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Introducing the Indigenous Perspectives Case Study Series

• Dale Beugin

Indigenous Peoples are on the front lines of a changing climate. And Indigenous perspectives provide unique insights about climate change solutions. Yet too often, governments and researchers exclude Indigenous voices from climate policy conversations. 

To amplify Indigenous voices, research and worldviews, in fall 2020 the Canadian Climate Institute put out an open call for Indigenous case studies on climate change and policy responses to it. Based on that call, we commissioned seven case studies from Indigenous researchers and Knowledge Holders. While we have supported the researchers and teams in developing their studies, ultimately the insights they provide are theirs.

In honour of National Indigenous History Month, we are excited to share the first three case studies in the series:

• “ Seed Sowing ” by Elisabeth Mittenburg, Hannah Tait Neufeld, Laura Peach, Sarina Perchak, and Dave Skene explores an Indigenous-led grassroots initiative in the Grand River Territory within southern Ontario. It shows how an Indigenous food sovereignty initiative supports both climate action and reconciliation by restoring Indigenous Peoples’ relationships to Land and pathways to wellness. 
• “ Unnatural Disasters ” by Darlene Yellow Old Woman-Munro, Emily Dicken, and Lilia Yumagulova draws on community-led research to document the long-term impacts of land dispossession, disaster displacement, and climate change in Siksika Nation, on Treaty 7 territory in southern Alberta, through interviews conducted with community members by Darlene Yellow Old Woman-Munro, a Siksika Elder, following the disastrous 2013 flood in the region.
• And “ Ayookxw Responding to Climate Change ” by Tara Marsden and Deborah Curran considers connections between climate adaptation and Wilp law and knowledge in the Gitanyow Lax’yip Land Use Plan governing their territory northeast of Prince Rupert, B.C. It considers how legal and policy instruments that enact Indigenous rights can guide management practices and help establish baselines for ecologic functions. 

Collectively, these case studies demonstrate the crucial leadership that Indigenous Peoples are showing in preparing for and mitigating climate change. They also show the role that Indigenous-led research and policy can and must have in building a resilient, low-carbon, prosperous future for all who share this land.

Recommendations

Ayookxw Responding to Climate Change

Seed Sowing

Unnatural Disasters

New Ontario program could accelerate energy transition while advancing Indigenous reconciliation

With the right program rules, Ontario’s forthcoming corporate renewable energy purchasing program could lower carbon pollution and accelerate economic development for Indigenous communities.

• James Jenkins

Canada can’t reconcile climate change without reconciling with Indigenous Peoples and the Land

Setting the table for advancing reconciliation and climate policy together.

• Maria Shallard

We don’t need NORAD to see this threat

Protecting the North from climate change starts with investing in the infrastructure Northerners need.

• Dylan Clark

Indigenous knowledge points the way

Showcasing four powerful new contributions to Canadian climate research

• Shianne McKay
• David Mitchell

Indigenous Empowerment and Community Development through Heritage

• First Online: 05 October 2023

Cite this chapter

• Geneviève Susemihl 14  

Part of the book series: Heritage Studies ((HEST))

175 Accesses

The chapter untangles the terms and concepts of empowerment, capacity building and community development. It discusses theories of community participation and Indigenous engagement within Heritage Studies, defines key concepts, such as contact and engagement zones, and elaborates on the interconnections between them. It also explores Western and Indigenous models of empowerment and participation for community development, considering cultural tourism, Indigenous rights and interests, and cultural programs. Concepts of Indigenous traditional knowledge, worldviews, narrative and place in connection with heritage are also discussed. Most importantly, the chapter introduces a framework or ‘concept map’, developed by the author, for examining and evaluating community development through heritage as reflected in different aspects of community life. The framework helps to investigate heritage sites within the context of their designation and the representation of tangible and intangible heritage, considering issues of ownership, management and control, protection and conservation, resource management, tourism, visitor expectations and public perception.

It’s pushed me to learn about my culture more as a young Haida person. I feel really empowered that I’m the one that gets to give them a positive view not just about Haida people, but about First Nations culture as a whole. Alix Goetzinger, quote in Lui 2016

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The Merriam-Webster Dictionary ( 2018 ) defines ‘empowerment’ as both a process and a state of being: (1) “the action of empowering someone or something: the granting of the power, right, or authority to perform various acts of duties; (2) the state of being empowered […], the power, right, or authority to do something.”

Empowerment theories are also connected with Marxist sociological theory, having been continually developed and refined through Neo-Marxist Theory and Critical Theory.

See, among others, Adams 2008 ; Cattaneo and Chapman 2010 ; Nachshen 2005 ; Narayan 2002 ; Rappaport 1987 ; and Thomas and Velthouse 1990 .

See, among others, Fletcher et al. 2008 ; Goodman et al. 1998 ; and Nelson 2013 .

Goodman et al. define community capacity as “(1) the characteristics of communities that affect their ability to identify, mobilize, and address social and public health problems, and (2) the cultivation and use of transferable knowledge, skills, systems, and resources that affect community- and individual-level changes consistent with public health-related goals and objectives” ( 1998 , 259).

Growth in community capacity can be documented longitudinally (Smith et al. 2003 ). The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC 2005 ) developed the Community Capacity Building Tool (CCBT) for measuring community capacity building in community-based participatory research projects. The study was the first of its kind to test the tool over a two-year period during a project that involved a collaborative partnership between academic researchers and Indigenous community members (Fletcher et al. 2008 ).

In Canada, Indigenous community engagement was advocated by the Task Force Report on Museums and First Peoples (AFN 1992 , 1994 ), calling for new partnerships between museums and First Nations.

Engagement of Indigenous people in exhibitions and other media representations is not a new phenomenon. The ‘Father of American Anthropology’ Franz Boas consulted with George Hunt and other Kwakiutl collaborators on their presentations at the 1893 World’s Columbia Exhibition (Hoerig 2010 , 65), and filmmaker Robert Flaherty collaborated with an Inuit crew when shooting the documentary Nanook of the North (1922, dir. Robert Flaherty, 79 min.).

Examples of this first stage of participation with Indigenous communities might be the Buffalo Nations Luxton Museum in Banff, Alberta, and the North America exhibitions at the Museum am Rothenbaum: Kulturen und Künste der Welt (MARKK) in Hamburg, both visited by the author.

As an example, Galla ( 1997 ) lists the Woodland Cultural Centre ( https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca ) in Brantford, Ontario, which is owned and run by the three Mohawk communities; see also Susemihl 2020 .

Developed by Michel Cullon and Bruno Latour (Latour 2005 ), the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) is a constructivist theoretical and methodological approach to social theory. It posits that everything in the social and natural worlds exists in constantly shifting networks of relationships, and all the factors involved in a social situation are on the same level. ANT has been employed as an analytical tool in museum studies for discussing social relationships and networks. See, for example, Hetherington 1999 , Phillips 2011 , and Waller 2016 .

The Circle of Courage has been applied in education by numerous schools throughout Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as for instance at Saskatoon Public Schools (see their homepage, www.saskatoonpublicschools.ca ).

Many modern, non-Indigenous interpretations of the medicine wheel-paradigm are far removed from the original meaning of the concept as used by Indigenous peoples, but can still have a useful function. It has especially been a rich source of ideas regarding human psychology and health (Swanson 2013 ).

The term ‘medicine wheel’ was first coined in reference to the Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming, an archaeological site that consists of a central cairn or rock pile surrounded by a circle of stones and lines of cobbles linking the central cairn and the surrounding circle. The ‘medicine’ part of the name implies that it was of religious significance to Indigenous peoples. Stone medicine wheels have been dated to 5000 BC. For further reference see Brumley  1983 , 1988 , 2006 ; Grinnell 1922 ; Pard et al. 2016 .

In 2011, I accompanied Blackfoot historian Stan Knowlton explore the remains of a huge ancient stone circle near Fort McLeod in the middle of the prairie that was destroyed decades ago. He explained that there are significant stellar alignments presented on the medicine wheels – a theory that was also proposed by astronomer John Eddy. Knowlton explained that wheels functioned as calendars and were, presumably, used for the timing of important rituals (Personal communication with Stan Knowlton 2011 ).

For information on the most common representations of the four quadrants or aspects, see Joseph 2020 , Nabigon 1993 , Partridge 2010 , and Swanson 2013 , among others.

A few years ago, I participated in an Elder’s Teaching of the West-Ceremony at the Dodem Kanonhsa (‘Clan Lodge’) at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada’s Ontario Regional Office in Toronto. Dodem is an Anishinabe (Ojibwe) word meaning ‘Clan’, and Kanonhsa’ is Kenienkeha (Mohawk) meaning ‘Lodge’.

The CIRCLE model was developed by the Indigenous health and research professionals Joyce Naseyowma, Michelle Chino, and Connie Garcia, using their experience as GONA facilitators (Chino and DeBruyn 2006 ).

Mythic transformers are spirit beings such as raven or coyote that have helped change the world and are often strongly connected to specific places (Buggey 1999 , 6).

Anthropologist Alan Dundes points out that Western cultures tend to view issues through a lens of a combination of ‘straight’ and ‘square’ lines. People value issues facing them in ‘line’, by means of ‘straightforward’ arguments, since “square signals fairness and honesty,” while they mistrust “circular reasoning.” He notes that an emphasis on thinking “logically, that is, lineally,” causes “repeated failure” in understanding the outlook of traditional cultures (Dundes 2004 , 171–172, 184–185). Cultural anthropologist Dorothy D. Lee alluded to the Western propensity toward codifying reality in lineal terms, concluding that “much of our present-day thinking, and much of our evaluation are based on the premise of the line and of the line as good” (Lee 1950 , 96).

See, for example, the exhibition “Expanding the Circle: Robert Davidson and the Ancient Language of Haida Art” at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, 2017: https://www.artgalleryofhamilton.com/exhibition/expanding-the-circle-robert-davidson-and-the-ancient-language-of-haida-art/ [accessed 26 November 2020].

In 1994, the Government of the Northwest Territories was the first jurisdiction to assign traditional knowledge a formal role in policy (Abele 1997 , iii). For definitions of traditional knowledge see also Stevenson 1996 , 281).

There is dispute about whether Indigenous populations hold an intellectual property right over traditional knowledge and whether use of this knowledge requires prior permission and license, which is complicated because TEK is generally preserved as oral tradition (Anderson 2010 ; Simeone 2004 ; Tsuji and Ho 2002 ).

While older court cases dismissed Indigenous oral discourse and witness testimony tradition as valid evidence of the intimate relationship between culture and land in support of their land claims (e.g., Apsassin vs The Queen , 1987; Delgamuukw vs The Queen , 1991; see Buggey 1999 ; Cruikshank 1994 ), newer court cases have accepted traditional knowledge as valid evidence (e.g., Delgamuukw vs The Queen , 1997; see also Freeman 1976 ).

