Peoples of the Land and Sea
24/05/2011 - 25/07/2012 - Seòmar cruinneachaidhMaria Latumahina - West Papua an Iar
Iain MacKinnon - An t-Eilean Sgitheanach
Melissa Sinclair - Tonga
In this gathering, three young activists from communities that have often been described as in need of 'development', come together to share how recognising the value of their ways of living has inspired them to safeguard and maintain this source of cultural wealth as a living tradition in a world in which indigenous traditions are often held in little worth.
With particular regard to traditional ways of thinking and speaking about the place of human beings as part of nature and the land, and to the land as a source of sustenance, they seek to find common ground in cultural diversity and adversity.
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Maria Latumahina grew up in a remote village in West Papua where she experienced the economics of mutuality, reciprocity and exchange in daily life of community. Her activism has involved advocating the common property rights of indigenous communities in afforested areas of Papua, acting as a cultural broker to enable communities to speak for themselves and to make sure the groups they talk to (government, civil society, private sector) are able to understand their outlook and perspectives.
Iain MacKinnon comes from a crofting family from the peninsula of Sleat in south Skye. He is interested in crofting tenure as an evolution of 'duthchas' as a Scottish system of 'native title' and is currently working for the Scottish Crofting Federation to promote crofting as a model for rural development in Scotland.
Melissa Sinclair belongs to kainga from Ha'apai in the Kingdom of Tonga and family from Lanarkshire, Scotland, grew up in Sydney, Australia and is currently working with Southern Wik clan groups in Cape York, Australia. Her participatory action research aims to support local Indigenous/traditional community efforts in establishing sustainable livelihoods and bio-cultural diversity in Cape York and Tonga and through it provide community members with the opportunity to share and compare their efforts, aspirations, policy directions and issues of justice.