Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IPWG)

Indigenous Peoples Working Group (IPWG) intends to create and implement transformative processes that will be integrated into and sustained throughout IPRA. Our planet and societies are in a transformative moment, and we want to build on these energies to transform IPRA, as well as peace research and practice, in ways that address the violence Indigenous peoples are facing, and that work to support Indigenous peoples’ approaches to peace. We are calling for processes that make a difference in Indigenous peoples’ lives and that address the epistemic and ontological violence Indigenous peoples experience in academia and international research.

We are calling for Indigenous peoples to be integrated throughout all aspects of IPRA, including:

IPWG envisions:

Working with local Indigenous peoples to determine protocols for engagement, for permission to be welcomed to the land, and to determine ways they would like to be involved

Providing a space for the Indigenous People to share their informational materials, publications, art and culture inorder to build a sense of connection between the Indigenous People and IPRA conference attendees

Providing opportunities to support and grow local Indigenous initiatives and livelihoods.

Exploring with Indigenous communities the possibilities for pre-conference short visits

Collaborating with local Indigenous communities to create a statement on social and economic struggles in support of their causes: many communities have no way to reach a larger audience to their work, or even worse, we are stigmatized in our countries.

Conveners:

  • Polly O. Walker, Juniata College, USA
  • Diana Marcela Agudelo, Universidad Externado de Colombia
  • Carol Kalafatic, Coventry University, UK
  • Kelli Te Maiharoa, Otago University, New Zealand
  • Margo Tamez, The University of British Columbia-Okanagan, Canada