Fourth World Journal
type: channel
description: The Fourth World Journal (FWJ) is a peer-reviewed international journal published by the Center for World Indigenous Studies, USA. CWIS is an Indigenous -directed, 501 (c) 3 Non Profit research, policy and education organization. FWJ is a platform for international scholars and activists, and political and cultural leaders. Published continuously since 1984, The FWJ has been a reliable, trusted, and respected source of contemporary Fourth World scholarship and commentary from around the world. The journal publishes studies, commentaries, and analyses of the ideas, knowledge, and conditions of more than 5,000 Fourth World (Indigenous) Nations, representing over 1.9 billion people globally. The journal publishes articles across a diverse range of fields, including: Anthropology, communication and cross-cultural studies, demography, indigenous environmental sciences, food sovereignty, development governance, economics, education, ethics, geography, history, international relations, indigenous legal systems and law, linguistics, media studies, methodologies, philosophy, political science, population studies, psychology, public health, sociology, literature, visual and performing arts (music, theater, and dance), religious studies, and women’s/feminist studies.
publisher: Center For World Indigenous Studies
language: en
publication name: Fourth World Journal
issn: 1090-5251
copyright: CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Attribution (BY): You must give appropriate credit to the original creator. NonCommercial (NC): You cannot use the work for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives (ND): You cannot distribute modified versions of the work.
items: Embodying Mana Wāhine: Rongoā as Identity, Body Sovereignty and Knowledge Transmission
items: Wombs, Waters, and Wort: Infertility, Ethnobotany, and Pharmacognosy Among Female Healers in Southwest Nigeria
items: The Indigenous Matriarch Manifesto: Kinship, Matriarchy, and Indigenous Healing
items: Decolonizing Mental Health in Humanitarian Crises: A Mixed-Methods Synthesis of Cultural Resilience and Structural Equity in India and the Global South
items: Interweaving Relationality – Inawendiwin (Connection): Women Revitalizing Resurgence and Reciprocity
items: “Our Foods Remember Us”: Indigenous Women’s Ancestral Diets, Nutritional Knowledge, and Cardiometabolic Health
items: Reclaiming the Sacred Science of Garbha Samskara: The Adi Shaiva Tradition's Vision of Conscious Conception and Prenatal Care
items: Yakama Women at the Longhouse: Huli-Carried Medicine and Traditional First Food Ceremonies
items: Reclaiming Auntie Wisdom: Cultivating Indigenous Doula Pathways for Birth Justice and Community Healing
items: Naming the Fatigue, Rekindling the Fire: Gitxsan Matriarchs’ Fight Against Colonial Disorder
items: Wayra and the Dream Snake
items: Book Review: The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family’s Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life, by Katsi Cook
items: Beyond Integration: Indigenous Health Sovereignty and Traditional Medicine Policy in the United States
items: The Healing Power of Māori Women’s Ancestral Mark
items: Revitalizing Kichwa Midwifery Medicinal Plant Knowledge for Pregnant Women in San Martín, Peru
items: Wombs, Washes, and Wisdom
items: Nomadic Tribes and the Integration of Health, Wellness, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in India
items: Oral Testimonies of Traditional Medicine A Kamëntša Woman’s Legacy
items: Yakama Women at the Longhouse
items: Bridging Worldviews
items: Feathers of Wisdom
items: Emita. Healing Hands, Cleansing Hands
items: The Rules of War & Fourth World Nations
items: Regulating Access to Customary Fourth World Foods and Medicines
items: Trust Arrangements between States and Indigenous Nations in the International Environment
items: Conjoining: The Reawakening to Spiralism from the Age of Progressivism
items: The Muckleshoot Experiment
items: A Framework for Implementing the Principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) – Comity or Conflict
items: To Establish a Congress of Nations and States (CNS)

Embodying Mana Wāhine: Rongoā as Identity, Body Sovereignty and Knowledge Transmission
type: item
description: This article examines how Māori healers navigate the reclamation and revitalization of rongoā Māori as a locus of cultural identity, bodily sovereignty, and intergenerational resilience. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the study employs a hybrid methodology combining Kaupapa Māori principles with Indigenous qualitative research methods. Findings highlight that rongoā is not solely a therapeutic modality but also a living expression of mana wāhine through identity, body sovereignty, and knowledge transmission. Participants describe rongoā as an embodied experience, a reclamation of bodily autonomy, and as a form of healing knowledge succession. By applying Indigenous epistemologies, we aim to demonstrate that rongoā supports identity reclamation, self-determination in healthcare, and the ongoing creation of Indigenous knowledge. This research contributes to the growing recognition of Indigenous healing systems as central to decolonization, wellbeing, and cultural resurgence.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Rongoā Māori
  topic: keywords
subject: mana wāhine
  topic: keywords
subject: Kaupapa Māori
  topic: keywords
creator: Glenis Mark
creator: Amohia Boulton
creator: Tanya Allport
creator: Gill Potaka-Osborne
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 127
ending page: 148
doi: 10.63428/rndnxc67

Wombs, Waters, and Wort: Infertility, Ethnobotany, and Pharmacognosy Among Female Healers in Southwest Nigeria
type: item
description: Interest in Yorùbá fertility and childbearing practices arises from deeply embedded cultural values that prioritize reproduction as central to social identity and continuity. Building on the works of Thomas Bowen, Karin Barber, and Ade Dopamu, this study argues that fertility in Yorùbáland transcends biological function, representing a critical dimension of cultural survival. Drawing on oral histories and indigenous traditions, the paper examines conceptions of pregnancy, infertility, and reproductive health within Yorùbá society. It highlights how infertility is often attributed to spiritual or malevolent forces, necessitating the intervention of traditional medicine and female healers. These practitioners play a crucial role in addressing both physical and ontological barriers to conception, demonstrating resilience and specialized knowledge. The study further explores local medical systems and gendered experiences, revealing Yorùbá maternity care as a holistic and culturally grounded practice. Ultimately, the analysis underscores the enduring relevance of indigenous knowledge in shaping reproductive health outcomes despite colonial and modern influences.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Yorùbá fertility
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: female healers
  topic: keywords
subject: infertility
  topic: keywords
subject: reproductive health
  topic: keywords
subject: cultural practices
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Healing
  topic: subjects
subject: Fertility and Childbearing
  topic: subjects
subject: Yorùbá Reproductive Practices
  topic: subjects
creator: Tolulope Esther Fadeyi
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 106
ending page: 126
doi: 10.63428/4j75wg25