For discussions of Indigenous versus ‘other’ knowledge discourses see, among others, Chino and DeBruyn 2006 ; Christensen 2002 ; Deloria 1999 ; Duran 1996 ; Garroutte 2003 ; LaFrance 2004 ; Tsuji and Ho 2002 .

For studies on North American Indigenous peoples’ TEK see Barlow and Stone 2005 ; Borrero 2009 ; Cruikshank 2006 ; Gilliland 2009 ; Hobson 1992 ; Houde 2007 ; Hunter 2004 ; Johnson 1992 ; King 2004 ; Knopf 2015 , 2018 ; McGregor 2004 ; Nadasdy 1999 , 2003 ; Nelson and Shilling 2018 ; and Trosper 2009 .

Indigenous scholars who have written on TEK are, among others, Armstrong 2009 ; Atleo 2004 , 2011 ; Cajete 2000 ; Gon III 2003 ; and Griffin and Spanjer 2008 .

The issue of naming has been an important topic in Indigenous literature; see, for example, Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water ( 1993 ) and Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony ( 1997 ), among many others.

The importance of stories for Indigenous people has been a continuous subject in Indigenous literature. The writer Thomas King calls stories “wondrous things” and claims: “The Truth about stories is that that’s all we are” ( 2003 , 2). Gerald Vizenor states: “You can’t understand the world without telling a story. There isn’t any center to the world but a story” (quoted in Coltelli 1990 , 156). Leslie Marmon Silko writes in her acclaimed novel Ceremony , “I will tell you something about stories. They aren’t just entertainment/Don’t be fooled/They are all we have, you see […] You don’t have anything/if you don’t have the stories” ( 1997 , 2).

An infamous instance is the case of Colten Boushie, a Cree man from the Red Pheasant First Nation, who was shot in the head by a white farmer, Gerald Stanley, in 2016. The case drew significant attention, sparking protests and provoking debates about racism in Saskatchewan and across Canada. People who supported Stanley generally perceived the trial as fair, given the circumstances of events leading up to the shooting, while supporters of the Boushie family felt the trial was unfair due to the selection of an all-white jury. The Tsq’escenemc journalist NoiseCat writes: “I am Colten Boushie. My people are Colten Boushie. And the uncomfortable truth is that Canada is the all-white jury that acquitted Stanley” (NoiseCat 2018 ; see also Gilmore 2018 , and the documentary film Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up , 2019 , dir. Tasha Hubbard, 98 min.

The ICUN World Parks Congress (WPC) is the world’s most important global forum on protected areas. It shares knowledge and innovation, setting the agenda for protected areas conservation.

According to Brenda Baptiste, Director of the ITA of BC, Indigenous tourism in the province brought in CAD 50 million in revenue in 2016 and was expected to grow to CAD 68 million in 2017 (Azpiri 2016 ).

The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC, until 2017 Aboriginal Tourism Association of Canada) includes more than twenty Indigenous tourism industry organizations and government representatives from every province and territory in Canada. It focuses on marketing, product development support and creating partnerships between associations, organizations, government departments and industry leaders from across Canada to support the growth of Indigenous tourism and to address the demand for development and marketing of authentic Indigenous experience (ITAC homepage, https://indigenoustourism.ca ).

Examples of successful Indigenous tourism development are, according to tourism consultant Ray Freeman ( 2014 ), the Haida Heritage Centre, Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Blackfoot Crossing and Wanuskewin Heritage Park.

YouthPATH uses heritage tourism to empower young people to achieve economic advancement and self-esteem; the objective is to train young people in poor rural communities in the development and documentation of cultural and heritage sites. The intention is that heritage sites will become centres of national and international tourism and, thus, generate income, reduce poverty and contribute to community development.

Rediscovery Camps constitute a broad network of affiliated programs spanning several countries, including Canada, the United States and New Zealand ( https://rediscovery.org ).

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How Indigenous expertise is empowering climate action: A case study from Oceania

Indigenous Peoples are the world's foremost experts on preserving the climate and biodiversity — listening to them is the key to protecting our planet. Image:  REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

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Ginelle greene-dewasmes.

.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;color:#2846F8;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{font-size:1.125rem;}} Get involved .chakra .wef-9dduvl{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-9dduvl{font-size:1.125rem;}} with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

• Industrial-scale capitalism and mass urbanization have accelerated environmental degradation, necessitating a reconnection with nature and Indigenous expertise.
• Indigenous knowledge systems offer holistic approaches to environmental sustainability and are increasingly recognized for their value in climate action.
• Examples like traditional fire management and innovative applications of Indigenous knowledge demonstrate the potential for collaboration and cross-pollination between Indigenous and other practices to address climate and ecological challenges.

On Monday 15 April 2024 , the largest global annual gathering of Indigenous Peoples kicked off at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, with participants calling for greater efforts to close financial gaps for Indigenous Peoples. Next month, Sydney Climate Action Week during May 13-19 will take place in Australia, a series of community-led events across Sydney from all aspects of the climate action ecosystem.

Such a coming together of stakeholders presents a prime opportunity to explore how traditional regional innovation models can contribute global solutions under a more inclusive climate agenda.

Have you read?

Renewables projects must respect indigenous peoples and local communities. here's how, indigenous leaders bringing their knowledge to davos 2024, 5 ways indigenous people are protecting the planet, disconnection from nature is exacerbating climate change.

Industrial-scale capitalism has accelerated the erosion of climate and ecological systems. Mass urbanization has driven economic growth and extractive industries on scales previously unimaginable. Sadly, these trends are increasing. Around 2007, the United Nations estimated , we had reached a tipping point in the world: more people were living in urban than rural areas. By 2022, 57% of all humans became urban based. In developed nations, a whopping 80% of citizens are urban. Both of these trends are predicted to increase .

This is reflected in how we are responding to the climate emergency. We are rapidly losing our connection to nature, with scarce nature feedback loops in citified life. This skews our perceptions and worldviews. Our academies are urban, our scientists are trained and our businesspeople, financiers, teachers, politicians are upskilled in mostly urban landscapes. Atrophied natural knowledge leaves us unequipped for dealing with the complexity of ecosystems. We need to humbly acknowledge the true experts in nature, Indigenous people, and ask for their guidance, meeting with our resources to activate this expertise.

Indigenous knowledge in climate action

“The planet’s ill health has largely come about because humans have forgotten their relationship and responsibility to country. Imagine if we could tap into the way First Nations cultures focus on deep, holistic connections to the environment to help us rethink environmental and health policies.”

Although Indigenous knowledge systems have been built on millennia of lived experience, iteration and adaptation, they have too often been ignored.

Today, however, there is growing interest in the value of Indigenous knowledge systems in the wake of environmental and climate challenges. In contrast to non-indigenous value systems, indigenous value systems focus on environmental sustainability as an end in itself that is required for cultural, social and economic well-being. The knowledge we have lost is still very much alive in Indigenous worlds, built through millennia of observation and ecological management.

The world needs to reframe both the role and deep knowledge of Indigenous people as experts. Signs of this shift are already emerging. In carbon and emerging biodiversity markets , any project involving, run by or partnered with Indigenous people attracts a premium carbon credit price in recognition of the deeper integrity, provenance and permanence Indigenous people bring that mitigate greenwashing claims.

Harnessing Indigenous expertise for modern global impact

An example of superior Indigenous technology is found in traditional fire management . Western fuel reduction strategies have triggered catastrophic fires when containment lines are broken, but Indigenous people have practiced for millennia “cool burning” that allows time for biodiversity to move to safety. This knowledge is needed across Europe and North America, both of which have experienced staggering brush fires. According to Firesticks , the not-for-profit Indigenous network, “aboriginal fire management has become a priority for community, cultural, social and environmental wellbeing”. This awareness showcases an example of the acknowledged inter-relatedness of knowledge, land, culture and identity — and the prioritization of environmental wellbeing alongside the community and culture.

Alongside ancient practices sit novel applications of Indigenous knowledge. Rainstick, a novel biotech company that was inspired by the traditions of the Maiawali People of central west Queensland, Australia, has built on a 10,000-year-old practice that acknowledges the influence of lightning on how plants grow. The resulting approach combines ancient expertise with modern technology to show that indigenous knowledge is ever-changing and can be applied in new and novel ways for climate action. Another example can be found in Savimbo fair trade credits , which is Indigenous at its core — removing intermediaries to ensure Indigenous experts can attract capital to resist further incursion into precious Indigenous-managed lands by developers.

Indigenous people are also sharing their profound knowledge with each other to manage and fix the problem of climate change. In the Ampliseed network, Indigenous people managing lands as diverse as the snow-covered Boreal Forest in Canada, World Heritage Listed Coral Reefs, tropical rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon, Mediterranean habitat in Chile and Australia’s 10 vast central deserts are cross-pollinating their knowledge, navigating the climate disaster and creating global impact at the Climate and Biodiversity CoPs .

Next steps for applying Indigenous expertise

Given that 80% of remaining biodiversity is on Indigenous lands and in Indigenous hands, it is clear with the emerging biodiversity markets that Indigenous people are the primary market actors. Therefore, financing models need to evolve in order to safeguard and invest in the role of Indigenous people as stewards and equity owners of the conservation of the precious remaining biodiversity. Similarly, financing all other opportunities to cross-pollinate Western and Indigenous knowledge systems is essential.

The growing body of evidence reveals a simple truth: Indigenous people hold a key to our collective response to climate and ecological challenges.

Indigenous-led organizations are thriving by sharing this knowledge, and people and the planet are benefiting in turn.

With contributions from Harry Guinness, Head of Net Zero Strategy, Greenhouse.

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Insights from notes and case studies on indigenous peoples in Canada

This year’s National Indigenous History Month in Canada has provided a new opportunity to reflect on the injustices endured by Indigenous peoples since the arrival of European settlers on these lands. Moreover, it has also served as a great moment to champion indigenous research in business education by showcasing a selection of compelling notes and case studies.

For those looking to learn more about Indigenous peoples and their profound connection to the land in Canada, an excellent starting point is the free note “ Indigenous Peoples and the Land in Canada: An Introduction ,” co-authored by Ivey Professor Diane-Laure Arjalies , Ivey postdoctoral scholar Julie Bernard , and Ivey Student Marek Brooking .

The note is based on a literature review of academic and governmental information sources. It effectively introduces fundamental concepts regarding Indigenous peoples and their relationships to the land in Canada. In this context, “Indigenous” refers to the original inhabitants of North America and their descendants. The material also explores the three distinct groups of Indigenous peoples in Canada: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.

