AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Scholarship

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AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Scholarship
AlterNative Issue One
Discipline Multidisciplinary
Language English, with one article in each volume published in its original language
Publication details
Publisher Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (New Zealand)
Publication history 2005-
Frequency Biannual
Indexing
ISSN 1177-1801
Links


AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Scholarship is a peer-reviewed journal that profiles indigenous scholarship from around the globe. It features a multidisciplinary approach to the study of ethnic minorities, covering themes of place, history, colonialism, policy, development and self-determination. The journal is unique in its emphasis on presenting indigenous perspectives from indigenous scholars.


AlterNative was founded in 2005 by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand’s National Institute of Research Excellence for Māori Development and Advancement, and is published twice a year. Clive Aspin currently edits the journal.


Contents

[edit] Journal content

Each issue of AlterNative gathers a selection of contemporary scholarship from around the world. The focus is on scholars presenting issues affecting first nations peoples through their own discipline. Recent editions have covered subjects as diverse as Sámi literature, Māori tourism, Aboriginal literature, self-determination in Quebec and gender in MesoAmerican traditions.[1] While approaches range from science to cultural studies, all of the articles share a common theme – an analysis of the experience of being indigenous. From time to time, a special edition is published on a particular issue affecting aboriginal peoples, such as marginalisation or indigenous rights.


[edit] History

While indigenous peoples account for around 6% of the world’s population today, representing 5,000 distinct cultural groups in more than 72 countries,[2] there has been increasing recognition in political and academic circles that the interests of these peoples are not adequately represented.[3] AlterNative was founded at the close of the United Nations’ first International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in 2005 by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga to address the need for a forum where academic scholars can participate in shaping the advancements of their communities.[4] One of AlterNative’s key objectives is to create a strong indigenous academic community that supports international and local policy developments through debate and research.[5]


A key element of AlterNative’s philosophy is the journal's emphasis on indigenous scholars presenting indigenous perspectives on community transformation. This differentiates AlterNative from its competitors, such as Indigenous Affairs and Cultural Survival, which present the views of non-indigenous and indigenous scholars. According to Professor Linda Tũhiwai Smith, a founding member of the journal’s editorial committee and an expert in indigenous education, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga launched AlterNative in response to the “need for an international and multidisciplinary journal which acknowledges that indigenous researchers have different philosophies and writing imperatives”.[6] Smith’s contribution here is significant as her 1999 work Decolonising Methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples[7] is widely cited as an important influence on the intellectual movement beginning in the mid-1990s which examined indigenous perspectives on the research of their communities.[8] Smith and her contemporaries argued that from an indigenous perspective, “research is linked to colonialism and oppression and must be decolonized”.[9] This decolonisation can only be achieved when the researcher’s perspective shifts from the colonising lens of Western scientific rationality to an indigenous perspective that considers traditional knowledge. AlterNative is therefore considered an important contribution to wider debates on indigenous research practices as the first international and multidisciplinary periodical to incorporate this philosophy into its editorial processes.[10]

[edit] Editorial processes

AlterNative is peer-reviewed (each article is reviewed by experts in the field before publication). Articles are assessed in terms of their relevance and contribution to the field of indigenous studies. Articles are welcomed from indigenous scholars in any discipline whose work contributes to a greater understanding of indigenous studies.


The Editorial Committee and International Advisory Board for the journal are composed of many prominent indigenous scholars, including Graham Hingangaroa Smith, a Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of British Columbia, psychoethnologist Sylvia Marcos, Sámi linguist Harald Gaski, biologist Michael Walker and Paul Chaat Smith, a novelist and Associate Curator for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.


[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. "AlterNative Issues". Retrieved on September 3. 
  2. ^ Indigenous issues. International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs. Retrieved on September 5, 2005.
  3. ^ History of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Retrieved on September 3, 2007.
  4. ^ Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. "AlterNative History". Retrieved on September 3. 
  5. ^ Ibid.
  6. ^ Smith, L.T. (2005). "Foreword". AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Scholarship (1): 2-3. 
  7. ^ Smith, Linda Tũhiwai (1999). Decolonising Methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Zed Books. ISBN 1-8564-9623-6. 
  8. ^ Louis, Renee Pualani. "Can You Hear us Now? Voices from the Margin: Using indigenous methodologies in geographic research". Geographical Research 45 (2): 131. doi:10.1111/j.1745-5871.2007.00443.x. 
  9. ^ Ibid. Also see Hampton 1995; Crazy Bull 1997; Abdullah and Stringer, 1999; Smith, Linda Tũhiwai, 1999; Battiste, 2000; Gegeo and Watson-Gegeo, 2001 and Smith, G.H., 2000.
  10. ^ Smith, Linda Tũhiwai (2005). "Foreword". AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Scholarship (1): 2-3. 


[edit] Further reading

  • Abdullah, J. and Stringer, E. (1999). "Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous learning, Indigenous research", in Semali, L. and Kincheloe, J.L.: What is Indigenous Knowledge? Voices from the Academy. New York: Falmer Press, 205–222. ISBN 0-8153-3157-6. 
  • Battiste, M. (2000). in Battiste, M.: Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN 0-7448-0745-8. 
  • Crazy Bull, C. (1997). "A Native Conversation About Research and Scholarship". Tribal College: Journal of American Indian Higher Education (9): 16–23. 
  • Gegeo, D.W. and Watson-Gegeo, K.A. (2001). "How we know’: Kwara‘ae rural villagers doing indigenous epistemology". The Contemporary Pacific (13): 55–88. 
  • Hampton, E. (1995). "Towards a Redefinition of Indian Education", in Battiste, M.A. and Barman, J.: First Nations Education in Canada: The circle unfolds. Vancouver: UBC Press, 5–46. ISBN 0-7748-0517-X. 
  • Smith, Linda Tũhiwai (1999). Decolonising Methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Zed Books. ISBN 1-8564-9623-6. 
  • Smith, Graham Hingangaroa (2000). "Protecting and respecting Indigenous knowledge", in Battiste, M.: Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision. Vancouver: UBC Press, 209–224. ISBN 0-7448-0745-8.