The Indigenous Matriarch Manifesto: Kinship, Matriarchy, and Indigenous Healing
type: item
description: This article examines Indigenous matriarchy as a dynamic framework for healing intergenerational trauma and sustaining cultural continuity. Grounded in Diné (Navajo) and Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) knowledge systems, it employs an Indigenous feminist, narrative-based methodology that positions lived experience as theory. Situating personal and familial histories within the broader context of colonial boarding school policies, the paper argues that disruptions to matriarchal roles and kinship systems have had lasting impacts on community wellbeing. Through analysis of women-centered practices—including foodways, ceremony, and relational accountability—it demonstrates that healing is enacted through collective relationships rather than individualized models of care. The article identifies Indigenous women as central agents in maintaining cultural knowledge and facilitating intergenerational recovery. It concludes that Indigenous matriarchy remains an active, adaptive system of governance and care, and calls for its greater recognition within Indigenous health frameworks and feminist scholarship.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: intergenerational trauma
  topic: keywords
subject: kinship systems
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous feminism
  topic: keywords
subject: cultural continuity
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous matriarchy
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Matriarchy
  topic: subjects
subject: Historical Trauma
  topic: subjects
subject: Decolonial Healing
  topic: subjects
creator: Renee Tsinigine Holt
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 47
ending page: 61
doi: 10.63428/xvbb2734

Decolonizing Mental Health in Humanitarian Crises: A Mixed-Methods Synthesis of Cultural Resilience and Structural Equity in India and the Global South
type: item
description: Humanitarian crises in the Global South, intensified by climate change and conflict, expose deep inequities in mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), rooted in colonial legacies that marginalize local epistemologies. This study advances a decolonial framework through a mixed-methods synthesis, integrating reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Drawing on studies, anonymized X posts (2023–2025), and participatory action research from Bihar’s floods and Kashmir’s conflict, we identify six themes: historical neglect, cultural misalignment, co-creation, cultural innovations, worker trauma, and decolonizing systems. SEM examines pathways such as epistemic colonialism, driving distrust and community-led innovations improving service uptake. Sensitivity analyses ensure robustness across LMIC contexts. Findings advocate for NDMA-mandated MHPSS screenings, NHM-funded storytelling, and worker support, emphasizing data sovereignty and equity. This framework reimagines MHPSS as a conduit for epistemic justice, offering scalable strategies for resilience in crisis-affected communities.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: decolonial MHPSS
  topic: keywords
subject: cultural resilience
  topic: keywords
subject: structural equity
  topic: keywords
subject: mixed-methods
  topic: keywords
subject: participatory action research
  topic: keywords
subject: humanitarian crises
  topic: keywords
subject: epistemic justice
  topic: keywords
subject: Decolonial Mental Health Frameworks
  topic: subjects
subject: Humanitarian Crises and Psychosocial Support
  topic: subjects
subject: Community-Based Resilience and Epistemic Justice
  topic: subjects
creator: Supriya Krishnan
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 196
ending page: 197
doi: 10.63428/zadr0v38

Interweaving Relationality – Inawendiwin (Connection): Women Revitalizing Resurgence and Reciprocity
type: item
description: Indigenous women’s leadership in medicine, health, and education continues to flourish across generations despite the enduring pressures of colonialism and industrialized care. This article interweaves storywork and conversational methods to illuminate seven interconnected, primarily women-led perspectives intersecting with the Center for Indigenous Land-Based Education, Research, and Wellness at xwc̓ic̓əsəm, at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver: The Medicine Camp; the Medicine Collective; the Indigenous Focusing-Oriented Therapy Collective; the ekw’í7tl Doula Programs; Women’s Wellness Gathering; Water Collective, and the Matrilineal Mentorship Collective. These sites address decolonial trauma, environmental justice, and food sovereignty through practices that restore reciprocity among land, body, memory, and community. We present a five-practice framework—research coordination, protocol engagement, preparation and access, application on the land, and reflection and storywork—as a model for weaving Indigenous relational ethics into education, health, and policy. We conclude with recommendations for Indigenous-led governance in health and higher education as pathways toward planetary wellbeing.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Indigenous women
  topic: keywords
subject: resurgence
  topic: keywords
subject: relationality
  topic: keywords
subject: land-based education
  topic: keywords
subject: matriarchal leadership
  topic: keywords
subject: reciprocity
  topic: keywords
subject: knowledge translation
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous women’s leadership
  topic: subjects
subject: Land-based healing and education
  topic: subjects
subject: Decolonial health and wellness
  topic: subjects
creator: Alannah Young
creator: Patricia May-Derbyshire
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 16
ending page: 46
doi: 10.63428/ve5ght50

“Our Foods Remember Us”: Indigenous Women’s Ancestral Diets, Nutritional Knowledge, and Cardiometabolic Health
type: item
description: Cardiometabolic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, disproportionately affect Indigenous communities worldwide, with Indigenous women bearing distinct health and caregiving burdens. This review reframes Indigenous women’s ancestral diets as a form of traditional medicine and a coherent, place-based health system supporting cardiometabolic regulation. Drawing on interdisciplinary literature from India, North America, Oceania, and Latin America, the paper synthesizes evidence on traditional food systems, women’s knowledge practices, and metabolic health outcomes through Indigenous epistemologies and intersectional analysis. The findings demonstrate that ancestral diets—rooted in ecological stewardship, cultural continuity, and women’s leadership—support glucose balance, cardiovascular health, and the regulation of inflammation. Situating Indigenous nutritional knowledge in dialogue with public health and clinical nutrition, the paper argues for ethically grounded, women-led food sovereignty approaches as integral to equitable and sustainable cardiometabolic disease prevention and care.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Indigenous women
  topic: keywords
subject: ancestral diets
  topic: keywords
subject: cardiometabolic health
  topic: keywords
subject: traditional food systems
  topic: keywords
subject: food sovereignty
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: non-communicable diseases
  topic: keywords
subject: intersectionality
  topic: keywords
subject: metabolic health
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Food Sovereignty
  topic: subjects
subject: Cardiometabolic Health
  topic: subjects
subject: Traditional Medicine and Nutrition
  topic: subjects
creator: Vishal Patil
creator: Mansi Patil
creator: Shilpa Varma
creator: Datta Patel
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 170
ending page: 195
doi: 10.63428/g7ra8819

