Ontological frictions in disaster risk assessment: evidence from Yaqui territories, Mexico

Purpose In Indigenous communities where governance integrates land, ancestors and more-than-human beings, standardised risk assessments overlooking relational ontologies may produce incomplete evaluations and inadvertently deepen vulnerabilities. This article analyses ontological frictions in disaster risk assessment (DRA) arising from the encounter between standardised frameworks and Indigenous relational ontologies enacted through governance systems. Design/methodology/approach Six weeks of ethnographic fieldwork in Yaqui communities of Sonora, Mexico, including interviews (n = 35), focus groups (n = 5), participant observation, participatory mapping and archival review. Analysis identified instances where positivist risk categories encountered limits when engaging with Yaqui conceptions of territory, causality and agency. Findings Three ontological frictions emerged: (1) spatial segmentation conflicts with territory as an integral entity structured by lu'uturia yo'owe, a Yaqui cosmogonic governance principle; (2) framing phenomena as climate exposure abstracts political agents into environmental factors, depoliticising territorial conflict and dissolving relational accountability; (3) analytical translation recasts governance-constitutive entities as cultural descriptors, obscuring their organising role and rendering governance invisible to assessment instruments. Practical implications Where relational ordering prevails, the absence of recognisable administrative infrastructure requires consideration of other sources of such infrastructure. Meaningful engagement therefore requires interrogating the ontological assumptions embedded in assessment tools, not just enhancing culturally sensitive consultation. Originality/value This article empirically demonstrates how ontological frictions permeate DRA processes and advances the concept of instrument deficit as an analytical lens for risk governance in Indigenous contexts shaped by climate and territorial pressures.