Sustainable conservation of traditional living communities:: the case of Taos Pueblo in the United States of America

• Autores: A.G. Abdel Tawab
• Localización: Sharing cultures 2013: Proceedings of the 3 rd International Conference on Intangible Heritage / Sergio Lira (ed. lit.), Rogério Amoêda (ed. lit.), Cristina Pinheiro (ed. lit.), 2013, ISBN 978-989-98013-3-2, pág. 29
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The main features of the conservation project taking place at Taos Pueblo seem toagree with the concept usually referred to as “sustainable conservation”. Despite the recognitionof traditional living communities, such as Taos Pueblo, as sustainable communities, some of theheritage values that Taos Pueblo enjoys might be argued to contradict with the generalprinciples of sustainability. The main aim of this study was to investigate the potential conflictsthat might occur as a result of adopting the concept of sustainable conservation as an approachto the conservation of Taos Pueblo. The previous objective was approached by evaluating theconformity of the heritage values that Taos Pueblo enjoys to the principles of sustainability. Theanalysis of the property’s values was approached by means of a proposed methodology thatincorporated sustainability principles as indicators of the relevant values. Subsequently, thefindings of the analysis were examined against the justifications of the property’s OutstandingUniversal Value, which were officially adopted by section five of the property’s nominationdocument that is entitled “Justification for Inclusion on the World Heritage List”. The findingsindicated that some aspects of the property’s values; particularly those related to its traditionalgovernance, religious and social systems; might be argued to contradict with the principles ofsustainability that are concerned with social equity and empowering women. The findingssuggest that such controversial aspects should be understood to reflect the local people’sstruggle to sustain their unique culture and identity, which are rooted in such aspects. Theseefforts might be regarded to reflect the conformity of the traditional community’s qualities toanother sustainability principle that is concerned with strengthening the local identity ofindigenous peoples. The findings suggest that sustainable conservation projects of traditionalliving communities should respect these communities’ unique identity and inherent qualities