Reclaiming the Sacred Science of Garbha Samskara: The Adi Shaiva Tradition's Vision of Conscious Conception and Prenatal Care
type: item
description: This paper examines Garbha Samskara practices described in the Garbha Upanishad within the Adi Shaiva tradition, exploring how ancient prenatal sciences cultivated cognitive development and spiritual consciousness in children. Drawing on original Sanskrit verses, the eNpregnancy program revived by Supreme Pontiff of Hinduism Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam (SPH), Akashic record readings, historical accounts of royal women who raised enlightened children, and testimonies of parents participating in the eNpregnancy program in modern times, the study demonstrates that pre-colonial Indian societies possessed advanced understandings of fetal consciousness and maternal–fetal bonding. It argues that modern Western educational paradigms and the contemporary expectations imposed on women have eroded access to these knowledge systems, leading to a disconnection from embodied feminine wisdom. Through analysis of ritual structures, philosophical foundations, and methodologies, the paper positions Garbha Samskara as an indigenous alternative to medicalized pregnancy and calls for epistemic justice and recognition of women’s traditional medicine as legitimate science.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Garbha Samskara
  topic: keywords
subject: Garbha Upanishad
  topic: keywords
subject: Adi Shaiva tradition
  topic: keywords
subject: prenatal communication
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous knowledge systems
  topic: keywords
subject: traditional medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: maternal wisdom
  topic: keywords
subject: cognitive development
  topic: keywords
subject: spiritual consciousness
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Studies
  topic: subjects
subject: Traditional Medicine
  topic: subjects
subject: Women’s Studies
  topic: subjects
creator: Rani Muthukrishnan
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 83
ending page: 105
doi: 10.63428/fqv1zb98

Yakama Women at the Longhouse: Huli-Carried Medicine and Traditional First Food Ceremonies
type: item
description: This paper examines Indigenous epistemologies grounded in relationality, lived knowledge, and spiritual connections to land within Yakama communities. Building on prior research, it explores Yakama women’s traditional ecological knowledge through elder interviews and participation in Longhouse (Washat) and First Foods practices. These traditions reflect a worldview that honors natural elements as living forces and emphasizes women’s roles in stewardship and knowledge transmission. Focusing on berry-picking practices and the Huckleberry Feast, this study highlights how women sustain and adapt cultural traditions. The findings underscore the resilience of Indigenous knowledge systems and their importance in maintaining reciprocal relationships with land and community.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Indigenous epistemologies
  topic: keywords
subject: Yakama
  topic: keywords
subject: relationality
  topic: keywords
subject: traditional ecological knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous women
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Studies
  topic: subjects
subject: Traditional Ecological Knowledge
  topic: subjects
subject: Indigenous Women and Cultural Revitalization
  topic: subjects
creator: Hailey Allen
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 149
ending page: 169
doi: 10.63428/p1j3pc05

Reclaiming Auntie Wisdom: Cultivating Indigenous Doula Pathways for Birth Justice and Community Healing
type: item
description: Indigenous doulas protect and pass on ancestral birth and reproductive knowledge and nurture safe birthing spaces for Indigenous people and communities. This paper shares findings from a community-embedded mixed-methods study of the Indigenous Responsive Mentorship Doula Initiative in the northwestern United States. The authors introduce the Auntie Wisdom Indigenous Doula Training Framework highlighting the growth and traditional healing doulas experienced in this training initiative, as represented by cedar (knowledge), sweet grass (connection), and sage (advocacy). The initiative successfully prepared doulas to offer birth support, advocate with and for their clients, and collectively support community healing and futurity. Results indicate the important need for additional resources to support community-led Indigenous doula work and physical birth justice hubs, especially in rural Tribal communities.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Washington Indigenous communities
  topic: keywords
subject: doula
  topic: keywords
subject: indigenous maternal health
  topic: keywords
subject: care access
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Studies
  topic: subjects
subject: Traditional Medicine
  topic: subjects
subject: Women’s Studies
  topic: subjects
creator: Teresa Abrahamson-Richards
creator: MichaeLynn Kanichy
creator: Glenda Abbott
creator: Penny Spencer
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 62
ending page: 82
doi: 10.63428/nxawn771

Naming the Fatigue, Rekindling the Fire: Gitxsan Matriarchs’ Fight Against Colonial Disorder
type: item
description: This article introduces two conceptual frameworks—Post-Settler Disorder (PSD) and Colonial Contact Fatigue (CCF)—to describe the ongoing impacts of settler colonialism on Indigenous peoples in Canada. Written from the perspective of a Gitxsan woman, the paper draws on Indigenous epistemologies, storytelling, and feminist scholarship grounded in lived experience. PSD functions as a satirical analytical lens exposing settler denial, historical amnesia, and narratives of innocence that sustain colonial systems. CCF names the cumulative spiritual, emotional, and physical exhaustion experienced through continuous contact with colonial institutions. The article highlights the role of Indigenous women, humor, and matrilineal knowledge as sources of resilience, resistance, and pathways toward healing.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: settler colonialism
  topic: keywords
subject: indigenous epistemologies
  topic: keywords
subject: Post-Settler Disorder (PSD)
  topic: keywords
subject: Colonial Contact Fatigue (CCF)
  topic: keywords
subject: indigenous women
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Studies
  topic: subjects
subject: Traditional Medicine
  topic: subjects
subject: Women’s Studies
  topic: subjects
subject: Global Health
  topic: subjects
creator: Jenny Morgan
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 1
ending page: 15
doi: 10.63428/k50ef197

Wayra and the Dream Snake
type: item
description: “Wayra and the Dream Snake” is a short story that explores dreams, illness, ancestral healing, and Indigenous understandings of the body through the journey of a young nurse in the Amazon. Blending magical realism and traditional medicine, the narrative reflects on vocation, memory, and spiritual transformation.
subject: Essays, Reviews, and Creative Expression
  topic: section
subject: Indigenous healing
  topic: keywords
subject: Dreams and spirituality
  topic: keywords
subject: Amazon rainforest
  topic: keywords
creator: Luna Contreras
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 214
ending page: 225
doi: 10.63428/phhb3809

