Friends,,,, sometimes we have to face the question............... what is the definition of indigenous people????........ ..... .............................!!.. There is no universally accepted definition for “Indigenous,” though there are characteristics that tend to be common among Indigenous Peoples: They tend to have small populations relative to the dominant culture of their country. However, in Bolivia and Guatemala Indigenous people make up more than half the population. They usually have (or had) their own language. Today, Indigenous people speak some 4,000 languages. They have distinctive cultural traditions that are still practiced. They have (or had) their own land and territory, to which they are tied in myriad ways. They self-identify as Indigenous. ................................ According to the Martinéz Cobo’s Report to the UN Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination of Minorities (1986), indigenous peoples may be identified 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. 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.” This historical continuity may consist of the continuation, for an extended period reaching into the present, of one or more of the following factors: Occupation of ancestral lands, or at least of part of them; Common ancestry with the original occupants of these lands; 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.); 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); Residence in certain parts of the country, or in certain regions of the world; Other relevant factors Self-identification as indigenous is also regarded as a fundamental element in Martinéz Cobo’s working definition: “On an individual basis, an indigenous person is one who belongs to these indigenous peoples through self-identification as indigenous (group consciousness) and is recognized and accepted by the group as one of its members (acceptance by the group). This preserves for these communities the sovereign right and power to decide who belongs to them, without external interference.”
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 09:20:15 +0000
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