Nafziger, James A. R. --- "Cultural landscapes significant to indigenous peoples" [2017] ELECD 1600; in Nafziger, A.R. James (ed), "Comparative Law and Anthropology" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) 153

Book Title: Comparative Law and Anthropology

Editor(s): Nafziger, A.R. James

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781955178

Section: Chapter 9

Section Title: Cultural landscapes significant to indigenous peoples

Author(s): Nafziger, James A. R.

Number of pages: 37

Abstract/Description:

Landscapes and, by extension, seascapes have become an important topic of cultural heritage law, especially as it engages and responds to the needs of indigenous peoples in a plethora of cultures and legal systems around the world. Related issues are increasingly apparent in decision-making and dispute-resolution processes at subnational, national and international levels of authority. Unfortunately, neither those processes nor the academic literature have led to a coherent system of norms and law. Building such a system within a framework of general transnational law is as challenging as it is essential. Based on examples drawn from several cultures and legal systems, this chapter defines a set of several distinctive relationships between cultural landscapes and indigenous peoples, explains why those relationships matter, and offers several recommendations to guide the development of protective measures in the future. The chapter as a whole is not intended to be definitive. Instead, it simply sets forth a basis for further development of a culturally sensitive, specific regime of transnational law to assist governments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, business interests and other stakeholders in collaborative efforts to protect cultural landscapes, of various sorts, that are significant to indigenous peoples. Applying the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the construction of a responsive regime will require the direct participation of the indigenous peoples themselves and their institutions.