Book Review: The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family’s Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life, by Katsi Cook
type: item
description: This book review examines The Water Remembers by Amy Bowers Cordalis, highlighting Indigenous environmental knowledge, Yurok relationships to the Klamath River, and the connections between ecological restoration, cultural revitalization, and healing practices.
subject: Essays, Reviews, and Creative Expression
  topic: section
creator: Dina Gilio-Whitaker
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 210
ending page: 213
doi: 10.63428/ccnjmg84

Beyond Integration: Indigenous Health Sovereignty and Traditional Medicine Policy in the United States
type: item
description: This policy paper examines Indigenous peoples’ traditional medicine in the United States as a comprehensive, land-based system of health grounded in intergenerational knowledge, ecological relationships, and community governance. It analyzes tensions between Indigenous health self-determination and state-led health policy, with particular attention to federal frameworks and the evolving approach of the World Health Organization (WHO) toward traditional medicine—from the community-based recognition reflected in the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata to more recent approaches emphasizing integration through regulation, biomedical validation, and standardization. The paper argues that these frameworks often marginalize Indigenous epistemologies by removing healing practices from their cultural, spiritual, and ecological contexts while privileging external evidence systems and governance structures. Drawing on examples from Tribal Nations and urban Indigenous communities, including Indigenous-governed health systems and community-based interventions, the paper highlights documented contributions to physical health, behavioral health, and community well-being. It also identifies structural barriers, including funding inequities, restrictive reimbursement policies, and the exclusion of traditional healers from formal systems. Situating these dynamics within ongoing colonial policy structures, the paper advances policy recommendations that prioritize Indigenous health self-determination, Tribal sovereignty, epistemological pluralism, and support for autonomous land-based systems of care.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Indigenous traditional medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: Tribal sovereignty
  topic: keywords
subject: health policy
  topic: keywords
subject: land-based healing
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous epistemologies
  topic: keywords
subject: public health
  topic: keywords
subject: United States
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Traditional Medicine and Health Sovereignty in the United States
  topic: subjects
subject: Decolonizing Health Policy: Indigenous Healing Systems and Epistemological Justice
  topic: subjects
subject: Tribal Health Self-Determination and the Politics of Traditional Medicine
  topic: subjects
creator: Leslie Korn
creator: Hailey Allen
creator: Charlotte Berg
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-06-18
publication date: 2026-06-18
starting page: 198
ending page: 209
doi: 10.63428/vj4ckm10

The Healing Power of Māori Women’s Ancestral Mark
type: item
description: This paper explores the interaction between feminist and Indigenous epistemologies with a particular focus on Māori women in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and the contributions of Mana Wahine theory (the authority of Māori women). Māori are the Indigenous people of Aotearoa, with connections to land, environment, cultural traditions, and a worldview shaped by whakapapa (genealogy), wairua (spirituality), and collective identity. Colonization disrupted many of these traditions; however, Māori women have continued to hold and transmit Indigenous knowledge through the generations. This paper validates the healing practice of moko kauae (traditional female chin tattoo) as a prime example of Mana Wahine. The apaper examines how Western feminist approaches can both align with and diverge from Indigenous ways of knowing. Drawing on Mana Wahine theory and the lived experiences of Māori women, it affirms the centrality of cultural identity in understanding Māori women’s health and healing.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Mana Wahine
  topic: keywords
subject: moko kauae
  topic: keywords
subject: Māori women
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous healing
  topic: keywords
subject: decolonization
  topic: keywords
subject: whakapapa
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous epistemologies
  topic: keywords
subject: cultural identity
  topic: keywords
creator: Shonelle Wana
creator: Yesenia Cortés
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-14
publication date: 2026-01-14
starting page: 87
ending page: 99
doi: 10.63428/q1y3jj55

Revitalizing Kichwa Midwifery Medicinal Plant Knowledge for Pregnant Women in San Martín, Peru
type: item
description: This article shares the traditional knowledge of Kichwa midwife Conzuelo (“Mamá Conzuelo”) Tapullima de Tuanama Tuanama about pregnancy, childbirth, and the use of medicinal plants in the community of Chirik Sacha, San Martín, Peru. Through interviews and visits to her garden, the text highlights four essential plants and the teachings that accompany them. Laura Corradi wrote the premises, acknowledgments, introduction, and conclusions, situating Mamá Conzuelo’s knowledge within the broader context of the stigmatization of Indigenous midwifery and the cultural revitalization efforts taking place in the region. The article aims to support the preservation of this knowledge and underscores its importance for community health and for recognizing the central role of midwives within an intercultural framework.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: traditional midwifery
  topic: keywords
subject: medicinal plants
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: Kichwa women
  topic: keywords
subject: pregnancy and childbirth
  topic: keywords
subject: community health
  topic: keywords
subject: intercultural health
  topic: keywords
subject: ancestral medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: knowledge transmission
  topic: keywords
creator: Conzuelo Tapullima Tuanama Tuanama
creator: Laura Corradi
creator: Yesenia Cortés
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-14
publication date: 2026-01-14
starting page: 125
ending page: 134
doi: 10.63428/dsah1v51

Wombs, Washes, and Wisdom
type: item
description: Community-driven research is important in studies involving women as knowledge holders, as it elevates their voices and agency. This case study adapts the concept of “translational research” following an ethnobotanical survey of Haitian women in New York City (NYC). Moving beyond documenting medicinal plants for women’s health, Haitian participants in community centers were engaged in transforming research findings into practical tools through focus group discussions, in which they re-evaluated and refined the outcomes based on their traditional knowledge and preferences. This collaboration resulted in co-created educational materials—compiled by researchers but authored by Haitian women—that are available in Haitian community centers in NYC and online. This model showcases translational ethnobotany, in which research proactively engages communities to generate practical resources that support their health, knowledge sharing, and cultural heritage. Future ethnobotanical surveys and funding bodies should recognize translational outcomes as essential for ensuring that research benefits communities at its core.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Diaspora communities
  topic: keywords
subject: Caribbean traditional medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: immigrant health
  topic: keywords
subject: health communication
  topic: keywords
subject: ethnobiology
  topic: keywords
subject: community outreach
  topic: keywords
subject: Haitian Americans United for Progress
  topic: keywords
subject: urban ethnobotany
  topic: keywords
subject: women’s health
  topic: keywords
creator: Ella Vardeman
creator: Shelsa Juste
creator: Johanne Jacques
creator: Hitline v
creator: Edward Kennelly
creator: Ina Vandebroek
creator: Yesenia Cortés
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-14
publication date: 2026-01-14
starting page: (2): 51
ending page: 67
doi: 10.63428/fhzrmw29

