Who are

Indigenous
Peoples?

Ms. Liza Jessa Españo

Instructor – College of Arts and Sciences
Naga College Foundation
 Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able
to:

o Define who Indigenous People are; and

o Distinguish characteristics and concepts of
Indigenous People.
 Four interwoven
1
strands
association with a particular
place – a locality, a region, a
“Indigenous” country, a State.
People
Indigenous peoples are ‘groups
which are native to their own
specific ancestral territories . . .
rather than persons that are
native generally to the region’.
 In this sense, we are all indigenous to
somewhere, we have roots. When we
forcibly remove people from areas to
which they are indigenous results in
disorientation, disempowerment and
“Indigenous” loss.

People The combination of space and peoples

tells us to the importance of territory,
land rights, the safeguarding and
promotion of which is a key aspect of
IPs.
 “indigenous”
“Indigenous” “native”
People
“native land”
“native country”
 2
The term is
synonymous with
“Indigenous” prior inhabitation -
People
‘we were here before
you, so we are
indigenous’.
 This is a strong meaning in ordinary
speech, and in some political contests
it is proposed as the unique meaning
of indigenous. This is about historical
priority: where priority can be
“Indigenous” established, the prior group is
People indigenous; where it cannot,
‘indigenous’ is meaningless, applying
to everyone and no one.

They were here first ,thus they should

be prioritized or given attention.
 3
‘Indigenous’ also carries a
sense of original or first
“Indigenous” inhabitants.
People
‘Origin’ refers to a point in
time from which we
trace subsequent
developments.
 4

“distinctive
“Indigenous” societies”
People

primitive or backward
 This is not about history or place but about
character and refers to whole societies
exhibiting cultural patterns which differ
from those of the dominant society. It
describe how distinct, unique or different
they are aside from the kind of society we
“Indigenous” live in.

People There are negative accounts of cultural

distinctiveness since it can be associated
with societies as ‘primitive’ or ‘backward’. It
may refer to the characteristics of those in
the evolution of man.
 Indigenous
People
(a) tribal peoples in independent countries
whose social, cultural and economic
conditions distinguish them from other
sections of the national community, and
whose status is regulated wholly or
partially by their own customs or traditions
or by special laws or regulations;
(b) peoples in independent countries who are
regarded as indigenous on account of their
descent from the populations which
inhabited the country, or a geographical
region to which the country belongs, at the
time of conquest or colonization or the
establishment of present state boundaries
and who, irrespective of their legal status,
retain some or all of their own social,
economic, cultural and political institutions.
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. They form at present non-
dominant sectors of society and are determined to
preserve, develop and transmit to future generations
their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the
basis of their continued existence as peoples, in
accordance with their own cultural patterns, social
institutions and legal systems

Study of the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous

Populations108 by UN Special Rapporteur J. Martinez-Cobo (1972)
 Factors of Historical
Continuity
1. Occupation of ancestral lands, or at least of part
of them
2. Common ancestry with the original occupants of
those lands
3. Culture in general, or in specific manifestations
(such as religion, living under a tribal system, membership of an indigenous
community, dress, means of livelihood, lifestyle, etc.)
 Factors of Historical
Continuity
4. Language
(whether used as the only language, as mother-tongue, as the habitual means of
communication at home or in the family, or as the main, preferred, habitual, general or
normal language)
5. Residence in certain parts of the country, or in
certain regions of the world
6. Other relevant factors
 Indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of
unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the
environment. They have retained social, cultural, economic
and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the
dominant societies in which they live. Despite their cultural
differences, indigenous peoples from around the world share
common problems related to the protection of their rights as
distinct peoples.

Indigenous
People
 Indigenous peoples have sought recognition of their identities,
way of life and their right to traditional lands, territories and natural
resources for years, yet throughout history, their rights have always
been violated. Indigenous peoples today, are arguably among the
most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people in the world.
The international community now recognizes that special measures
are required to protect their rights and maintain their distinct
cultures and way of life.

Indigenous
People