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Developing human capacity

First Nations Water Security and Climate Change

This document summarizes the concerns of First Nations people present at two workshops (Vancouver and Toronto) towards the development of a policy report on First Nations water security and climate change, and ACT (Adaptation to Climate Change project) policy report on water and climate change in Canada. The ACT project is a joint initiative created by Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER), Simon Fraser University, and Bob Sandford, Chair of the Canadian Partnership Initiative of the United Nations International “Water for Life” Decade.

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Available online

Indigenous Peoples' Biocultural Climate Change Assessment Initiative

The United Nations Permanent Forum at its Seventh Session of the Permanent Forum held from 21 April to 2 May 2008 recommended that "...the United Nations University – Institute of Advanced Studies, university research centres and relevant United Nations agencies conduct further studies on the impacts of climate change and climate change responses on indigenous peoples who are living in highly fragile ecosystems".

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United Nations University - Informing International Policy on Traditional Knowledge

Towards Fishers Participation in the development of a new policy for the South African Small Scale Fishery

With a process of developing a new fishing policy for the small-scale sector ahead of us, we feel that it is the right time to discuss how and at what level fishers are going to participate in the process. Fisheries management science and empirical evidence from participatory management programmes in South Africa and abroad clearly indicate that shared responsibility and participation is a precondition for successful small-scale fisheries management.

Subsistence Fishing in Canada A Position Paper

Subsistence harvesting is the hunting, fishing, and gathering of natural resources to meet the
food, fuel, clothing, and livelihood needs of individuals, households, and communities. The
exchange of subsistence products is embedded within the social relations existing with communities
and can take various forms such as gift, reciprocal exchange, barter, and sale. This position paper focuses on subsistence fisheries in Canada.

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Culture, Colonization and Policy Making: Issues in Native American Health

To improve health care, education, and prevention, a larger cultural and historical contextual framework is needed which pays heed to the impact of colonization and its effects on Native peoples. Such a holistic framework evaluates the long-term impact of introduced diseases and the cultural trauma caused by the removal of Indians to reservations (Jaimes 1992), the boarding school era (Johansen 2000), and the forced sterilizations of Native women (Carpio 1995; Torpy 1998).

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Citation / Reference: 
Olsen, B. (2002). Culture, Colonization and Policy Making: Issues in Native American Health. Paper presentation for the Symposium on Politics of Race, Culture and Health