Nomadic Tribes and the Integration of Health, Wellness, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge in India
type: item
description: This paper examines the intersection of health, wellness, and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) among nomadic and denotified tribes in India through a critical ethnographic and feminist lens. Drawing on fieldwork conducted with the Raika, Van Gujjar, and Sansi communities, the study highlights how these groups sustain culturally rooted health systems that are deeply embedded in ecological relationships, seasonal rhythms, and gendered knowledge transmission. Despite possessing rich medicinal and healing traditions, these communities remain excluded from formal healthcare due to historical criminalization, legal invisibility, and policy designs that favor sedentary populations. The research underscores the need for pluralistic, mobile, and culturally respectful health models that integrate traditional healers, recognize women’s roles as health custodians, and protect indigenous knowledge through legal and institutional frameworks. Through thematic analysis, the study proposes a reimagining of public health in India—one that is inclusive, decolonial, and responsive to the lived realities of nomadic peoples. The findings advocate for policy transformation rooted in participatory governance, ecological justice, and epistemic plurality.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Nomadic Tribes
  topic: keywords
subject: Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Health Systems
  topic: keywords
subject: Feminist Ethnography
  topic: keywords
subject: Denotified Tribes
  topic: keywords
subject: Medical Pluralism
  topic: keywords
subject: Public Health Policy
  topic: keywords
subject: Epistemic Justice
  topic: keywords
subject: Gender and Healing
  topic: keywords
subject: Community Health Integration
  topic: keywords
creator: Amit Rawat
creator: Yesenia
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-14
publication date: 2026-01-14
starting page: 68
ending page: 86
doi: 10.63428/nam09b33

Oral Testimonies of Traditional Medicine A Kamëntša Woman’s Legacy
type: item
description: This article presents an oral testimony of Mamita Maria Dolores, a Kamëntša elder and healer from the Sibundoy Valley in southwest Colombia. Through an interview, the author documents the intertwined dimensions of Kamëntša ancestral knowledge, women’s roles, healing practices, and the cultural significance of the chagra. Mamita’s narratives reveal how spirituality, plant medicine, storytelling, and communal labor sustain Kamëntša identity amid the enduring impacts of colonization, language loss, and social change. Her personal history—rooted in midwifery, uterine care, herbal medicine, and community leadership—embodies the resilience and continuity of Indigenous women’s knowledge. The article blends ethnographic reflection with lived testimony, offering a window into a worldview in which healing, land, memory, and womanhood remain profoundly interconnected.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Kamëntša traditional medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous oral testimony
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous women and healing
  topic: keywords
subject: Ancestral women’s knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: Traditional midwifery
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous herbal medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: Chagra and territory
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous spirituality and healing
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous cultural resilience
  topic: keywords
subject: Sibundoy Valley (Colombia)
  topic: keywords
creator: Rozalia Agioutanti
creator: Yesenia Cortés
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-14
publication date: 2026-01-14
starting page: 100
ending page: 124
doi: 10.63428/t5e7s878

Yakama Women at the Longhouse
type: item
description: In In this article Hailey Allen (Yakama) explores the role of traditional medicine among Yakama women as a vital expression of Indigenous knowledge and a fundamental aspect of Longhouse (Washat) cultural continuity. Referred to as the Seven Drums Religion, or Waashat and Washani, the Longhouse Religion of the Columbia Plateau, including the Yakama, is better understood as a spiritual way of life rather than a formal religion. This study employs an immersive, participatory framework, utilizing elder interviews, Longhouse ceremonies, ceremonial runs, and community knowledge, alongside the harvesting of sacred First Foods: salmon, roots, berries, deer, and water. These elements are central to Longhouse practice. Anchored in the metaphor of Huli, the Sahaptin term for wind, Allen illustrates how Yakama women embody the cyclical and relational transmission of knowledge, thereby fostering cultural continuity and ecological stewardship through generations.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Yakama women
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous traditional medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: Yakama longhouse (Washat)
  topic: keywords
subject: Seven Drums Religion
  topic: keywords
subject: First Foods ceremonies
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous women’s knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: Relational transmission of knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: Hulí (wind) as a conceptual framework
  topic: keywords
subject: Yakama cultural continuity
  topic: keywords
subject: Traditional ceremonies of the Columbia Plateau
  topic: keywords
creator: Hailey Allen
creator: Yesenia Cortés
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-14
publication date: 2026-01-14
starting page: 24
ending page: 50
doi: 10.63428/9w03xd25

Bridging Worldviews
type: item
description: Within the context of the World Health Organization’s new Global Strategy on Traditional Medicine (2025–2034), this article employs Indigenous Research Methodologies to examine the integration of Indigenous medicine into contemporary clinical practice. Drawing on personal reflexive ethnography, the author proposes moving beyond a dualistic framework and the notion of “second sight” toward a multifocal perspective that weaves together narrative, Indigenous teachings, and scientific discourse. This approach emerges from a mixed Indigenous and multicultural identity that articulates Indigenous medical practices, integrative medicine, and Western biomedical science. The analysis includes a critical review of traditional, integrative, and complementary medicine, biomedicine, gender disparities in healthcare, and the historical role of women, with particular emphasis on Sámi traditional medicine. Finally, the article discusses clinical experiences that engage with the four objectives of the WHO strategy: evidence, safety and efficacy, integration into health systems, and community empowerment.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Indigenous medicine (IM)
  topic: keywords
subject: clinical integration
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous research methodologies
  topic: keywords
subject: multicultural identity
  topic: keywords
subject: multifocal thinking
  topic: keywords
subject: traditional medicine (TM)
  topic: keywords
subject: traditional knowledge (TK)
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous women
  topic: keywords
subject: Sámi traditional medicine (STM)
  topic: keywords
creator: Sandi Löytömäki
creator: Yesenia Cortés
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-14
publication date: 2026-01-14
starting page: 1
ending page: 23
doi: 10.63428/z2yh7091

