Indigenous peoples
The United Nations defines indigenous peoples as follows:
- "Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them."
Indigenous peoples of the world include:
- Basques (Northern Spain and Southern France)
- Celts (United Kingdom and Brittany in France)
- Native Americans (North and South America)
- Saami (Northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
- Australian aborigines (Australia)
- Tibetans (Central Asia)
- Taiwanese aborigines (East Asia)
- Wends (Germany, Poland)
In the 19th century and earlier, indigenous peoples were commonly considered to be uncivilized savages, and persons from cultures believed to be "more advanced" were thought to have a duty to civilize them and force them to assimilate to "modern" ways. In the mid 20th century, these attitudes began to be less highly regarded.
Advocates of the concept of indigenous peoples argue that, despite the diversity of indigineous peoples, they share common problems and issues in dealing with the prevailing society. They are generally concerned that the cultures of indigenous peoples are being lost and that indigenous peoples suffer both discrimination and pressure to assimilate into their surrounding societies.
Several criticisms of the concept of indigenous peoples are:
- In many cases, such as with many Native American tribes, the group arrived in an area after the people termed non-indigenous.
- Lumping indigenous peoples into one group ignores the vast amounts of diversity among them and at the same time imposes a uniform identity on them, which may not be historically accurate.
Some feel that people who see themselves as advocates of indigenous people often are simply replacing the stereotype of the barbaric savage with another stereotype, that of the noble savage possessing mystic truths and at peace with nature, and that this second stereotype ignores some of the real issues of indigenous peoples such as economic development.
References:
- United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, from Study of the Problem of Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations, J. Martinez Cobo, United Nations Special Rapporteur (1987)
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