ANTROPOLOGERS OG INDFØDTE FOLKS FÆLLES VIRKELIGHED: Tre beretninger

Resumé

Ulla Hasager: The common reality of

anthropologists and Indigenous peoples:

three narratives

The „traditional object" of anthropology -

the indigenous peoples of the world - are

becoming an increasingly visible global factor

with the fourth world movements for

self-determination and with the United Nations’

efforts to create standards for indigenous

human rights. However, at the same

time as the indigenous peoples are celebrated

as guardians of environmental sustainability

and biological and cultural diversity

- and thereby for securing the memory

as well as the future of mankind - their lands

and resources are coveted by multinational

corporations, govemments and other agencies,

their genes are patented and preserved

and their cultures are recorded - most often

by anthropologists. In spite of these opposing

trends and threats, indigenous peoples

now have a more powerful position vis-å-vis

anthropologists, who on their part are beginning

to acknowledge the responsibilities that

come with being part of the same living world

as the indigenous peoples and therefore

have begun the task of revising their theoretical

foundations. Not only because they

want to, but because the relatively more powerful

and outspoken indigenous peoples

demand it. This article looks at the changing

situation for indigenous peoples in the Pacific,

primarily Hawai’i, and outline the consequences

for the conditions of research, methods

of research and publication for anthropologists.