“We are delighted to present this free concept note, which serves as a comprehensive account of the journey of Marek, an exceptional student who participated in the Head and Heart Indigenous Research Fellowship, designed to equip students with the necessary tools for engaging in graduate-level or applied community-based research,” said Arjaliès, who is an associate professor of General Management and Sustainability at the school. “Throughout his time in the program, Marek demonstrated remarkable growth and development as a scholar, and we, as his supervisors felt privileged to have witnessed his dedication firsthand.”

Bernard agreed and added, “Marek’s unwavering commitment to his studies and exceptional work ethic was commendable.”

For Brooking, it was all about spreading awareness. “For me, it was not only about better educating business and law students on concepts they might face in the future but also about teaching others about the importance of understanding the Indigenous perspective in Canada. There needs to be more discussion surrounding Indigenous issues to create a country that works for everyone. I hope that this note serves as a foundation for such an initiative,” he said.

As a Head and Heart Indigenous Research Fellow , Brooking explained that the writing process didn’t come without its challenges, including finding the right literary sources that demonstrated Indigenous values and mindsets.

“Many of the sources I originally found in the early stages were from a Eurocentric perspective and had little Indigenous views in mind. However, this was also accompanied by my Westernized education and upbringing, which further limited my ability to find truly Indigenous sources,” he stated.

Brooking praised Arjaliès and Bernard for their valuable mentorship and for often highlighting when colonial biases were shown in sources. “I also found more Indigenous-led research by searching key terms and became more diligent in combating colonial bias. So, spotting colonial bias from yourself or others is important.”

“This teaching note is significant, particularly within Canada’s agenda toward Truth and Reconciliation. We have also made it a top priority to ensure the accessibility and broad utility of this message by making the note free access for educators across Canada and worldwide,” concluded Arjaliès and Bernard. “We invite educators to incorporate the principles of reconciliation and Indigenous research into their teaching and academic practices.”

Notable Case Studies on Indigenous Business

A selection of notable case studies exploring Indigenous business in Canada and highlighting the unique challenges that impact Indigenous entrepreneurship, as well as the opportunities for development and growth.

• "Cheekbone Beauty - Building an Indigenous Growth Venture” by Simon Parker and Ramasastry Chandrasekhar

This case focuses on the founder of Cheekbone Beauty, an Indigenous enterprise in the Niagara Region of Ontario, who was driven by the goal of becoming “the first Indigenous woman to create a unicorn beauty brand from Canada.” The case invites students to step into the shoes of an Indigenous entrepreneur and find a way forward.

Cheekbone Beauty is also available under Ivey’s Digital Learning Experience format

• “Membertou First Nation: Possible Acquisition of Clearwater Seafoods” by Paul W. Beamish, Alexander Brown and Elena Simpson

The case addresses how in 2021 a coalition of seven First Nations communities was exploring a potential partnership with Premium Brand Holdings Corporation (Premium Brands). If executed, this partnership would constitute the single largest investment in the seafood industry by any Indigenous group in Canada. The case teaches students about the history of Membertou First Nation and the way First Nation communities operate within the Canadian business landscape.

Learn more about the case with this featured content

• The Yukon Soaps Company: Indigenous Business Growth by Dominic Lim and Victor Lal

This case about a Yukon-based business provides a perspective on the challenges Indigenous entrepreneurs face in Canada. It offers an overview of the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, focusing on the current economic, political, and social issues faced by Indigenous entrepreneurs in the territory of Yukon. The case also challenges students to empathize with an Indigenous business owner working to grow her company.

• Raven Indigenous Capital Partners: Designing An Impact Investing Measurement Framework by Michael R. King, Basma Majerbi, Crystal Tremblay

This case focuses on Raven Indigenous Capital Partners, founded in 2017 in Vancouver, British Columbia. It introduces students to the world of impact investing, social and environmental impact measurement, and an Indigenous view of impact investing. It offers students an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of colonialism in Canada, which has led to numerous inequalities that persist today, including inequality in access to finance for Indigenous entrepreneurs, one of the many underserved populations in financial markets.

To discover more cases featuring indigenous protagonists or addressing indigenous businesses, browse our collection .

Submit your indigenous case to Ivey Publishing

At Ivey Publishing, we are committed to expanding our collection of indigenous notes and case studies to provide greater visibility and recognition to indigenous entrepreneurs, businesses, and brands.

If you have a note, exercise, or case study featuring an indigenous protagonist or focusing on the operations of an indigenous business, we encourage you to consider publishing with us.

Please ensure you review our submission guidelines and FAQs .

If you have any additional questions or require further assistance, do not hesitate to get in touch with us .

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‘Indsights: A Window into the Indigenous Economy’ Case Studies Featuring Indigenous Entrepreneurs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TORONTO, ON – December 1, 2022   Indsights: A Window into the Indigenous Economy is a project led by Humber College, in partnership with Canadian Council of Aboriginal Business (CCAB), to produce interactive case studies featuring success stories from Indigenous entrepreneurs, partnerships, and collaborations.

Each case study shows Canadian Indigenous businesses confronting economic barriers and emerging as innovative leaders.  Previous research completed by CCAB has shown that economic development in Indigenous communities positively impacts the general well-being of the community. This has led to an increase in job opportunities, skills development, capacity building, and putting money into Indigenous economies. Indigenous economic growth contributes to the overall Canadian economy to the tune of $30 billion annually.

“Using innovative digital storytelling, the Indsights project works directly with Indigenous businesses resulting in stories that can inspire future generations of Indigenous business leaders and the broader Canadian population,” says CCAB President and CEO, Tabatha Bull. “The wide range of economic structures and businesses illustrated in these stories demonstrates there is no one-size-fits-all paradigm for Indigenous economic success.”

This work aims to educate post-secondary students on the importance of Indigenous economic development in Canada, demonstrated through case studies of successful Indigenous businesses, partnerships, and illustrations of positive stakeholder engagement. It is part of Humber College and CCAB’s shared vision of putting the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Report’s 94 Calls to Action into action, particularly Calls 63 and 64 on education, to encourage more Indigenous voices to be included in the mainstream curriculum. Even though the TRC and, more recently, the National Indigenous Economic Strategy called for more Indigenous content in Canadian classrooms, there are limited resources for post-secondary educators outside Indigenous studies programs. This project was initiated to help close this gap. The cases are free open educational resources available to teachers and professors through the project website . To meet different learning needs, there is a text-based case with a supplementary video and a recommended teaching note to guide a facilitated discussion.

“Indsights is about developing content that teachers and professors can use in the classroom so students can learn about the wide variety of Indigenous businesses that are thriving across the country,” says Humber College Professor and Principal Investigator, Audrey Wubbenhorst.  “We are so grateful to the participants for sharing their time and stories.”

Profile of Business Case Studies in Year One:

Pawgwasheeng Economic Development Corporation (PEDC): Ginny Michano is the president of PEDC, a 100% owned Indigenous corporation by Pawgwasheeng, Pays Plat First Nation. PEDC generates and maximizes economic development and commercial opportunities that encourage community and membership growth. It is dedicated to protecting the community’s values while preserving dignity and respect for its traditional territory and ways of life.

Birch Bark Coffee Company: Mark Marsolais-Nahwegahbow, like many Indigenous business owners, has a social goal that comes before making a profit. Birch Bark Coffee Company is an innovative social business that sells freshly roasted, Certified Organic, Fair-Trade, and SPP (Small Producers) Certified coffee. Its mission is “ to work toward bringing clean drinking water to every Indigenous home suffering from ‘All Water Advisories’ by providing and installing, for those who are in need, certified water purification systems .”

Shades of Gray Pet Treats: Keri Gray runs the farm and retail pet food store owned and run by the Indigenous people of Algonquin of Pikwakanagan First Nation. Keri is committed to participating in and advancing the community’s heritage, which is why she is passionate about helping Indigenous communities, youth, and education. Keri uses the knowledge she has been shown to spread the word about how important it is to take care of our land for future use. Shades of Gray supports sustainable farming and other eco-friendly, long-term practices.

Over the span of three years, this project aims to study businesses across the country, varying on sizes, industries, locations, and business approaches. The focus of these case studies includes Indigenous entrepreneurship, partnerships, and skill development. The case studies can be distributed as free learning on the project website . An event in 2023 is expected to share stories and discuss how these cases can be used in the classroom effectively.

About Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business:

CCAB is committed to the full participation of Indigenous peoples in Canada’s economy. As a national, non-partisan association, its mission is to promote, strengthen and enhance a prosperous Indigenous economy through the fostering of business relationships, opportunities, and awareness. CCAB offers knowledge, resources, and programs to its members to cultivate economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples and businesses across Canada. For more information, visit www.ccab.com

About Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning:

Humber College is focused on our students’ future. Humber provides career-focused education to more than 86,000 learners in-person at three main Toronto locations and online. As a global leader in polytechnic education, Humber students receive in-depth theoretical learning and hands-on experience with applied research and extensive industry connections. A comprehensive range of credentials, including honours undergraduate degrees, Ontario graduate certificates, diplomas, apprenticeships, and certificates, prepare career-ready global citizens to move seamlessly from education to employment. More than 86 per cent of Humber graduates are employed within six months of completing their studies. Visit humber.ca.

For more information contact:

Alannah Jabokwoam Senior Associate, Communications & Public Relations Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business ajabokwoam@ccab.com T: 416.961.8663 ext. 227

Humber Research & Innovation research@humber.ca

Audrey Wubbenhorst , MA, MBA, ICD.D Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning Audrey.wubbenhorst@humber.ca

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First-of-its-kind study definitively shows that conservation actions are effective at halting and reversing biodiversity loss

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A new study published online today, April 25, in the scientific journal Science provides the strongest evidence to date that not only is nature conservation successful, but that scaling conservation interventions up would be transformational for halting and reversing biodiversity loss—a crisis that can lead to ecosystem collapses and a planet less able to support life—and reducing the effects of climate change.

The findings of this first-ever comprehensive meta-analysis of the impact of conservation action are crucial as more than 44,000 species are documented as being at risk of extinction , with tremendous consequences for the ecosystems that stabilize the climate and that provide billions of people around the world with clean water, livelihoods, homes, and cultural preservation, among other ecosystem services. Governments recently adopted new global targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, making it even more critical to understand whether conservation interventions are working.

“If you look only at the trend of species declines, it would be easy to think that we’re failing to protect biodiversity, but you would not be looking at the full picture,” said Penny Langhammer, lead author of the study and executive vice president of Re:wild. “What we show with this paper is that conservation is, in fact, working to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. It is clear that conservation must be prioritized and receive significant additional resources and political support globally, while we simultaneously address the systemic drivers of biodiversity loss, such as unsustainable consumption and production.”

Although many studies look at individual conservation projects and interventions and their impact compared with no action taken, these papers have never been pulled into a single analysis to see how and whether conservation action is working overall. The co-authors conducted the first-ever meta-analysis of 186 studies, including 665 trials, that looked at the impact of a wide range of conservation interventions globally, and over time, compared to what would have happened without those interventions. The studies covered over a century of conservation action and evaluated actions targeting different levels of biodiversity—species, ecosystems, and genetic diversity.

