An Indigenous Perspective on Quality of Life

Abstract

The substantive reliance on the interrelatedness of nature is one of the most interesting features of indigenous peoples. Current requests for global diversity and higher forms of the quality of life are indeed limited when they are built within the constraints of modern nation-states, which often views diversity as deviance if it does not conform to modern norms and definitions. Traditional indigenous knowledge has the potential for long-lasting approaches to current environment problems and provide us with ideas on how to improve our questions and, therefore, improve our potential for more equitable, less oppressive structures from which to approach the numerous problems. Indigenous Peoples with traditional perspectives and actions can provide us with significant paths to diversity throughout our planet, similar to the so-called ecological system. Internal colonialism and generations of domination create deep complications; therefore, the roles and actions of traditional peoples are central to our future and the generations to come. We can learn that the point is not to simply focus, for example, upon human rights and an anthropocentric sense of keeping things natural or simply being against pollution, but more upon the respect for and learning from nature by traditional indigenous peoples.

There is a big difference between living well and those who believe that living well is to live better than someone else. This latter view reflects a competition instead of respect and equality. Yet, ‘living well’ is the exercise of rights, respect, equality, and means a life for everyone.

—Blanca Chancoso

This chapter is an extension of the continual research on indigenous law-ways with Barbara Grey Kanatiiosh who helped initiate the ideas, and a revision of “Indigenous Peoples in the Face of Globalization.” I would like to thank Karen Cook and the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences at Stanford University, and the School of Social Transformation at ASU and Elsie Moore for supporting this work. I also thank Ron Anderson who provided thoughtful comments on earlier drafts that were very helpful.