Feathers of Wisdom
type: item
description: This book review examines a distinctive literary collaboration that brings together original artwork, Indigenous storytelling, and carefully researched historical facts to portray forty-four legends from dozens of diverse Indigenous Peoples across the Americas and Oceania. The collection offers readers a rare opportunity to experience ancestral narratives through both visual and textual forms, highlighting the richness of cultural traditions and the resilience of communities whose voices have often been marginalized. Each legend is accompanied by striking artistic interpretations that not only illuminate the stories but also serve as a bridge between oral tradition and contemporary scholarship. The review situates the book within the broader context of Indigenous knowledge systems, emphasizing its relevance to ongoing conversations about cultural preservation, identity, and the intergenerational transmission of women’s wisdom. By presenting legends that span vast geographies and diverse peoples, the volume underscores the interconnectedness of Indigenous worldviews and their enduring significance.This review informs readers of the book’s format and thematic scope while encouraging engagement with its unique artistic and historical content. Ultimately, the work stands as both a cultural archive and a creative celebration, inviting scholarly audiences to appreciate its contributions to Indigenous literature and heritage.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Indigenous knowledge systems
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous women
  topic: keywords
subject: legends and myths
  topic: keywords
subject: cultural preservation
  topic: keywords
subject: intergenerational wisdom
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous storytelling
  topic: keywords
subject: cultural resilience
  topic: keywords
subject: ancestral narratives
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous literature
  topic: keywords
creator: Amelia (SkWumqnálqs) Marchand
creator: Yesenia Cortés
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-14
publication date: 2026-01-14
starting page: 140
ending page: 146
doi: 10.63428/9ztaqp14

Emita. Healing Hands, Cleansing Hands
type: item
description: This text is an intimate and moving tribute to Ema, a forest healer whose life was dedicated to the ancestral art of healing through plants and spiritual rituals. Narrated from the personal experience of author Randy Chung Gonzales and written by Lucas Nakandacare, the story reconstructs the relationship between mentor and apprentice, marked by the silent transmission of profound knowledge born from the bond with Pachamama and the spirits that inhabit the forest. Through memories, descriptions of traditional cures—such as the treatment of mal de aire in children—and a sensitive and poetic language, the author portrays Ema’s greatness, her humbleness, and her legacy. The text honors the value of Indigenous knowledge and of wise women, guardians of a spiritual medicine often ignored by modernity, and suggests a reflection on the continuity of this knowledge in those who receive it with respect and commitment.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Indigenous healing
  topic: keywords
subject: curanderismo
  topic: keywords
subject: ancestral knowledge
  topic: keywords
subject: women healers
  topic: keywords
subject: spiritual rituals
  topic: keywords
subject: Pachamama
  topic: keywords
subject: mal de aire
  topic: keywords
subject: oral transmission of knowledge
  topic: keywords
creator: Randy Chung Gonzales
creator: Lucas Nakandacare
creator: Yesenia Cortés
rights: Copyright (c) 2026 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2026-01-14
publication date: 2026-01-14
starting page: 135
ending page: 139
doi: 10.63428/1wrdk070

The Rules of War & Fourth World Nations
type: item
description: This article was originally published in Vol. 1, No. 1, October 1985. In this article, Rÿser discusses the actions Indigenous nations should take based on international legislation developed between 1970 and 1985. While he considers much of this change superficial, he focuses on the 1977 Protocol I and II additions to the Geneva Conventions, which present new opportunities other than war for nations to achieve self-detemination. Comparing these protocols to the original Geneva Conventions—which enabled genocide within decolonized states under the guise of respecting state sovereignty—Rÿser highlights their potential. He explains the functions of Protocol I, showing that while it is focused on international conflict, it supports Indigenous causes by implicitly including Fourth World combatants through its defintion of the involved parties and the role of supervising states. Rÿser emphasizes how it normalizes recognition of Indigenous nations and helps prevent genocide. He also discusses Protocol II on internal conflicts, which, though a step forward, is less comprehensive and therefore unlikely to be widely applied given Fourth World nations’ limited access to international institutions. Overall, Rÿser calls on Indigenous nations to take initiative in enforcing both protocols, suggesting they ratify the accords to enable peaceful conflict resolution and seize the opportunity to positively influence the international order and gain equal footing with states.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: 11949 Geneva Convention
  topic: keywords
subject: 1977 Additional Protocols
  topic: keywords
subject: supervising states
  topic: keywords
subject: state sovereignty
  topic: keywords
subject: genocide
  topic: keywords
subject: international legislation
  topic: keywords
subject: internal conflicts
  topic: keywords
subject: rules of war
  topic: keywords
subject: wars of liberation
  topic: keywords
subject: human rights
  topic: keywords
creator: Rudolph Rÿser
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-08-20
publication date: 2025-08-20
starting page: 35
ending page: 45
doi: 10.63428/8dycy103

