community members at
large.^36 The aim of this
initiative is to elaborate a
general education curricu-
lum based on Rarámuri as
well as local Mestizo world
views, knowledge, and
values, to foster the main-
tenance of the Rarámuri
language and cultural tra-
ditions, and to promote
intercultural understand-
ing. Community activities
to restore the health of
the local environment are
also part of the initiative.
In this effort, the
Rarámuri are actively inte-
grating the elders’ tradi-
tional ecological knowl-
edge, expressed in their native language,
with the expertise of outside researchers.In Canada, the Pikangikum (Ojibway) First
Nation of northwestern Ontario has devel-
oped the Whitefeather Forest Initiative forthe economic and social renewal of their
community.^37 The Pikangikum people have
the highest rate of indigenous language
retention in Northern Ontario and a strong
attachment to their traditional territory. To
ensure that the youth continue to stay in
place and to embrace their indigenous iden-
tity, values, and language, the Pikangikum
elders are guiding the development of new
forest-based livelihood opportunities for the
youth, in a context in which the communi-
ty’s knowledge traditions, language, and
stewardship values play a leading role. In
this initiative, the maintenance of forest
cover and biodiversity is explicitly linked to
the maintenance of the indigenous lan-
guage, culture, and knowledge tradition.In the East Kimberley region of Western
Australia, the Jaru people’s elders have
been actively recording stories about people
and place.^38 Connecting people to place
through stories lies at the root
of aboriginal identity. People
are considered a part of the
landscape, and the landscape
provides the material, spiritual,
and ethical connection between
past and future generations. It
embodies the essence of the
Aboriginal code for how to live
properly, known as the
“Dreaming”. This code is “writ-
ten” on the land through sto-
ries linked to places and to
peoples’ historical relationships
with those places and the
plants and animals found there-
in. Jaru elders are also putting
together a book about plants
and animals found in Jaru
country, with their indigenous
names and uses, in the effort
to transmit this knowledge, and
the language in which it is encoded, to their
children. The elders recognise that the wel-
fare of their communities depends on the
relationship between people and the envi-History, cculture aand cconservation
To eensure tthat tthe
youth ccontinue tto
stay iin pplace aand tto
embrace ttheir iindige-
nous iidentity, vvalues,
and llanguage, tthe
Pikangikum eelders
are gguiding tthe ddevel-
opment oof nnew fforest-
based llivelihood ooppor-
tunities ffor tthe yyouth,
in aa ccontext iin wwhich
the ccommunity’s
knowledge ttraditions,
language, aand sstew-
ardship vvalues pplay aa
leading rrole.
Figure 3.Rarámuri authorities discussing project plans with
visiting researchers in the Sierra Tarahumara of northern