Introduction
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their
distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other
resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this
regard.
(United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007,
Article 25)
It is often said that rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin,
meaning rights and responsibilities are in a reciprocal or correlative relationship. Rights-based arguments understandably prevail in political, cultural and
environmental conflicts involving the biocultural knowledge and heritage of
Indigenous peoples. While necessary, having too narrow a focus on rights (and/
or limiting interpretations of responsibilities to “duties”) can render cultural
responsibilities and important relational considerations invisible if attention is
primarily directed to legal and policy processes, mechanisms and prescriptions
for “doing the right thing”.
As indicated in Article 25 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), within most Indigenous cultures, not only are
rights and responsibilities intertwined, they emerge from relationships with, and
relational accountability to, the natural world and All Our Relations. Relational
accountability is a dependence upon, relationship to and responsibility of care for
everything and everyone around us (Reo, 2019, p. 66; Wilson, 2001, p. 177).
All Our Relations is a term that acknowledges human beings as connected to one
2
A BIOCULTURAL ETHICS APPROACH
TO BIOCULTURAL RIGHTS
Exploring Rights, Responsibilities and
Relationships through Ethics Initiatives in Canada
Kelly Bannister
1
DOI: 10.4324/9781003172642-3
Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their
distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other
resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this
regard.
(United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007,
Article 25)
It is often said that rights and responsibilities are two sides of the same coin,
meaning rights and responsibilities are in a reciprocal or correlative relationship. Rights-based arguments understandably prevail in political, cultural and
environmental conflicts involving the biocultural knowledge and heritage of
Indigenous peoples. While necessary, having too narrow a focus on rights (and/
or limiting interpretations of responsibilities to “duties”) can render cultural
responsibilities and important relational considerations invisible if attention is
primarily directed to legal and policy processes, mechanisms and prescriptions
for “doing the right thing”.
As indicated in Article 25 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), within most Indigenous cultures, not only are
rights and responsibilities intertwined, they emerge from relationships with, and
relational accountability to, the natural world and All Our Relations. Relational
accountability is a dependence upon, relationship to and responsibility of care for
everything and everyone around us (Reo, 2019, p. 66; Wilson, 2001, p. 177).
All Our Relations is a term that acknowledges human beings as connected to one
2
A BIOCULTURAL ETHICS APPROACH
TO BIOCULTURAL RIGHTS
Exploring Rights, Responsibilities and
Relationships through Ethics Initiatives in Canada
Kelly Bannister
1
DOI: 10.4324/9781003172642-3