Conclusion: Peacebuilding Experiences and Strategies of Indigenous Peoples in the 21st Century

Abstract

This chapter functions as a conclusion to this volume of studies of peacebuilding and the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It reviews major developments in global institutions, centred around the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and consequent academic scholarship in the various fields of Indigeous Studies. In particular, this chapter examines the synergy between these achievements in international policy and scholarship in respect to the rights of Indigenous Peoples with key principles and discourse in peace studies, specifically the interrelated concepts of peacebuilding and nonviolence. The chapter reviews the contents and approaches of the wide-ranging studies presented in the book, identifying important cohesions and insights across the different nations and cultures researched in this set of studies. It reviews the four interlinked themes that provide an organisational pathway for the chapters and concludes with some considerations of methodology, emphasising the value of emerging distinctive Indigenous approaches to contemporary research.

Heather Devere Ph.D., Director of Practice at the National Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; Email: heather.devere@otago.ac.nz. She teaches conflict resolution and indigenous peace traditions and she published on the politics of friendship, peace journalism, refugee resettlement and transitional justice, biculturalism, women studies and the media. She co-edited with Preston King The Challenge to Friendship in Modernity published by Frank Cass. Along with Preston and Graham M. Smith, Heather also edits AMITY: The Journal of Friendship Studies.

Kelli Te Maihāroa, Lecturer, School of Education, Universty of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand; Email: kelli.temaiharoa@otago.ac.nz. She is a Ph.D. candidate working on indigenous passive resistance and peace traditions. She has twenty years work experience within the health and educational sector, specialising in working within indigenous models of practice. She is the Secretary and Board Member for the Waitaha Tai Whenua Trust Board and an Executive Committee member of the International Peace Research Association.

John P. Synott Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Australia; Email: john.synott@gmail.com. He is the author of several books including Quality Education (2009), Global and International Studies (2008) and Teacher Unions, Social Movements and the Politics of Education in East Asia (2002) as well as many chapters and articles in the areas of peace education, development, globalisation and Indigenous Peoples. He has been a convenor of the IPRA Commission for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples since 1996.