The meta-analysis found that conservation actions—including the establishment and management of protected areas, the eradication and control of invasive species, the sustainable management of ecosystems, habitat loss reduction, and restoration—improved the state of biodiversity or slowed its decline in the majority of cases (66%) compared with no action taken at all. And when conservation interventions work, the paper’s co-authors found that they are highly effective .

For example:

• Management of invasive and problematic native predators on two of Florida’s barrier islands, Cayo Costa and North Captiva, resulted in an immediate and substantial improvement in nesting success by loggerhead turtles and least terns, especially compared with other barrier islands where no predator management was applied.
• In the Congo Basin, deforestation was 74% lower in logging concessions under a Forest Management Plan (FMP) compared with concessions without an FMP.
• Protected areas and Indigenous lands were shown to significantly reduce both deforestation rate and fire density in the Brazilian Amazon. Deforestation was 1.7 to 20 times higher and human-caused fires occurred four to nine times more frequently outside the reserve perimeters compared with inside.
• Captive breeding and release boosted the natural population of Chinook salmon in the Salmon River basin of central Idaho with minimal negative impacts on the wild population. On average, fish taken into the hatchery produced 4.7 times more adult offspring and 1.3 times more adult second generation offspring than naturally reproducing fish.

“Our study shows that when conservation actions work, they really work. In other words, they often lead to outcomes for biodiversity that are not just a little bit better than doing nothing at all, but many times greater,” said Jake Bicknell, co-author of the paper and a conservation scientist at DICE, University of Kent. “For instance, putting measures in place to boost the population size of an endangered species has often seen their numbers increase substantially. This effect has been mirrored across a large proportion of the case studies we looked at.”

Even in the minority of cases where conservation actions did not succeed in recovering or slowing the decline of the species or ecosystems that they were targeting compared with taking no action, conservationists benefited from the knowledge gained and were able to refine their methods. For example, in India the physical removal of invasive algae caused the spread of the algae elsewhere because the process broke the algae into many pieces, enabling their dispersal. Conservationists could now implement a different strategy to remove the algae that is more likely to be successful.

This might also explain why the co-authors found a correlation between more recent conservation interventions and positive outcomes for biodiversity— conservation is likely getting more effective over time . Other potential reasons for this correlation include an increase in funding and more targeted interventions.

In some other cases where the conservation action did not succeed in benefiting the target biodiversity compared with no action at all, other native species benefitted unintentionally instead. For example, seahorse abundance was lower in protected sites because marine protected areas increase the abundance of seahorse predators, including octopus.

“It would be too easy to lose any sense of optimism in the face of ongoing biodiversity declines,” said study co-author and Associate Professor Joseph Bull , from the University of Oxford’s Department of Biology. “However, our results clearly show that there is room for hope. Conservation interventions seemed to be an improvement on inaction most of the time; and when they were not, the losses were comparatively limited."

More than half of the world’s GDP, almost $44 trillion , is moderately or highly dependent on nature. According to previous studies, a comprehensive global conservation program would require an investment of between US$178 billion and US$524 billion , focused primarily in countries with particularly high levels of biodiversity. To put this in perspective, in 2022, global fossil fuel handouts--which are destructive to nature—were US$7 trillion . This is 13 times the highest amount needed annually to protect and restore the planet. Today more than US$121 billion is invested annually into conservation worldwide , and previous studies have found the cost-benefit ratio of an effective global program for the conservation of the wild is at least 1:100 .

“Conservation action works—this is what the science clearly shows us,” said Claude Gascon, co-author and director of strategy and operations at the Global Environment Facility. “It is also evident that to ensure that positive effects last, we need to invest more in nature and continue doing so in a sustained way. This study comes at a critical time where the world has agreed on ambitious and needed global biodiversity targets that will require conservation action at an entirely new scale. Achieving this is not only possible, it is well within our grasp as long as it is appropriately prioritized.”

The paper also argues that there must be more investment specifically in the effective management of protected areas, which remain the cornerstone for many conservation actions. Consistent with other studies, this study finds that protected areas work very well on the whole . And what other studies have shown is that when protected areas are not working, it is typically the result of a lack of effective management and adequate resourcing. Protected areas will be even more effective at reducing biodiversity loss if they are well-resourced and well-managed.

Moving forward, the study’s co-authors call for more and rigorous studies that look at the impact of conservation action versus inaction for a wider range of conservation interventions, such as those that look at the effectiveness of pollution control, climate change adaptation, and the sustainable use of species, and in more countries.

“For more than 75 years, IUCN has advanced the importance of sharing conservation practice globally,” said Grethel Aguilar, IUCN director general. “This paper has analyzed conservation outcomes at a level as rigorous as in applied disciplines like medicine and engineering—showing genuine impact and thus guiding the transformative change needed to safeguard nature at scale around the world. It shows that nature conservation truly works, from the species to the ecosystem levels across all continents. This analysis, led by Re:wild in collaboration with many IUCN Members, Commission experts, and staff, stands to usher in a new era in conservation practice.”

This work was conceived and funded through the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) by the Global Environment Facility.

Lindsay Renick Mayer

[email protected]

+1 512-686-6225

Devin Murphy

+1 512-686-6188

The paper ‘The positive impact of conservation action’ has been published in Science:  https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.adj6598  

Additional quotes

Thomas Brooks, co-author and chief scientist, IUCN

“This paper is not only extremely important in providing robust evidence of the impact of

conservation actions. It is also extremely timely in informing crucial international policy processes, including the establishment of a 20-year vision for IUCN, the development of an IPBES assessment of biodiversity monitoring, and the delivery of the action targets toward the outcome goals of the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.”

Stuart Butchart, co-author and chief scientist, BirdLife International

“Recognising that the loss and degradation of nature is having consequences for societies worldwide, governments recently adopted a suite of goals and targets for biodiversity conservation. This new analysis is the best evidence to date that conservation interventions make a difference, slowing the loss of species’ populations and habitats and enabling them to recover. It provides strong support for scaling up investments in nature in order to meet the commitments that countries have signed up to.”

Jamie Carr, co-author and researcher in climate change and biodiversity governance, Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York, UK “This work represents a huge effort on the part of many conservation professionals, all of whom are committed to reversing the loss of the world's biodiversity. It is encouraging to find that the past work of other conservationists has had a positive impact on nature, and I sincerely hope that our findings inspire those working now and in the future to ramp up their efforts."

Piero Genovesi, ISPRA, co-author and chair, IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group

“Species and ecosystems are facing a dramatic crisis, and the Biodiversity Plan of the United Nations is an urgent global call to action. This paper shows that eradication, control and management of invasive alien species have the largest impact in terms of conservation, and can help reverse the current trends of biodiversity loss, potentially saving hundreds of species from extinction. It is essential that governments and donors support the struggle against invasive alien species if we want to meet the agreed biodiversity targets by 2030.”

Mike Hoffmann, co-author and head of wildlife recovery, Zoological Society of London

“The major advance of this study is its sheer weight of evidence. We can point to specific examples, such as how captive breeding and reintroductions have facilitated the return of scimitar-horned oryx to the wild in Chad, but these can feel a bit exceptional. This study draws on more than 650 published cases to show that conservation wins are not rare. Conservation mostly works—unfortunately, it is also mostly significantly under-resourced.”

Madhu Rao, chair, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas “With less than six years remaining to achieve ambitious biodiversity targets by 2030, there is a great sense of urgency for effective conservation action. We can take proven methods to conserve nature, such as protected areas, and scale them up for real conservation impact. This research clearly demonstrates that conservation actions are successful. We just need to take them to scale.”

Jon Paul Rodriguez, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission

“Anyone involved in the field of conservation will have witnessed the power of nature to regenerate and grow, given a chance to do so. From fishery exclusion zones, to ecological restoration on land, and animal, fungi and plant recovery efforts, there are numerous examples of halting and reversing biodiversity declines. Langhammer and colleagues synthesize knowledge on the impact of conservation action, and demonstrate that evidence-based conservation efforts indeed work in the majority of cases, not just in a few hand-picked examples. Much more money is spent on destroying nature than on protection and recovery. The authors show that tipping the balance in favor of nature is likely to help us deliver the world's ambitious biodiversity conservation targets.”

Gernot Segelbacher, co-author, professor and co-chair of Conservation Genetic Specialist Group, University Freiburg

“Conservation matters! While we so often hear about species declining or going extinct, this study shows that we can make a difference.”

Stephen Woodley, co-author, ecologist and vice chair for science and biodiversity, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas

“The world needs hope that conservation action can work to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.  This paper demonstrates that a range of conservation actions are highly effective. We just need to do more of them.”

Re:wild protects and restores the wild. We have a singular and powerful focus: the wild as the most effective solution to the interconnected climate, biodiversity and human wellbeing crises. Founded by a group of renowned conservation scientists together with Leonardo DiCaprio, Re:wild is a force multiplier that brings together Indigenous peoples, local communities, influential leaders, nongovernmental organizations, governments, companies and the public to protect and rewild at the scale and speed we need. Learn more at rewild.org .

University of Oxford

Oxford University has been placed number 1 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for the eighth year running, and ​number 3 in the QS World Rankings 2024. At the heart of this success are the twin-pillars of our ground-breaking research and innovation and our distinctive educational offer. Oxford is world-famous for research and teaching excellence and home to some of the most talented people from across the globe. Our work helps the lives of millions, solving real-world problems through a huge network of partnerships and collaborations. The breadth and interdisciplinary nature of our research alongside our personalised approach to teaching sparks imaginative and inventive insights and solutions.

Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE)

The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) is a research centre at the University of Kent. Its teaching and research is designed to break down the barriers between the natural and social sciences and produce real-world impact. Its mission is to conserve biodiversity and the ecological processes that support ecosystems and people, by developing capacity and improving conservation management and policy through high-impact research.  

University of Kent

The University of Kent in England is renowned internationally for the quality of its teaching and research, with many of its academic schools and centres being among the best in their disciplines across the arts and humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Its campuses at Canterbury and Medway welcome more than 17,000 students from over 150 countries. The University of Kent is individually and collectively in the pursuit of progress, with a student-focused approach which is supportive, challenging and rewarding, and interdisciplinary research driven by collaboration to create positive impact. We are proud to be a values-driven university and work hard to ensure that our students are at the heart of all we do. We are committed to offering one of the best education and student experiences in the UK, undertaking research and innovation of the highest standard, and being a civic university that serves and contributes to our communities.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

IUCN is a membership Union composed of both government and civil society organisations. It harnesses the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 Member organisations and the input of more than 16,000 experts. IUCN is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.

IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)

The World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is the world's premier network of protected and conserved areas expertise. The Commission has over 2500 members spanning 140 countries who provide strategic advice to policymakers and work to strengthen capacity and investment for protected areas establishment and management.

Arizona State University

Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it. www.asu.edu

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is the world's largest nature conservation Partnership: a global family of 122 national NGOs covering all continents, landscapes and seascapes. BirdLife is driven by its belief that local people, working for nature in their own places but connected nationally and internationally through the global Partnership, are the key to sustaining all life on this planet. This unique local-to-global approach delivers high impact and long-term conservation for the benefit of nature and people.

Global Environment Facility (GEF)

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral family of funds dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, and supporting land and ocean health. Its financing enables developing countries to address complex challenges and work towards international environmental goals. The partnership includes 186 member governments as well as civil society, Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth, with a focus on integration and inclusivity. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided nearly $25 billion in financing and mobilized another $138 billion for thousands of priority projects and programs. The family of funds includes the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF), Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF), Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), Nagoya Protocol Implementation Fund (NPIF), and Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency Trust Fund (CBIT).

Zoological Society of London (ZSL)

Founded in 1826, ZSL is an international conservation charity, driven by science, working to restore wildlife in the UK and around the world; by protecting critical species, restoring ecosystems, helping people and wildlife live together and inspiring support for nature. Through our leading conservation zoos, London and Whipsnade, we bring people closer to nature and use our expertise to protect wildlife today, while inspiring a lifelong love of animals in the conservationists of tomorrow. Visit www.zsl.org for more information.   

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Indigenous knowledge and sustainable development in Africa: case study on Central Africa

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Case Study – The Indigenous Economic Development Trust

Indigenous economic development trust.

IBA is trustee for the Indigenous Economic Development Trust (IEDT).

Staff at Wilcannia: [L:R] George Bugmy, Kev Jenkins, Robert Clayton. Image courtesy of Steve Ross.

The IEDT was established in 2007 to assist the Australian Government in managing assets required for the delivery of Indigenous programs focused on remote employment, youth, health and education, such as the Remote Jobs and Communities Program (RJCP).

Assets (including land, non‑land and funding) are settled into the IEDT on a conditional transfer that enables a clear understanding of how the assets will be used for current and future Indigenous program delivery. The IEDT manages the assets and gives priority to Indigenous individuals or organisations when leasing them.

The goals of the IEDT are to be commercially sustainable; deliver financial returns to beneficiaries (Indigenous Australians) each financial year; achieve direct Indigenous outcomes through leasing (property, vehicles, plant and equipment); achieve direct Indigenous outcomes through distributions; and increase equity by 10 per cent over a rolling three‑year period.

As at 30 June 2016, the IEDT had $12.5 million in equity.

The construction of the Wilcannia Community Shed was project-managed by the IEDT. The project included locating suitable land; obtaining local council approval; identifying shed design and selecting shed contractors; engaging local Indigenous tradespeople for concrete slab construction, internal works, electrical work, plumbing and painting; and using local staff in fence construction and landscaping works.

The facility includes a workshop area with a training room, two offices, kitchen, shower, toilets and reception area. Community Development Employment Projects took up occupation on 14 June 2011 and has operated in the premises since that time (now as RJCP).

The entire project included 26 Indigenous construction staff members, mostly Wilcannia locals. This represented a total of 69 per cent Indigenous employment in the project. Additional trust beneficiary funds were used to design, build and fence the land surrounding the centre for horticulture beds and irrigation, including importation of appropriate soil, water tanks and associated equipment to produce and process fresh vegetables.

• Indigenous Peoples Relations
• Community Development

Cameco-Pinehouse Business North Business Development Project

In 2012, Cameco and the northern village of Pinehouse signed a collaboration agreement (CA) which provides the community with jobs, community investment payments and business through the village’s economic development arm Pinehouse Business North (PBN).

However, after several years of slow growth, it became clear that PBN required some help to take the business to the next level.

“PBN faced the challenge of bridging the needs of the community, while at the same time building a strong professionally managed organization,” says Kumar Balachandran, a Cameco project manager that works closely with PBN.

“As a community-based business, we have not only aspirations to be a competitive civil contractor, but we are also responsible to generate more wealth for the community and to create more employment opportunities for the people of Pinehouse,” says Garrett Schmidt, PBN’s business development manager.

Beginning in 2015, Cameco agreed to help PBN through a business development contract that focused on developing and implementing management procedures to increase PBN’s capacity and to successfully complete projects at Cameco and other sites.

This business development project was a collaboration between PBN and Cameco’s Corporate Responsibility and Major Projects teams. The project provided support to PBN as they executed three contracts at Cameco’s McArthur River site, including pairing PBN staff with Cameco staff in a mentor/mentee relationship. Cameco also provided funding for PBN to hire trainees, as well as develop and implement internal PBN procedures. This included equipment maintenance and project controls to ensure greater efficiency and safety. For these procedures, Cameco also made internal subject matter experts available to PBN to help them in the process.

“The timing—2015—was perfect,” said Balachandran. “That way, PBN was able to implement these procedures and best practices in ongoing jobs with Cameco.”

At the same time, Cameco also seconded an internal employee, Camille Pouteaux, from her role as a Specialist, SHEQ Programs at the Key Lake operation to help both Cameco and PBN implement the environmental waste services provision in the CA. Camille worked with Cameco’s sites to make sure they understood their commitments, and provided PBN with the expertise they needed to successfully undertake the work.

By the end of 2015, PBN’s environmental waste management crews were working at all four of Cameco’s northern sites, including having full time staff at two of those. This part of PBN’s business is seen as an area of future growth and one that can be a sustainable piece of business for them in the volatile resource sector.

The final piece of the project was to provide PBN a bridge loan so that they could purchase six pieces of equipment for their civil contracting projects.

All in all, the project was a win-win for Cameco and PBN. The systems and processes were put in place to enable PBN to be consistent and professional in the execution of contracts for Cameco and other clients.

“This project will also allow for more employment and investment opportunities for Pinehouse residents in the future, says Schmidt. “That will ultimately increase their quality of life.”

The benefits won’t end with this project. When Pinehouse and Cameco entered into their CA in 2012, they were entering into a partnership together. By helping develop PBN, Cameco in turn gets a stronger northern partner to work with that is able to complete larger and more complex projects to support its operations.

• Open access
• Published: 01 May 2024

Fourteen-year trends in overweight, general obesity, and abdominal obesity in Amazonian indigenous peoples

• Eliniete de Jesus Fidelis Baniwa 1 ,
• Eliene Rodrigues Putira Sacuena 1 ,
• Rosilene Reis Della Noce 2 ,
• Vanessa Barroso Quaresma 5 ,
• Teodora Honorato Alencar 5 ,
• Renan Barbosa Lemes 3 ,
• Antônia Cherlly Araújo 1 ,
• Izaura Maria Vieira Cayres-Vallinoto 4 &
• João Farias Guerreiro   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1979-3656 1  

BMC Public Health volume  24 , Article number:  1210 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Available data show that the epidemiological profile of most indigenous Brazilian populations is characterized by the coexistence of long-standing health problems (high prevalence of infectious and parasitic diseases, malnutrition, and deficiency diseases, such as anemia in children and women of reproductive age), associated with new health problems, especially those related to obesity (hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia). Based on this scenario, this study analyzed the nutritional profile of the adult population of seven indigenous peoples from the Brazilian Amazon in the years 2007 and 2021.

A total of 598 adults individuals were analyzed in 2007 (319 women and 279 men) and 924 in 2021 (483 women and 441 men), from seven indigenous peoples located in the state of Pará, who were assisted during health actions carried out in 2007 and in 2021. Body mass index classification used the World Health Organization criteria for adults: low weight, < 18.5 kg/m 2 ; normal weight, ≥ 18.5 and < 25 kg/m 2 ); overweight, ≥ 25 and < 30 kg/m 2 , and obesity, ≥ 30 kg/m 2 . A waist circumference (WC) < 90 cm in men and < 80 cm in women was considered normal.

The data revealed heterogeneous anthropometric profiles, with a low prevalence of nutritional changes in the Araweté, Arara and Parakanã peoples, and high proportions of excess weight and abdominal obesity in the Kararaô, Xikrin do Bacajá, Asurini do Xingu and Gavião peoples, similar to or even higher than the national averages.

Different stages of nutritional transition were identified in the indigenous peoples analyzed, despite apparently having been subjected to the same environmental pressures that shaped their nutritional profile in recent decades, which may indicate different genetic susceptibilities to nutritional changes. The evidence shown in this study strongly suggests the need to investigate in greater depth the genetic and environmental factors associated with the nutritional profile of Brazilian indigenous peoples, with assessment of diet, physical activity and sociodemographic and socioeconomic variables that enable the development of appropriate prevention and monitoring measures.

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Introduction

The epidemiological scenario in the Brazilian population in general is characterized by a transition in the pattern of mortality and morbidity from infectious and parasitic diseases (DIP) to a profile with a predominance of c (NCDs) such as general obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) and cancer, although there are different transition patterns in different areas of the country due to differences in the level of regional and social development [ 1 ].

Among indigenous peoples, on the other hand, infectious and parasitic diseases are still the main causes of morbidity and mortality, but there is evidence of an epidemiological transition with an increase in the prevalence of NCDs, in addition to the presence of mental and behavioral disorders and so-called social pathologies – violence and negative effects of alcohol and drug abuse.

Chronic noncommunicable diseases began to be observed in Brazilian indigenous populations only at the end of the 1970s. In the Brazilian Amazon, the first reference to diabetes was made in 1977 in the Karipúna and Palikúr peoples, in the state of Amapá [ 1 ]. The first description of arterial hypertension was made among the Terena, in the state of Mato Grosso [ 2 ]. Cases of obesity began to be reported at the end of the 1990s in Suruí, the state of Rondônia [ 3 ] and in Tembé, the state of Pará [ 4 ]. Since the 2000s, the presence of such chronic diseases has been described in an increasing number of indigenous groups in varying proportions [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Available data reveal a dramatic increase in the rate of chronic noncommunicable diseases following the rapid nutritional transition to more urban diets among Brazilian indigenous peoples, with a direct association between urbanization and the consequent macrosocial changes in the traditional way of life of these people, with the increased prevalence of cardiometabolic risks among them. In this context, urbanization refers both to the adoption of urban lifestyles in villages and to housing in urban regions of Brazil ((i.e., where city dwellers live). This implies living conditions integrated with the market and less dependence on local food production, reducing food sovereignty, which involves rights to food autonomy and healthy diets, especially among women, for whom the available data point to distinct patterns of associations between socioeconomic indicators and the occurrence of overweight and obesity, which have potentially significant implications from the point of view of public policies for indigenous peoples in Brazil [ 6 , 8 , 9 ]. Furthermore, there is evidence that social changes due to contact with urban lifestyles, historical conflicts, loss of territory, and cultural disruption, observed in several indigenous peoples, are implicated in the increase in alcohol consumption, resulting in interpersonal violence, in disruptions in family life and in accidents, which have become part of the daily lives of some indigenous peoples [ 10 ]. There is also evidence that changes in the lifestyle of indigenous people have led to the introduction of foods that are ultra-processed, high calorie foods, and/or high in refined carbohydrates, sugar, and saturated fat; evidence also suggests that there has been a reduction in the frequency and intensity of physical activities in the face of technological advances, such as the use of automobiles and outboard engines for transportation [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Therefore, significant changes are observed in the epidemiological profile of Brazilian indigenous peoples, mainly with the increase in the prevalence of general obesity and comorbidities, changes that are comparable to those that affected native North Americans in the second half of the twentieth century, during which important sociocultural changes have led to a dramatic increase in chronic diseases [ 5 ]. Similarly, in Latin America, other indigenous populations have also undergone similar changes and currently exhibit a high prevalence of general obesity and, in some cases, T2DM [ 6 ].

