Indigenous Peoples, Intangible Cultural Heritage and Environmental Sustainability by Julian Burger

Abstract

This paper looks at what the concept of intangible cultural heritage means for indigenous peoples. It will consider how that heritage has been and continues to be appropriated, used without consent, commoditised or profaned. It will review some of the actions taken internationally and nationally to protect indigenous peoples' intangible cultural heritage and their effectiveness. By drawing on examples for Asia, it will argue that measures designed to protect the ICH of indigenous peoples contribute to the wider protection of the environment and to sustainability.