Homeland Security Strategic Plan 2021-2025 lays out Texas’ long-term vision to prevent and respond to attacks and disasters. It will serve as a guide in building, sustaining, and employing a wide variety of homeland security capabilities. As we build upon the state’s successes in implementing our homeland security strategy, we must be prepared to make adjustments based on changes in the threat landscape. By fostering a continuous process of learning and improving, we can work together to ensure that Texas is employing the most effective and innovative tactics to keep our communities safe.
    [Show full text]
  • Settler Colonialism and US Home Missions
    Settler Colonialism and U.S. Home Missions Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion Settler Colonialism and U.S. Home Missions Matthew J. Smith Subject: Religion in America Online Publication Date: Feb 2018 DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.392 Summary and Keywords Home Missions in the United States was a white Protestant missionary movement within the geopolitical borders of the US empire—both its contiguous states as well as its colonial territories—as they developed and shifted through a long history of US imperial expansion, settlement, and conquest. From the beginning of the 19th century, Anglo- Protestants in the United States became invested in the home missionary movement to secure Christian supremacy on the land that made up their newly forming white settler nation. Home Missions was occupied with both the formation of a sacred homeland and the homes within that homeland. As a dual-homemaking endeavor, home missionary projects functioned as settler colonial technologies of space-making and race-making. They not only sought to transform the land into an Anglo-Protestant possession but also racialized people as foreign to maintain Anglo-Protestant sovereignty over the spaces mapped as a home through colonial conquest. Centering settler colonialism within an analysis of Home Missions denaturalized home and foreign as taken-for-granted spatial categories by considering them colonial significations. Home Missions sought to remake conquered territory habitable for Anglo-Protestant settlement, using the concepts home and foreign to govern people differently within that conquered territory. Page 1 of 27 PRINTED FROM the OXFORD RESEARCH ENCYCLOPEDIA, RELIGION (religion.oxfordre.com). (c) Oxford University Press USA, 2016.
    [Show full text]
  • Study Guide the AMB Foundation
    Made possible with a grant from Study Guide the AMB Foundation. Provided by Katahdin Foundation Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action This Study Guide Applies to the Following Student Audiences: General: All secondary school students with curricula in Social Studies or Environmental Studies Specifi c: Indigenous secondary students in all schools; public, private, tribal, and BIA; other minority secondary students; all secondary students in highly culturally diverse settings; tribal colleges Synopsis of the Film: Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action One of the most important but least known human rights stories in America today is the destruction of Native American lands and its impact on Native peoples. Nearly all indigenous nations in the U.S. sit on land threatened by environmental hazards—toxic waste, strip mining, oil drilling and nuclear contamination. The realities are often bleak—children play near radioactive waste, rivers that tribes depend on for food are poisoned, and reservations are surrounded by strip mines and smoke stacks spewing noxious fumes. Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action takes a hard look at these realities. It follows the efforts of activists who are fi ghting back in four Native American communities. These leaders are passionately dedicated to protecting Indian lands and ensuring the cultural survival of their peoples. They are: Gail Small, Northern Cheyenne, Montana – An attorney fi ghting to protect the Cheyenne homeland from the ruin caused by 75,000 proposed coal bed methane gas wells that threaten to contaminate the Tongue River. Evon Peter, Gwich’in, Alaska – The Chief of an isolated community fi ghting efforts to drill for oil in the fragile Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
    [Show full text]
  • April 12, 2021 Transmitted Via Electronic Mail Fresno County
    April 12, 2021 Transmitted via Electronic Mail Fresno County Board of Supervisors [email protected] Chairman Steve Brandau [email protected] Vice Chairman Brian Pacheco [email protected] Supervisor Sal Quintero [email protected] Supervisor Ernest Buddy Mendes [email protected] Supervisor Nathan Magsig [email protected] Re: Resolution to Change the Name of Squaw Valley Dear Fresno County Board of Supervisors Steve Brandau, Brian Pacheco, Brian Pacheco, Sal Quintero, Ernest Buddy Mendes, and Nathan Magsig, The American Civil Liberties Foundation of Northern California submits this letter in support of the Resolution to Authorize the Renaming of “Squaw Valley”1 and to urge the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to heed the call of local residents to adopt the resolution. Although it may be the case that no one in Fresno County today chose this name, and we hope no one today would actively advocate for the use of this horrible word, this does not absolve us of our collective responsibility to address past wrongs and ensure that future generations are not subjected to them. Culture, heritage, and history are critically important pieces of our identities, how we define ourselves, and our place in society. Since the time of contact, Native American women have been degraded and demeaned by slurs like “sq**w.” Native American scholars, activists, and leaders agree that stereotypical mascots and place names—far from “honoring” Native peoples—are deeply damaging and further racist and reductive views of Indigenous peoples. While some will argue that this is just a word, its use represents the ongoing dehumanization of Indigenous women that—for two hundred years—has justified and normalized sexual violence against them.
    [Show full text]