Based on this complex scenario, this study was carried out with the objective of investigating the nutritional profile, by measuring the body mass index and waist circumference, of the adult population of seven indigenous peoples in the state of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon in the years 2007 and 2021, and identifying trends that may justify in-depth evaluation of the biological and environmental factors, as well as the social determinants associated with the nutritional profile of these people. This study aims to enable the organization of prevention programs that are more appropriate to containing or minimizing this epidemiological trend.

Material and methods

Study population.

A total of 598 indigenous adults were analyzed in 2007 (319 women and 279 men) and 924 in 2021 (483 women and 441 men), who belonged to seven peoples located in the State of Pará (PA), in the Brazilian Amazon:

Arara: Karib-speaking, with a total population of 349 individuals in 2021.They currently live in six villages in the Arara Indigenous Territory, on the banks of the Iriri River, a tributary of the Xingu River, in the municipality of Altamira.

Araweté: They speak a language in the Tupi-Guarani family and had a total population of 559 people in 2021. The Araweté live in twelve villages in the Araweté/Igarapé Ipixuna Indigenous Territory, on the banks of the Xingu River and Igarapé Ipixuna, a tributary on the right bank of the Middle Xingu, municipality of Altamira.

Asurini do Xingu: They speak a language in the Tupi-Guarani family and had a total population of 260 people in 2021, Live in the Koatinemo Indigenous Territory, located on the banks of the Xingu River, close to Igarapé Ipixuna, municipality of Altamira.

Parakanã: They speak a language in the Tupi-Guarani family and had a total population of 716 people in 2021., Currently living in 11 villages in the Apyterewa Indigenous Territory, located in the Xingu basin, in the municipality of São Félix do Xingu.

Kararaô: They speak a language in the Jê family. This small Kayapó subgroup (Mebêngôkre Kayapó Kararaô), with a total population of eighty Indigenous people in 2021, was created by from a split of the Gorotire group that occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century. They live in three villages located in the Kararaô Indigenous Territory, on the banks of the Iriri and Xingu Rivers.

Xikrin do Bacajá: They speak the Kayapó language, from the Jê linguistic family, and they had a total population of 1127 in the 2021. This Kayapó subgroup is distributed in eleven villages on the banks of the middle Bacajá River, a tributary of the right bank of the Xingu River, in the Trincheira Bacajá Indigenous Territory, which is in the municipalities of Senator José Porfírio and Anapú.

Gavião: They speak East Timbira, from the Jê family, and they had a total population of 760 in 2021. They live in the Mãe Maria Indigenous Territory, which is located on the border of the municipalities of Marabá and Bom Jesus do Tocantins, southeast of Pará.

The geographic locations of the indigenous territories analyzed are shown in Fig. 1 .

Geographical location of the studied indigenous peoples in the state of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon

Participants were selected based on spontaneous demand during basic health actions and epidemiological studies conducted with indigenous peoples in cooperation with the National Health Foundation (FUNASA), in 2007, and with the State Secretariat of Health of Pará (SESPA) and Special Indigenous Health Districts (DSEI/SESAI) in 2021, during which demographic and clinical-epidemiological data were obtained. During fieldwork, all people aged six months or older or their guardians were invited to perform an anthropometric assessment and blood (5 mL) were collected in vacuum collection tubes; for children drops of blood were obtained by digital puncture for examination. Hematological and/or biochemical tests were conducted, and the patients were duly instructed on the need to fast before conducting biochemical tests. The adherence of indigenous communities to health actions was high and the percentage of participants among adults eligible for nutritional and biochemical assessment in all populations was approximately 70%. All participants were evaluated in a medical consultation, and treatment began for conditions that could be confirmed in the field.

Body mass index (BMI) classification was based on the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for adults: low weight, < 18.5 kg/m 2 ; normal weight, ≥ 18.5 and < 25 kg/m 2 ); overweight, ≥ 25 and < 30 kg/m 2 , and obesity, ≥ 30 kg/m 2 . A waist circumference (WC) < 90 cm in men and < 80 cm in women was considered normal. Pregnant women were not included in the sample analyzed and no specific BMI classification for the elderly population was used.

Weight was measured with the individual barefoot, standing upright, in the center of the equipment, with feet together and arms extended along the body. Height was measured using a stadiometer in centimeters with the patient standing upright, with arms extended along the body, head raised, and looking at a fixed point at eye level, without flexing or extending the head. WC was obtained using inelastic tape, with the patient standing, with the tape surrounding the waist at the midpoint between the last rib and the iliac crest.

Statistical analysis

Biological data were compared using Student’s t test for continuous variables and Pearson’s χ2 test, Fisher’s exact test or ANOVA for categorical variables. An overall significance level of 0.05 was established for statistical analyses. The data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows (Version 20).

Anthropometric variables

Anthropometric data were obtained from 598 Indigenous adults in 2007 (319 women and 279 men), aged between 18 and 88 years, with a mean of 38.8 years (95% CI 57.3, 74.7), and from 881 in 2021 (463 women and 420 men), aged between 18 and 102 years, with average of 37.7 years (95% CI, 36.5–38.8).

The average values of the anthropometric variables are presented in Tables 1 and S 1 .

In 2007, the lowest average body weights were recorded for the Araweté (51.3 kg, 95% CI 38.1–64.5), Arara (54.6 kg, 95% CI 38.4–70.7), and Parakanã (56.2 kg, 95% CI 39.5–72.9) peoples, and the highest were found for the Gavião (68.1 kg, 95% CI 38.8–97.3) and Kararaô (68.7, 95% CI 46.3–91.0) peoples.

The lowest mean BMI values were also found for the Araweté (21.7 kg/m 2 , 95% CI 18.0–25.5) and Arara (22.7 kg/m 2 , 95% CI 17.5–28.0) peoples. Slightly higher values were found for the Parakanã (23.6 kg/m 2 , 95% CI 17.7–29.4) and Xikrin do Bacajá (24.4 kg/m 2 , 95% CI 17.9–30.9) peoples, while values above 25 kg/m 2 , the cutoff point for overweight, were recorded among the Asurini do Xingu, Kararaô and Gavião peoples. The Araweté, Arara and Parakanã peoples also had the lowest mean WC values (78.6 cm, 95% CI 67.1–90.1; 80.4 cm, 95% CI 69.3–91.6; and 81.3 cm, 95% CI, 64.8–97.9, respectively). A slightly greater value was recorded for the Xikrin do Bacajá (83.7 cm, 95% CI 59.2–108.2), while Asurini do Xingu and Gavião peoples had higher average values, above 90 cm (91.1 cm, 95% CI 70.0–112.1, and 93.7 cm, 95% CI 72.0–115.4, respectively).

From 2007 to 2021, the average body weight increased in all indigenous peoples analyzed. The Araweté and Arara peoples continued to exhibit lower average weights (52.5 kg, 95% CI 33.4–71.6, and 57.4 kg, 95% CI 41.6–73.2, respectively), and Gavião and Kararaô peoples had the highest average weights (74.6 kg, 95% CI 43.7- 105.5, and 73.8 kg, 95% CI 40.9–106.7, respectively).

The lowest mean BMI values also continued to be found in the Araweté (22.3 kg/m 2 , 95% CI 15.3–29.2) and Arara (24.4 kg/m 2 CI95% 18.3–30.5) peoples, while mean values above 25 kg/m 2 , the threshold for overweight, were observed in all other indigenous peoples, with values varying from 25.8 kg/m 2 , 95% CI 16.9–34.7 in the Parakanã people, to 29.1 kg/m 2 95% CI 17.7–40.6 in the Kararaô people. The average WC did not change in Araweté and Asurini do Xingu peoples, from 2007 to 2021, it increased in Kararaô and Xikrin do Bacajá, but decreased in the Parakanã and Gavião peoples.

Nutritional status indicators

The prevalence of excess weight, general obesity and abdominal obesity are presented in Figs. 2 , 3 and 4 and Table S 2 .

Prevalence of excess weight in Amazonian indigenous peoples in 2007 and 2021

In 2007, the prevalence of excess weight (overweight and obesity) was low in most of the Indigenous peoples analyzed. The lowest prevalence was observed in the Araweté people (6.7%), and moderate prevalences were found in the Arara (17.7%), Parakanã (22.5%), Xikrin do Bacajá (30.1%) and Gavião (31.9%) peoples. High proportions were found in the Asurini do Xingu (48.6%) and the Kararaô (61.5%) peoples. Increases in the prevalence of excess weight from 2007 to 2021 occurred in all Indigenous peoples analyzed, but values remained low or moderate in the Araweté (15.1%), Parakanã (25.3%) and Arara (35.2%) peoples. Among the other indigenous peoples analyzed, the increases were more significant, reaching prevalences above 60%, in particular the increase observed among the Xikrin do Bacajá people, which ranged from 30.1% to 65.5%. The data analysis did not show significant differences in the prevalence of excess weight between men and women in any of the indigenous peoples analyzed in 2007 ( p  > 0.05). In 2021, a significant difference was observed only among the Asurini do Xingu people, with the prevalence of excess weight being greater among men (68.4% versus 55.2%, p  = 0.045) (Fig. 2 ).

The prevalence of general obesity in 2007 was also low in most of the indigenous peoples analyzed, with the highest being found in the Gavião (14.4%) and the Asurini do Xingu (24.3%) peoples. From 2007 to 2021, increases were recorded in almost all populations, but the most significant increase occurred in the Gavião (from 14.4% to 33.1%), Kararaô (from 7.7% to 34.8%), and Xikrin of Bacajá (from 5.0% to 30.4%) peoples. There were also no significant differences in the prevalence of general obesity between men and women in any of the indigenous peoples analyzed in 2007 ( p  > 0.05). However, in 2021, a significant difference was observed in the Xikrin do Bacajá people, with a greater prevalence of general obesity in women (37.8% versus 23.0%, p  = 0.044) (Fig. 3 ).

