ICIPN

International Council on

Indigenous Place Names

WHO ARE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES?

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf

FACTSHEET:

First Founding Meeting of the International Council on Indigenous Place Names:

6 September 2010 at Sámi University College, Guovdageaidnu, Norway

• The aims of ICIPN are the advancement, representation, and co-ordination of Indigenous place names on an international level and in an interdisciplinary context, and the promotion of International conferences at reasonable intervals.

• Whereas place names are an integral part of Indigenous peoples’ cultural heritages, the purpose for which the Council is hereby established is to promote an association of Indigenous communities and scholars, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, working with place names in order to:

1. Promote recognition of Indigenous place names on the homelands of the Indigenous communities;

2. Promote cooperation among Indigenous communities and State agencies that have some degree of  responsibility in maintaining data bases of names for geographic features and/or cultural entities;

3. Make available Indigenous place names information to State agencies and public and private enterprises (foreign and domestic), and the general public;

4. Provide a professional and educational forum at which members of the Council and interested citizens may present research papers and/or workshops to learn about the governing processes concerning geographic names and the naming processes within their State;

5. Co-sponsor an Conference at which members of the Council may take appropriate actions or make recommendations regarding purposes 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Membership of ICIPN

 Membership of the organization shall comprise people working with or for Indigenous communities in regard to place names who have paid the annual membership fee. Both personal and institutional members will be admitted.

Language challenges for ICIPN

• How many official languages?

• How to include indigenous languages?

• - in the 1. ICIPN conference Sámi language as an official language

> Simultaneous interpretation

1. International Conference on Indigenous Place Names

Exploring ways to reclaim cultural identity through place names.

• Sámi allaskuvla / Sámi University College, an Indigenous higher education institution in Norway, hosted the first International Conference on Indigenous Place Names (ICIPN). 

• first time Indigenous place names and place naming was discussed from multidisciplinary perspectives and with presentations from various Indigenous societies.

• The aim of the conference was to provide a place for an emerging international network of scholars and researchers working to further the political recognition of Indigenous place names to exchange experiences with each other.

> Strengthening the network of scholars and researchers will enhance the quality and rigor of research on Indigenous place names both culturally and politically.

Scientific program divided geographically,

not thematically:

Sámi Arctic

AmericasAustralia&Pacific

Africa

ICIPN 2010 delegates

• 85 delegates from – Norway, Finland, Sweden, England, France,

Greenland, Russia, Canada, USA (Hawaii), Guatemala, Peru, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia

– Asia: 5 delegates from Bangladesh, Thailand and India did not get Visa to Norway to participate the conference

• delegates who could not participate because of the financial reasons

• Organizers of the 1. ICIPN conference searched financial support from many sources to be able to invite scholars from different indigenous areas

Including the local society to the ICIPN conference

- School classes from the secondary school and upper secondary school followed parts of the ICIPN conference

- Journalist students of Sámi University College made a bilingual conference newspaper after the conference as their newspaper exercise during the course of Indigenous journalism

> For local Sámi communitites,and also to ICIPN participants, sponsors and to others with interest of ICIPN

• Proceedings will be published in English, and presentations held in Sámi language can be published both in Sámi and English.

• Publishing plans with RMIT Publishing, based at RMIT University, Australia.

Next ICIPN conference

• 2013 in Canada

in the area of Haida Gwaii –people in Skidegate, British Columbia

ICIPN 2013

SkidegateBritish Columbia

Canada

North Pacific Ocean

Co-operation with UNGEGN

10. Working Group on the Promotion of Recording and Use of Indigenous, Minority and Regional Language Group Geographical Names

- mutual advance