Who is Indigenous?

One of those important tasks that accompany Retirement is clearing away the debris of a career in academia. But habits die hard, and it’s not always easy to convince myself I no longer need reams of papers, tons of data for books I should have written but never will. But the habit of data collection is hard to abandon, and I cannot quite convince myself that information is useless. So how about this compromise: I will post in this blog (which I’m pretty sure nobody reads) what facts and figures and bits of information I am still somewhat in love with. This is information and observations I cannot imagine every applying to my post-retirement writing projects, but which appeal to my ongoing curiosity.

And so here’s a share of some outdated numbers about global indigenous peoples that I have taken from my soon-to-be-discarded copy of the UNICEF Innocenti Research Center’s Digest (No. 11) entitled “Ensuring the Rights of Indigenous Children.” I believe this report came out in 2003. There's a link at the bottom if you want to download a pdf copy of the report.

Who is Indigenous?
It is difficult to define who fits within the category of “indigenous people.” The UN settles on criteria such as: 1.) the historical time that a people have laid claim to the land; 2.) the group’s voluntary perpetuation of themselves as culturally different across various categories such as language, social organization, religion, and modes of survival or production; 3.) recognition of group distinctiveness by State powers; and 4.) an historical experience of “subjugation, marginalization, dispossess, exclusion or discrimination.”

Indigenous peoples are “distinct from ethnic minorities.” Indeed, in places such as Guatemala, Bolivia, and Greenland the indigenous populations represent the majority. Further, indigenous groups often claim self-identification based on a separate culture linked to a specific territory, while ethnic minorities often emphasize political autonomy rather than cultural autonomy.

Where are Indigenous Peoples?
According to UN estimates, there are some 300 million indigenous people in more than 70 countries around the world, and approximately half of these are in Asia.

East Asia may claim some 70 million indigenous people, South Asia maybe 50 million, and Southeast Asia around 30 million. Many of the major State authorities are uncomfortable with the idea of identifying these communities as “indigenous,” so you will see a variety of terms used by these official sources: Malaysia calls them “hill tribes,” Indonesia calls them “isolated and alien peoples,” India identifies them as “scheduled tribes,” and China absorbs them as “minority nationalities.”

After Asia, Latin America is the region with the largest indigenous population, with estimates placing some 32 million people within Mexico and Central America (13 million), the Amazonian region (1 million), and the Andes (18 million).

Things get more complicated in Africa, where UN officials find they must lean more heavily on histories of discrimination to determine whether or not to include the nomadic peoples or the Pygmies as indigenous. Altogether, the organization identifies some 15 million (or fewer) as “indigenous” throughout the continent.

Identifying “indigenous” peoples in North America is a simpler endeavor that gathers together the 1 million Inuit in Russia as well as the many tribes already officially designated by the United States and Canada who number some 1.5 million people.  

In the Australasian region there may be 1.5 million indigenous Pacific Islanders, as well as only 350,000 Maoris in New Zealand and 300,000 Australian Aborigines.

What are the Political Realities?
Indigenous peoples often experience discrimination that results in cultural exclusion, economic exclusion, and political marginalization. Cultural exclusion results in a perception of tribal cultures as “inferior,” a belief that is sometimes expressed in national policies aimed at the active suppression of those cultures. Economic exclusion blocks the tribes from the expected benefits of national economic development. Political marginalization hinders access to decision-making processes and governmental representation. “Often these manifestations of exclusion are overlapping and interrelated.”

Indigenous communities often experience crises in terms of healthcare and education. While many tribal populations demonstrate higher birth rates, which means younger and more vulnerable demographics, they are also more likely to have reduced access to healthcare. This is a phenomenon in both rich and poor nation states.

As for education, many indigenous schools find it difficult to pay adequate teacher salaries, so finding the best teachers is difficult, especially for tribal areas located in more “inaccessible” regions. On top of that is the crisis of imposing a monolingual or monocultural educational system upon children who come from backgrounds with unique learning habits. Children who leave tribal communities and attend schools in non-tribal areas then face the age-old misery of racially motivated bullying or school rules that demand the abandonment of indigenous practices of dress or hairstyle. Of course, the “trickle down” aspect of these educational challenges mean tribal school systems also have trouble finding well-trained or professionally qualified teachers of indigenous heritage.

What is the Best Path Forward?
A central message of this report is that “successful and sustainable initiatives for indigenous children … are most likely to be founded upon a human rights approach that is, by definition, intercultural and incorporates indigenous worldviews.” In other words, the tribal communities themselves know what they need, but a good deal depends upon the larger authorities to grant them both the full economic support and the political autonomy to promote their languages, customs, and social structures.

Taking this post for a personal spin, I'm just going to give a shoutout for Taiwan, where the political shift from a fascist tyranny to a modern democratic state has brought good things for Aboriginals. The fascist government used to crush the cultural qualities of the tribes, but now they are allowed and even encouraged to express their traditional cultures. Much still needs to be dealt with, including the ongoing debate between some tribes and land management. But overall their access to education and healthcare is stronger than what may even be achieved in North America. Certainly the terrible suffering inflicted upon Native American communities by the Wuhan Coronavirus demonstrate the larger reality of unequal access in the United States. Let's all just hope that Taiwan continues forever in the expression of democratic governance that offers tribal people greater access to improved healthcare, education, and economic opportunity.

Download a pdf copy of the 2003 report here.