Prevalence of general obesity in Amazonian indigenous peoples in 2007 and 2021

In 2007, the highest prevalence rates of abdominal obesity were found in the Asurini doXingu (78.4%) and Kararaô (61.5%) peoples, and the lowest were found in the Arara (17.6%) and Araweté (18.7%) peoples. In 2021, significant increases in the prevalence of abdominal obesity were observed in the Xikrin do Bacajá (from 43.0% to 65.5%) and Kararaô (from 61.5% to 82.6%) peoples, which together with the Asurini do Xingu people (76.2%) exhibited the highest prevalence among the people analyzed. There was a slight decrease in the prevalence of abdominal obesity among the Gavião people (from 41.4% to 34.4%), but attention was given to the significant decrease in the prevalence of this condition among the Parakanã people, which decreased from 35.7 to 12.3%, the lowest prevalence of abdominal obesity among the seven indigenous peoples analyzed. Waist circumference was not measured in Arara people in 2021. Contrary to what was observed for BMI, the prevalence of abdominal obesity was significantly greater in women than in men in almost all indigenous peoples, both in 2007 and 2021, except for the Kararaô people, in which the prevalence among men and women were similar, with p  = 0.491 in 2007 and p  = 1.000 in 2021 (Fig. 4 ).

Prevalence of abdominal obesity in Amazonian indigenous peoples in 2007 and 2021

The epidemiological data obtained in this study showed that despite the significant increase in the occurrence of excess weight (overweight/obesity) in the majority of indigenous peoples analyzed from 2007 to 2021, relatively low prevalences were still found in 2021 among peoples such as the Araweté, Arara and Parakanã peoples, as well as high prevalences, which were higher than the average recorded for Brazilian urban adults (52.5%) [ 9 ] in the Xikrin do Bacajá, Asurini do Xingu, Kararaô and Gavião peoples. The prevalence of general obesity in the Araweté, Arara and Parakanã peoples in 2021 was also low; however, the prevalence rates in three of the seven populations analyzed (the Gavião, Kararaô and Xikrin do Bacajá poples), were higher than the average of 23.9% for the Brazilian adult population in general [ 9 ]. High prevalences of abdominal obesity, which were equal to or higher than the national average of 69.2% [ 10 ] were also recorded in 2021 among the Xikrin do Bacajá, Kararaô and Asurini do Xingu peoples; however, again, low prevalences were identified among the Araweté, Arara and Parakanã peoples.

The data obtained suggest that although the indigenous peoples analyzed were subjected to environmental conditions and sociocultural changes that favored weight gain between 2007 and 2021, which impacted nutritional assessment measures, the nutritional profiles of the indigenous peoples analyzed was heterogeneous. People such as the Araweté, Arara and Parakanã still had a low prevalence of overweight and abdominal obesity in 2021, and people such as the Gavião, Kararaô, Asurini do Xingu and Xikrin do Bacajá exhibited a high prevalence of nutritional changes, similar to or greater than those registered for the Brazilian population in general.

These data suggest that genetic factors play a significant role in the development of nutritional changes among indigenous peoples, modulating responses to environmental pressures, which were apparently the same in all indigenous peoples analyzed. An interesting aspect of this scenario is that the people who exhibited a low or moderate prevalence of nutritional changes are speakers of the Karib language, such as the Arara people, or speakers of the Tupi-Guarani family, such as the Araweté, Parakanã and Asurini do Xingu peoples. On the other hand, people such as Gavião, Kararaô and Xikrin do Bacajá, who exhibited the highest prevalence of overweight and general obesity in 2021, are speakers of language of the Jê family, similar to the Xavante people, from Mato Grosso, who also exhibit high prevalence of nutritional changes [ 4 ].

It is widely known that environmental factors contribute to weight gain, including a sedentary lifestyle, eating high-calorie/nutrient-poor foods, and reduced energy expenditure, but it is also well-known that genetics contribute to determining an individual’s response to an ‘obesogenic environment’. In global terms, it is assumed that genetic components characterize 30–55% of the body fat distribution. Obesity is usually classified into two broad categories: monogenic and polygenic. The monogenic form is inherited by Mendelian inheritance, that is, it is caused by a mutation in a certain gene. These are rare forms and present at a relatively severe and early age of onset. The most common form of obesity is polygenic, driven by hundreds or possibly thousands of mutations known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), each with a small additive effect and distributed throughout the human genome. Therefore, it has a complex mode of inheritance typical of common characteristics. Currently it is known that another type of gene-environment interaction (GEI) that leads to obesity and various metabolic disorders, known as epigenetic interaction, produces reversible changes in gene activity, but without altering the DNA sequence; these genes changes are hereditary, using mechanisms such as DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation, gene regulation of noncoding RNAs and modification of chromatin and histones). From a population perspective, epidemiological data reveal that certain ethnic groups are more (or less) likely to become obese, and these data indicate a greater prevalence of obesity in Native Americans, as well as in “Latinos” or “Mestizos” (resulting from the mixture between Native Americans and Europeans), than in Euro-Americans, and data reveal that the risk for these pathologies increases with a increase in indigenous ancestry. Despite this, the available genetic data result from studies carried out predominantly in European populations, and in Asians to a lesser extent, while Latin populations and Native American populations have been less studied [ 11 ].

Although the available data on nutritional anthropometry in Brazilian indigenous peoples is limited and poorly updated, it is possible to compare the results obtained in this study in 2021 with some slightly more recent data recorded for other Indigenous peoples.

The low prevalence of excess weight (overweight/obesity) found in the Araweté does not have comparable results among those described more recently in other Indigenous peoples, possibly constituting a rare finding in indigenous people who already maintain open contact with the national society. The prevalence found in the Arara people is also still lower than that described in recent years for Brazilian indigenous peoples, which ranges from 47.3% in Suyá-Khisêdjê people, Mato Grosso [ 12 ], to 85.5% in the Xavante, also from Mato Grosso [ 13 ]. On the other hand, the high prevalence of excess weight observed in the Gavião, Kararaô, Asurini do Xingu and Xikrin do Bacajá peoples are similar to those recorded in peoples such as the Xavante, Mato Grosso (85.5%) [ 13 ], Xikrin do Cateté, Pará (78.0%) [ 14 ], Kaingang, Santa Catarina (67.1%) [ 15 ], Kaiowá, Guarani, and Terena, Mato Grosso (61.3%) [ 16 ], in which the prevalence of excess weight are higher than the global average of 52.5% estimated for the Brazilian population [ 17 ].

The prevalences of general obesity recorded in the Araweté and Arara peoples in 2021 are also lower than those found in most indigenous peoples for whom recent data are available and are only similar to that recorded for Suyá-Khisêdjê people, Mato Grosso (5.3%) [ 12 ]. On the other hand, the high proportions of general obesity observed in 2021 for the Kararaô, Asurini do Xingu and Gavião peoples, are similar to those found in other indigenous peoples such as the Xikrin do Cateté (36.0%), Pará [ 14 ], Kaiowá, Guarani and Terena (37.0%), from Mato Grosso [ 15 ], Kaingang (33.1%), from Santa Catarina [ 15 ] and Xavante (51%), from Mato Grosso [ 13 ].

The relatively low proportions of abdominal obesity identified in the Araweté and Parakanã peoples in 2021 are also similar to those found in the Suyá-Khisêdjê people (13.3%), from Mato Grosso [ 12 ]. On the other hand, the proportions of WC found among the Asurini do Xingu, Kararaô and Xikrin do Bacajá peoples are greater than those found in other indigenous peoples such as the Kaiowa, Guarani and Terena (56.0%), Mato Grosso [ 16 ] and Mura (48.6%), Amazonas [ 18 ], and are more similar to those described for the Xikrin do Cateté (80.7%), Pará [ 14 ] and Xavante, Mato Grosso (96.2%); these are the people who exhibit the highest prevalence of abdominal obesity among indigenous Brazilians, which are similar or even greater than the average for the general Brazilian population (80.7%).

In the context of social determinants of health, it is important to consider that the indigenous peoples covered in this study have historically had distinct levels of interethnic relations, but in recent decades they have shared experiences of environmental and/or sociocultural impacts caused mainly by large economic projects. Furthermore, the people who belong to the “Médio Xingu” ethnographic area (Asurini do Xingu, Araweté, Parakanã, Xikrin do Bacajá, Kararaô and Arara) live in indigenous territories that are located in an area characterized by intense logging, mining, and agricultural activity, in addition to having been impacted socioculturally and economically by the remuneration policies used by the company “Norte Energia” for the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant; these groups have been even more affected since 2016, with the allocation of financial resources and donation of food containing ultra-processed items. The Gavião people, in turn, were impacted environmentally and socioculturally due to the construction of the BR-322 highway, the installation of electrical power transmission lines and the construction of a railway to transport iron to serve the Carajás Project, which is a large mineral extraction project that started in the in 1980s, and that caused not only environmental degradation, but also cultural and identity-related impacts Additionally, there are effects that have been generated by financial resources arising from compensation negotiated by the indigenous people with Eletronorte Company, a public electricity service concessionaire, and the “Vale do Rio Doce” Company, which is responsible for the Carajás Project. Regardless of the large economic project installed in the Indigenous Territories, one of the most visible effects, which certainly contributed to the change in the nutritional profile of most peoples, was the large contribution of financial resources to the indigenous people, generating a growing demand for money and goods, such as industrialized foods, including high-calorie foods such as soft drinks and cookies.

This study has some limitations. The most important is that the samples studied in 2007 and 2021 were not homogeneous in some indigenous peoples in terms of sex ratio. However, this is a complicated issuesince indigenous people are always dividing and forming new villages, and it is not always possible to access all of them. Despite this, the epidemiological data obtained in this study show that the nutritional profile of the investigated indigenous populations s heterogeneous; the data show populations with a low prevalence of nutritional changes, such as the Araweté,Arara, and Parakanã peoples, while other such as the Kararaô, Xikrin do Bacajá, Asurini do Xingu, and Gavião peoples, already exhibited high frequencies of excess weight and abdominal obesity, even though these people apparently had already been subjected to the same environmental pressures that have promoted changes in their lifestyles in recent decades. In this context, the evidence presented in this study strongly suggests the need to understand in greater depth the genetic and environmental factors and social determinants associated with the nutritional profile of these people, with a better assessment of diet and physical activities, in particular, which would make it possible to organize adequate prevention programs to meet the needs of these people.

Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the indigenous peoples and their leaders for consenting to the project. We also thank the technicians of the National Health Foundation (FUNASA), Special Indigenous Health Districts (DSEI Guamá-Tocantins and DSEI Altamira, SESAI/MS), and State Secretariat of Health of Pará (SESPA) for their collaboration in the field work. We are also very grateful to two anonymous reviewers who, with their comments and suggestions, greatly improved the quality of this work.