Regulating Access to Customary Fourth World Foods and Medicines
type: item
description: This article was originally published in Vol. 17, No. 1, Winter 2019. Fourth World (indigenous) nations regularly express concerns, frustrations, and demands declaring their rights to sustained access to wild-harvested plants and animals as sources of medicines and nutrition for the benefit of their people. They give rhetorical power to the claim that biological diversity is essential for sustainable life on the planet. Yet, despite public declarations and appeals to prevent contamination, damage, or destruction of biologically diverse medicinal sources of wild plants and animals, biologically diverse plants and wildlife continue to be destroyed. In this article, the authors argue that little actual evidence exists to demonstrate that either the cultural and governing leadership of Fourth World nations or states (or their international bodies) proactively engage in the promulgation of enforceable customary or statutory regulations or laws ensuring access and uses of medicinal plants and animals beneficial to indigenous communities. The authors furthermore argue that cultural and governing leaders in Fourth World nations can and must initiate regulatory rules, laws, and practices that they enforce to prevent continuing plant and animal damage and destruction reported by the nations themselves and the states exercising jurisdiction. Non-Fourth World jurisdictions (cities, states, provinces/counties) regularly engage in economic, social, and political development activities that alter and often destroy access to or the healthful use of wild plants and animals beneficial for the health and sustainability of Fourth World communities and individuals. These alterations include activities that elevate CO2 and other greenhouse gas levels, herbicide and insecticide contamination, and genetic modifications. Pathways to restore access to, and protection of, customary wild-harvested foods and medicines to Fourth World nations may include a framework, statutory incorporation of c…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Fourth World Nations
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Rights
  topic: keywords
subject: Customary Law
  topic: keywords
subject: wild-harvested plants
  topic: keywords
subject: medicinal plants
  topic: keywords
subject: traditional foods
  topic: keywords
subject: environmental justice
  topic: keywords
subject: herbal medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: animal-based medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: land sovereignty
  topic: keywords
subject: ecological sustainability
  topic: keywords
subject: climate change impact
  topic: keywords
subject: genetic modification
  topic: keywords
subject: industrial encroachment
  topic: keywords
subject: food sovereignty
  topic: keywords
subject: pollution and contamination
  topic: keywords
subject: intergovernmental protocols
  topic: keywords
subject: international reconciliation
  topic: keywords
subject: pharmological uses of wildlife
  topic: keywords
subject: complementary medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: allopathic medicine
  topic: keywords
subject: United Nations Development Program
  topic: keywords
subject: bio-cultural axiom
  topic: keywords
subject: symbiotic conservation
  topic: keywords
subject: nation-state relations
  topic: keywords
subject: United Nations Conference on Environmental Development
  topic: keywords
subject: Convention on Biological Diversity
  topic: keywords
subject: Forest Principles Document
  topic: keywords
subject: Rome Declaration 2009
  topic: keywords
subject: Cultural Legislation
  topic: keywords
creator: Rudolph Rÿser
creator: Leslie Korn
creator: Dina Gilio-Whitaker
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Rudolph C. Rÿser, PhD, Leslie Korn, PhD, MPH, Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-06-01
publication date: 2024-06-01
starting page: 66
ending page: 106
doi: 10.63428/j0a6vn29

Trust Arrangements between States and Indigenous Nations in the International Environment
type: item
description: This article was originally published in Vol. 12, No. 2, Winter 2014. In this transcript of Dr. Rÿser’s remarks made before the US Department of the Interior’s Secretarial Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform, held in Seattle, Washington, on Feb 13, 2003, Dr. Rÿser examines historical and contemporary trust relationships between states and indigenous nations. He outlines the origins and evolution of these arrangements, emphasizing the imbalance of power and the often exploitative nature of such relationships.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: United Nations Trusteeship Council
  topic: keywords
subject: Sovereignty
  topic: keywords
subject: Micronesia
  topic: keywords
subject: Greenland
  topic: keywords
subject: Catalonia
  topic: keywords
subject: Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform
  topic: keywords
subject: Internally Colonized Peoples
  topic: keywords
subject: Dr. Miguel Alfonso Martinez Final Report
  topic: keywords
subject: Protection by the state
  topic: keywords
subject: Emer de Vattel
  topic: keywords
subject: Judicial Encirclement
  topic: keywords
subject: intrusion of non-indigenous laws
  topic: keywords
subject: trust compact frameworks
  topic: keywords
creator: Rudolph Rÿser
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Rudolph C. Rÿser, PhD (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-06-01
publication date: 2024-06-01
starting page: 180
ending page: 188
doi: 10.63428/8f977p42

Conjoining: The Reawakening to Spiralism from the Age of Progressivism
type: item
description: Written in 1999 at the beginning of the Mayan calendar's transformation to a new era, this article explores the value of Indigenous American thought systems, which he terms Cuarto Spiralism. Rÿser argues that while all cultural philosophies contribute to a shared quest to understand reality, Spiralism offers a more meaningful framework than dominant modern ideologies—yet still accommodates elements of them. Drawing from his Cowlitz perspective, Rÿser critiques progressivism and its rise to prominence, highlighting its assumptions of human dominance, rationalism, and inevitable improvement. He shows how these beliefs have enabled Western conquest and ecological harm, and how Spiralism now challenges them. Using Mesoamerican and Cowlitz traditions like the Give-Away, Rÿser presents Spiralism as a philosophy that unites reason and intuition, embraces both material and immaterial realities, and sees time as cyclical—where past, present, and future are intertwined. In contrast to progressivism’s emphasis on accumulation, Spiralism calls for respect, sacrifice, and balance. At this time of world renewal, Rÿser suggests that Spiralism offers hope for restoring harmony with the Earth and with one another.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Modes of thought
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous American system
  topic: keywords
subject: Cuarto Spiralism
  topic: keywords
subject: progressivism
  topic: keywords
subject: Cowlitz
  topic: keywords
subject: Give-Away
  topic: keywords
subject: Mayan calendar
  topic: keywords
subject: Olmec
  topic: keywords
subject: cyclisism
  topic: keywords
subject: philosophies of time and space
  topic: keywords
subject: development and progress
  topic: keywords
subject: respect for surroundings
  topic: keywords
subject: self-sacrifice
  topic: keywords
subject: rationalism and intuition
  topic: keywords
subject: spiritual and moral harmony
  topic: keywords
creator: Rudolph Rÿser
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-01-01
publication date: 2024-01-01
starting page: 23
ending page: 36
doi: 10.63428/7jc1pm70

The Rules of War & Fourth World Nations
type: item
description: In this article, Rÿser discusses the actions Indigenous nations should take based on international legislation developed between 1970 and 1985. While he considers much of this change superficial, he focuses on the 1977 Protocol I and II additions to the Geneva Conventions, which present new opportunities other than war for nations to achieve self-detemination. Comparing these protocols to the original Geneva Conventions—which enabled genocide within decolonized states under the guise of respecting state sovereignty—Rÿser highlights their potential. He explains the functions of Protocol I, showing that while it is focused on international conflict, it supports Indigenous causes by implicitly including Fourth World combatants through its defintion of the involved parties and the role of supervising states. Rÿser emphasizes how it normalizes recognition of Indigenous nations and helps prevent genocide. He also discusses Protocol II on internal conflicts, which, though a step forward, is less comprehensive and therefore unlikely to be widely applied given Fourth World nations’ limited access to international institutions. Overall, Rÿser calls on Indigenous nations to take initiative in enforcing both protocols, suggesting they ratify the accords to enable peaceful conflict resolution and seize the opportunity to positively influence the international order and gain equal footing with states.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: 11949 Geneva Convention
  topic: keywords
subject: 1977 Additional Protocols
  topic: keywords
subject: supervising states
  topic: keywords
subject: state sovereignty
  topic: keywords
subject: involved parties
  topic: keywords
subject: genocide
  topic: keywords
subject: international legislation
  topic: keywords
subject: internal conflicts
  topic: keywords
subject: rules of war
  topic: keywords
subject: wars of liberation
  topic: keywords
subject: human rights
  topic: keywords
creator: Rudolph Rÿser
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2025-08-11
publication date: 2025-08-11
starting page: 53
ending page: 72
doi: 10.63428/1ydd7g59

