anth329 - international organization (indigenous peoples)

how many indigenous people worldwide

370 million

how many countries do indigenous people live in

70

how many groups do indigenous people belong to

5000

where don’t indigenous people’s live

everywhere except antarctica

what experience do indigenous ppl share

they share the experience of being under threat — culturally, economically, and physically

what percent of the world’s population do indigenous people’s occupy

5%

what percentage of the world’s poor are indigenous

15%

lands of indigenous people hold ___% of the world’s biodiversity

80

how did the term indigenous emerge?

context of international law + activism

now, it’s a widely accepted and recognized category to which universal rights are attached

geocultural and geopolitical category in the contemporary world

roots of the term “indigenous”

indigeae = persons born in a particular place as distinguished from those who came from elsewhere

autochtone = french term w/ greek language roots; a group that is the first to exist in a particular location

common element of indigenous

priority in time + originalness

int he americas, the term indigenous distinguishes btw first ppls and

descendants of others who came during periods of colonization and immigration

priority in time is not

as straightforward in asian and african contexts

international use of the word indigenous

useful framework thru which ppl with similar histories of colonization/marginalization mobilize for rights

who adopted the term indigenous

aboriginal leaders, in concert w the emergence of the indigenous rights movements around the world

purpose? idenfity and unite communities + rep themselves in political arenas

why was indigenous chosen over other terms

b/c words like indian, indio, native reflect particular histories of power dynamics

no official definition of indigenous people. why?

not possible to create a definition that would encompass all the particularities of those who identify themselves politically thru this term

un relies on a specific indigenous description

jose martinez cobo

un subcommission on prevention of discrimination and protection of minorities

reported on the issue of indigenous discrimination

special rapporteur

did this study when the international indigenous movement was taking off, completed in 1986

cobo’s working definition of IP

historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonia societies

consider themselves distinct from other sectors of societies

tend to form non dominant sectors of society

determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories + continued existence as people

historical continuity

occupation of ancestral lands + attachment

common ancestry w original occupants

culture in general + specific manifestations

language

residence in a certain part of the country or regions of the world

the un on the term indigenous

must be understood in a broad context to reflect indigenous experiences in diverse places

africa, doesn’t work. ppl claiming indigenousness = marginalized by the state

must be loose enough so that we cannot deny status of some ppl due to a specific criteria