This research was funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Processes number 478619/2008–1, 484925/2011–3, 309585/2013–9 and 456833/2014–5, and by the Federal University of Pará (Pro-Rectory of Research and Postgraduate Studies) in funding for field work.

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Laboratory of Human and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil

Eliniete de Jesus Fidelis Baniwa, Eliene Rodrigues Putira Sacuena, Antônia Cherlly Araújo & João Farias Guerreiro

Faculty of Nutrition, Institute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil

Rosilene Reis Della Noce

Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

Renan Barbosa Lemes

Laboratory of Virology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém, PA, Brazil

Izaura Maria Vieira Cayres-Vallinoto

Special Indigenous Health District of Altamira, Special Secretary of Indigenous Health, Altamira, PA, Brazil

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Contributions

Conceptualization, J.F.G.; Investigation - obtaining data, J.F.G., E.J.F., E.R.P.S., R.R.D.N., V.B.Q., T.H.A.; Data analysis, J.F.G., R.B.L.; Original Draft Preparation, J.F.G., E.J.F.; Writing – Review and Editing, J.F.G., I.M.V.C., A.C.A.A.; Funding Acquisition, J.F.G.. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to João Farias Guerreiro .

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Ethics approval and consent to participate.

This study was approved by the research ethics committee of the Tropical Medicine Center of the Federal University of Pará (Report no. 3,094,943/2018) and by the National Research Ethics Committee (CONEP) Report no. 1062/2006 and Report no. 961,451/2015). Informed consent was obtained from all leaders (“caciques”) of indigenous villages involved in the study, considering that the study was conducted with socially and culturally differentiated populations, with few people speaking the Portuguese language (Portuguese proficiency was particularly low among elderly people and women).

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Fidelis Baniwa, E., Putira Sacuena, E.R., Della Noce, R.R. et al. Fourteen-year trends in overweight, general obesity, and abdominal obesity in Amazonian indigenous peoples. BMC Public Health 24 , 1210 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18689-2

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Published : 01 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18689-2

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A Notable Victory for Justice in Case of Murdered Pit River Tribal Citizen

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

MMIP. Amidst the launch of MMIP Awareness week, a notable victory in Northern California sees justice served for Milton “Yogi” McGarva, a Pit River tribal citizen.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta recently announced the sentencing of Jarrett Bleu Rucker to 26 years to life in prison for McGarva's murder, marking a crucial development in the ongoing fight against the Missing Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis.

Never miss Indian Country’s biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

The tragic events unfolded on March 9, 2020, when Modoc County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a stabbing report at a residence on County Road 65 in Likely, California. Upon arrival, they discovered McGarva, fatally wounded, alongside Rucker, who sustained injuries requiring urgent medical attention.

The prosecution, led by the California Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, concluded with a jury finding Rucker guilty of first-degree murder. This verdict, reached on February 27, 2024, marked the end of a legal saga that began with McGarva's tragic death.

“If it wasn’t for the Attorney General's Office, I don’t think we would have had this moment," Morning Star Gali, executive director of Indigenous Justice  said in a press release. "We are extremely grateful for all of the efforts involved to bring justice for Yogi and his family."

Since becoming Attorney General, Bonta has taken action to address the MMIP crisis in California. He's organized statewide MMIP events called "Missing in California Indian Country," providing crucial support for tribal communities. These events allow loved ones to report missing individuals, get updates on cases, and provide DNA samples for identification.

Bonta also created the Native American Marsy’s Law Information Card to inform tribal crime victims of their rights. Additionally, he supports Assembly Bill 2695 (AB 2695) by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland), which requires law enforcement to report crime data from Indian lands to the DOJ, aiding in MMIP crisis resolution.

“Today, I am thinking of the family of Milton ‘Yogi’ McGarva. I can’t begin to imagine what they have been through these past few years. My team fought hard to secure justice for them, and now, Yogi’s killer will be behind bars for a substantial amount of time,” Attorney General Bonta said. “At the California Department of Justice, we will continue to hold accountable those who terrorize any of our neighborhoods, including our tribal communities that too often are overlooked.”

About the Author: "Kaili Berg (Aleut) is a member of the Alutiiq\/Sugpiaq Nation, and a shareholder of Koniag, Inc. She is a staff reporter for Native News Online and Tribal Business News. Berg, who is based in Wisconsin, previously reported for the Ho-Chunk Nation newspaper, Hocak Worak. She went to school originally for nursing, but changed her major after finding her passion in communications at Western Technical College in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. "

Contact: [email protected]

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World Intellectual Property Report 2024: Making Innovation Policy Work for Growth and Development

Geneva, May 2, 2024 PR/2024/916

A new WIPO report probes the intersection of human innovation, economic diversification and industrial policy and finds that the key to sustainable growth for countries is to focus policy making on developing local innovation capabilities.

The biennial  World Intellectual Property Report (WIPR) “Making Innovation Policy Work for Development” documents a recent resurgence in industrial policy making, including in many developing and least developed countries, aimed at ensuring a wide and growing economic structure base - and the innovation, creativity and technology required to achieve it.

The WIPR establishes a novel methodology that maps 20 years of innovation capabilities across 150-plus WIPO member states, pinpointing how different countries have boosted their economic diversification in areas of technology, science and exports. Through this, the WIPR results help governments design their policies in a highly dynamic economic and political environment.

We hope this report will guide policymakers across the world on how to leverage innovation for improved productivity, competitiveness, and development amid global economic shifts, geopolitical tensions and digital acceleration.

Our report shows that countries that leverage on local strengths, build diverse innovation ecosystems and develop deep capabilities are in a better place to win the innovation race.

said WIPO Director General Daren Tang , adding

We hope that policymakers will find the data and insights in this report useful and interesting as they build durable innovation ecosystems that brings real growth over decades.

To help guide policymakers, the report documented:

• Power of local capabilities: Countries often use their existing innovation capabilities as a springboard for diversification. Innovation capabilities based on scientific, technological and production know-how in a particular country or region can be measured by studying the data on scientific publications, patent applications and international trade respectively. For example:
• Economic Specialization and Diversification: Analysis of nearly 40 million patent filings, over 70 million scientific papers and economic activity worth more than 300 trillion dollars in goods and services exports, reveals that innovative outcomes are highly concentrated. Over the past 20 years, for example, the top eight countries account for 50 percent of exports, 60 percent of scientific publications and 80 percent of international patenting. But change is occurring: China, India and the Republic of Korea saw big increases in their technological diversification over the period. China jumped from being specialized in only 16% to 94% of all technological capabilities, the Republic of Korea's technological capabilities went from 40% to 83%, and India saw its technological capabilities double from 9% to 21%.
• Innovation Complexity: Innovation complexity is the knowledge in an economy as expressed in the diversity and sophistication of the science, technologies, and products it generates. Complex capabilities are rare and only diversified innovation ecosystems can make use of them. Of the three types of innovation capabilities, technological capabilities are the most complex and also more likely to generate higher growth.

Case Studies Spotlight

The WIPR focuses on three case studies across eight countries to reveal insights on how innovators and policymakers leveraged and enhanced existing industrial capabilities to create the advanced and sophisticated motorcycles, videogames and agricultural technologies of today.

Motorcycles Industry - full throttle on innovation

The documented evolution of the motorcycle industry is a key example of human innovation and economic diversification, which economists and policymakers can use to spur sustainable, long-term growth across the globe.

The experiences of Italy, Japan and India show how historical ties with closely related sectors - including bicycles, automobiles, and aviation – have allowed them to carve out their own unique specialized trajectories within the same innovative and complex industry.

For instance, Italian motorcycles excel in high-performance and groundbreaking design thanks to vibrant know-how in racing and top of the line craftsmanship; the big four Japanese motorcycles companies (Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki) dominate the global market by exploiting Japan’s complex innovation capabilities on advanced technologies, product reliability, and sophisticated supply-chain logistics ( keiretsu ) ; and Indian motorcycle companies have emerged as a key global industry player catapulted by India’s capabilities on cost efficient production, particularly prioritizing fuel-efficient engines.

The motorcycle case study provides evidence of strategic implementation of industrial policies, such as those that enhanced the rise of national champions in Japan or faster adoption of electric two- and three-wheelers in India. 

Today, the motorcycle industry is in a new and disruptive transformational journey driven by changing consumer preferences, a heightened focus on sustainability and technological shifts. Electrification, artificial intelligence, and enhanced connectivity technologies are revolutionizing the industry.

Agricultural Leveraging Technologies  

The agricultural sector is undergoing a spectacular technological transformation as shown by the 239% increase of patent protected agriculture inventions in the last decade. New scientific breakthroughs in genetic engineering and the adoption of frontier robotic and digital technologies are increasing the innovation sophistication of one of the oldest economic activities.

The increase in innovation complexity in the agricultural sector is happening around the world. For instance, scientists in Kenya have leveraged their plant breeding capabilities to create a pest-resistant maize variety successfully being used across the African continent. In Brazil, sugarcane and sugar production capabilities were the standpoint for Brazil's global leadership of ethanol related technologies helping consumers find sustainable fossil-fuel alternatives.

The Rise of the Global Videogame Industry

The videogame case study showcases how seemingly unrelated existing capabilities can be used to create an innovative and sophisticated new industry.

The video game industry is a breeding ground for new businesses, with around 45% of game developers being newly founded companies. This dynamic environment fosters competition and innovation, contributing to the industry's rapid growth.

In addition, the report finds that around 15% of new video games launched each year are based on existing intellectual property (excluding sequels).

The development of the global video game industry has seen regional hubs navigating unique challenges and capitalizing on local strengths. The four video game industry hubs discussed in the chapter demonstrate how local expertise, cultural capital and interconnected industries collectively have influenced the industry's evolution and offer strategic insights for policymakers.

World IP Report 2024: A Guide for Policy Makers

The report provides a new policy toolkit that can help countries replicate these success stories. By identifying over 600 technological, scientific and production capabilities spread around the world, the new framework allow decision takers to design smart policies based on empirical evidence.

Policy makers can see where, when and how to target their innovation policies, either by nurturing their strengths, or by leveraging them to attain new and exciting scientific, technological and production opportunities.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the United Nations agency that serves the world’s innovators and creators, ensuring that their ideas travel safely to the market and improve lives everywhere.

We do so by providing services that enable creators, innovators and entrepreneurs to protect and promote their intellectual property (IP) across borders and acting as a forum for addressing cutting-edge IP issues. Our IP data and information guide decisionmakers the world over. And our impact-driven projects and technical assistance ensure IP benefits everyone, everywhere.

• Tel: (+41 22) 338 81 61 / 338 72 24