The Muckleshoot Experiment
type: item
description: This article was originally published in Vol. 9, No. 1, Summer 2010. The study documents the outcomes of a research simulation conducted during a ̈Global Pluralism ̈ course at Antioch University/Muckleshoot College in 2009. During this 10-week exercise, ten graduate students assumed the roles of various stakeholders in climate negotiations, mirroring real-world dynamics observed in international conferences such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This simulation revealed indigenous peoples’ marginalized status within civil society frameworks.
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: United Nations Trusteeship Council
  topic: keywords
subject: sovereignty
  topic: keywords
subject: Micronesia
  topic: keywords
subject: Greenland
  topic: keywords
subject: Catalonia
  topic: keywords
subject: Commission on Indian Trust Administration and Reform
  topic: keywords
subject: Internally Colonized Peoples
  topic: keywords
subject: Dr. Miguel Alfonso Martinez Final Report
  topic: keywords
subject: Protection by the state
  topic: keywords
subject: Emer de Vattel
  topic: keywords
subject: Jurdicial Encirclement
  topic: keywords
subject: Intrusion of non-indigenous laws
  topic: keywords
subject: Trust compact Frameworks
  topic: keywords
creator: Rudolph Rÿser
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Rudolph C. Rÿser, Ph.D. (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-06-01
publication date: 2024-06-01
starting page: 1
ending page: 13
doi: 10.63428/vxgzgf13

A Framework for Implementing the Principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) – Comity or Conflict
type: item
description: This article was originally published in Vol. 21, No. 2, Winter 2022. The central issue facing the world’s first nations was historically and remains today the question of access to and use of the territory they occupy. Peoples’ migrations, occupations, and colonization have continued as part of human relations for more than 60,000 years. Over this time, relations between emerging nations featured one nation being absorbed by another, some becoming associated through social mixing and independent nations remaining independent from one another. Peoples achieve these cultural processes through forced absorption, cultural exchange, or recognition of the equality of power. These changes continue today, except that the establishment of permanent boundaries around nations or combined nations has forced the need for structures and processes for mediating relations between nations that were forced inside bounded areas of states. These circumstance demands determining whether nations will remain “absorbed, associated or become independent of modern states. Nations’ claims over their territories come into conflict with States’ claims over the same regions—a circumstance exacerbated by the economic and business interests of transnational corporations and commercial enterprises seeking to profit from the location of nations’ territories or access to undeveloped subsurface raw materials, lands, forests, surface minerals and soils supportive of agriculture. Nations and States constitute the primary political systems of human organization required under modern state-based international law to implement the principle of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). However, without a formal and enforceable mechanism to carry out international and domestic pledges intended to implement nations’ rights to “consent,” the imbalance of power between nations and their counterparts in states and corporations leaves nations depending on their opponent’s implementation is possible. This article…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: nation
  topic: keywords
subject: state
  topic: keywords
subject: corporation
  topic: keywords
subject: colonization
  topic: keywords
subject: consent
  topic: keywords
subject: nation-based law
  topic: keywords
subject: state-based law
  topic: keywords
subject: political equals
  topic: keywords
subject: negotiation
  topic: keywords
creator: Rudolph Rÿser
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Rudolph C. Rÿser, Ph.D. (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-06-01
publication date: 2024-06-01
doi: 10.63428/enw0dm08

To Establish a Congress of Nations and States (CNS)
type: item
description: This article was originally published in Vol. 19, No. 2, Winter 2020. In my book entitled, Biodiversity Wars: Coexistence of Biocultural Collapse in the 21st Century (DayKeeper Press, 2019)[1] I discuss at length the need for a renewed effort to identify and advance an analysis and proposals for new mechanisms to bridge the economic, social, political and cultural gap between Fourth World nations and the world’s 203 states. I point to the ultimate necessity of establishing constructive mechanisms for cooperation between nations and states with an urgency that responds to the global emergency that is the impending environmental collapse threatening sustainable biodiversity and the diversity of Fourth World peoples. The threat I maintain is in no small measure the result of human waste and the promotion of unrestrained development and consumption that destroys life-supporting plants and animals and radically alters the global climate. Central to all of this is a needed shift in international policy toward the respect and acceptance of Fourth World self-determination—the right of Fourth World peoples to exist—by states, corporations, trans-state religions, and non-governmental organizations. I propose the convening of a permanent Congress of Nations and States—an innovative international relations solution to long-standing disputes between Fourth World nations and the internationally recognized states. And further, I propose that this Congress authorize the establishment of an International Criminal Court on Genocide for Fourth World nations. These are central topics in my book, but here I wish to share an extract from a chapter focused on the development of the Congress of Nations and States. The following extract from Chapter 4 of my book summarizes the process in 1992 of organizing and implementing a plan to establish the Congress of Nations and States with the newly formed government of the Russian Federation serving as the host. The Preparatory Committee had the s…
subject: Articles
  topic: section
subject: Congress of Nations and States
  topic: keywords
subject: Political Equality
  topic: keywords
subject: Nation-State Dialogue
  topic: keywords
subject: Fourth World Nations
  topic: keywords
subject: Indigenous Self-Determination
  topic: keywords
subject: United States Working Group on Indigenous Populations
  topic: keywords
subject: Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  topic: keywords
subject: International Labor Organization Conventions 107 and 169
  topic: keywords
subject: Multi-polar Political System
  topic: keywords
subject: Foundation for International Cooperation and Development
  topic: keywords
subject: Union of Lawyers of Russia
  topic: keywords
creator: Rudolph Rÿser
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Rudolph C. Rÿser, Ph.D. (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
date: 2024-06-01
publication date: 2024-06-01
starting page: 107
ending page: 124
doi: 10.63428/9ec11t18