40 Facts About Indigenous peoples

1.

Indigenous peoples, referred to as First peoples, First nations, Aboriginal peoples, Native peoples, Indigenous natives, or Autochthonous peoples, are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original peoples.

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2.

Indigenous peoples societies are found in every inhabited climate zone and continent of the world except Antarctica.

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3.

Indigenous peoples' homelands have historically been colonized by larger ethnic groups, who justified colonization with beliefs of racial and religious superiority, land use or economic opportunity.

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4.

Indigenous peoples continue to face threats to their sovereignty, economic well-being, languages, ways of knowing, and access to the resources on which their cultures depend.

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5.

Indigenous peoples rights have been set forth in international law by the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, and the World Bank.

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6.

In 2007, the UN issued a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to guide member-state national policies to the collective rights of Indigenous peoples, including their rights to protect their cultures, identities, languages, ceremonies, and access to employment, health, education and natural resources.

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7.

In settler states colonized by Europeans, such as in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania, Indigenous status is generally unproblematically applied to groups directly descended from the peoples who have lived there prior to European settlement.

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8.

Indigenous peoples is derived from the Latin word, meaning "sprung from the land, native".

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9.

At this time 'indigenous peopl' began to be used to describe a legal category in Indigenous peoples law created in international and national legislation.

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10.

James Anaya, former Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, defined Indigenous peoples as "living descendants of pre-invasion inhabitants of lands now dominated by others.

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11.

These constraints can be observed even when the Indigenous peoples society is regulated largely by its own tradition and custom.

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12.

Centuries, since the time of their colonization, conquest or occupation, indigenous peoples have documented histories of resistance, interface or cooperation with states, thus demonstrating their conviction and determination to survive with their distinct sovereign identities.

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13.

Indeed, Indigenous peoples were often recognized as sovereign peoples by states, as witnessed by the hundreds of treaties concluded between Indigenous peoples and the governments of the United States, Canada, New Zealand and others.

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14.

Indigenous peoples argued that Christians were justified in invading and acquiring infidel's lands because it was the church's duty to control the spiritual health of all humans on Earth.

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15.

Indigenous peoples were not consulted or included in these arrangements.

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16.

Precise estimates for the total population of the world's Indigenous peoples are very difficult to compile, given the difficulties in identification and the variances and inadequacies of available census data.

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17.

Contemporary distinct Indigenous peoples groups survive in populations ranging from only a few dozen to hundreds of thousands and more.

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18.

Many Indigenous peoples populations have undergone a dramatic decline and even extinction, and remain threatened in many parts of the world.

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19.

In other cases, Indigenous peoples populations are undergoing a recovery or expansion in numbers.

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20.

WRI report mentions that "tenure-secure" Indigenous peoples lands generates billions and sometimes trillions of dollars' worth of benefits in the form of carbon sequestration, reduced pollution, clean water and more.

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21.

Current assessments indicate that indigenous peoples used land sustainably, without causing substantial losses of biodiversity, for thousands of years.

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22.

Indigenous peoples practices are at the roots of this history, present a prime example of this complex relationship, and show how weaving their way of life into our culture allows us to meet our needs without destroying natural resources.

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23.

Indigenous peoples who maintain, or seek to maintain, traditional ways of life are found from the high Arctic north to the southern extremities of Tierra del Fuego.

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24.

Impacts of historical and ongoing European colonization of the Americas on Indigenous peoples communities have been in general quite severe, with many authorities estimating ranges of significant population decline primarily due to disease, land theft and violence.

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25.

In English, Indigenous peoples are collectively referred to by different names that vary by region, age and ethnicity of speakers, with no one term being universally accepted.

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26.

In Chile, there the most populous indigenous peoples are the Mapuches in the Center-South and the Aymaras in the North.

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27.

Indigenous peoples are found in the entire territory of Brazil, although the majority of them live in Indian reservations in the North and Center-Western part of the country.

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28.

In Myanmar, indigenous peoples include the Shan, the Karen, the Rakhine, the Karenni, the Chin, the Kachin and the Mon.

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29.

However, various peoples have put forward claims for indigenous recognition where their islands are still under external administration; examples include the Chamorros of Guam and the Northern Marianas, and the Marshallese of the Marshall Islands.

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30.

Indigenous peoples confront a diverse range of concerns associated with their status and interaction with other cultural groups, as well as changes in their inhabited environment.

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31.

In May 2016, the Fifteenth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues affirmed that indigenous peoples are distinctive groups protected in international or national legislation as having a set of specific rights based on their linguistic and historical ties to a particular territory, prior to later settlement, development, and or occupation of a region.

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32.

The session affirms that, since indigenous peoples are vulnerable to exploitation, marginalization, oppression, forced assimilation, and genocide by nation states formed from colonizing populations or by different, politically dominant ethnic groups, individuals and communities maintaining ways of life indigenous to their regions are entitled to special protection.

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33.

Indigenous peoples have frequently been subjected to various forms of racism and discrimination.

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34.

Cultures of indigenous peoples provides appeal for New Age advocates seeking to find ancient traditional truths, spiritualities and practices to appropriate into their worldviews.

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35.

At an international level, indigenous peoples have received increased recognition of their environmental rights since 2002, but few countries respect these rights in reality.

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36.

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly in 2007, established indigenous peoples' right to self-determination, implying several rights regarding natural resource management.

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37.

Indigenous peoples women are especially affected by land dispossession because they must walk longer distances for water and fuel wood.

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38.

Indigenous peoples groups asserting their rights has most often resulted in torture, imprisonment, or death.

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39.

Indigenous peoples knowledge is considered as very important for issues linked with sustainability.

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40.

Not only do these false recounts of indigenous knowledge and traditions skew the beliefs of onlookers, but they reconstruct the idea native peoples have of their own traditions by erasing its original value system and replacing it with a westernized version.

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