White Letters on Black Board

White Letters on Black Board

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter Four

http://www.troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/



Palash Biswas



We Indigenous People live like White Letters on Black Board.



Anyone from Ruling Hegemony anywhere may wipe us with a soft stroke of Duster.Aware or unaware, we may not resist. If resisted, would be crushed mercilessly! We have been wiped in Americas,Africa, Europe,Asia and Australia. We would be wiped off anywhere in the galaxy and beyond provided some Columbus or Vasco De Gama or Captain Cook invent Imperialist Interests there!



We have been deprived of these letters for time infinite on basis of Varnashram and Caste system as well as Apartheid. We could not simply cry Freedom for thousands of years as these letters never favoured us and we never knew to handle them.



In this new order of Phoenix, which rules the Galaxy, the Explosion of Information goes against us and at last, rules Manusmriti or Apartheid. Science and technology, Industrialisation and Urbanisation always destroyed Indigineous Mankind in the best interest of the ruling elite classes.



May be Barrack Obama is going to be the first Black President of United States of America!



May be Hillary Clinton is going to upset the Apple Cart and will hold State Power in the Oval Office in White House!



May be someday, the resurrection of Hindutva takes over Americas and Bobby Zindal becomes President of America, sidelining Zionist Hegemony!



It won`t change the scenario. Because it may not.



We are not going to have any break through anywhere! No respite expected for our Worldwide Indigenous Untouchable Black community. The Enslaved Black Untouchables, destined to be Crushed, Repressed, Displaced and Annihilated! Political systems, ideologies, principles, doctrines and theories always justify the Genocides,Ethnic Cleansing, Massacres, Encounters, Wars, Civil Wars against Indigenous World!



As Americanism overlaps the Identities as Black as well as Woman. American interests remain the same and US strike power has to defend them with Presidential initiative. Americanism is the basic instinct to rule the world, best expressed in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Iraq and Afghanistan if someone deny Vietnam!



The Global Ruling class is ruling the Galaxy, the Earth, the Waters, The Space.



NASA is not going to be disbanded.



NATO is not going to be unarmed.



Neither World bank nor United Nations will defend the interests of third world interests.



Iraq, Iran, East Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia have to bleed.



Bleeding will be all the black untouchables worldwide and anywhere where Nature allows life with all the underclasses in the Developed Nations as well.



Nature is not going to be liberated and global warming would continue to play havoc.



Natural resources have to be captured.



Thus, we would have to be wiped out as white letters on Black Board. Mass destruction weapons, Missile technology, Star Wars, Terminators and Nuclear Armament target us the People, already deprived of Life, Liberty and Livelihood, already stricken by intense food Insecurity, inherent Inequality, Discrimination and Injustice.



Well, friends it is not new.



Just read between the lines of `Spartacus' or `Mother' or `Good Earth' or `Les Miserables'!



Just read the novels of Charles Dickens or Thomas Hardy!



You may get the vision right there in Shakespearean drama like `The Tempest' or `Mid Summer Night`s Dreams'!



Simply the Fact is very objective and it is the Ultimate Truth!



They rule because they have handled the Letters very well.



It is Bible.



It is Vedas.



It has been the Epics.



It has been Ethics.



It has been Ideologies.



Religion.



Monarchy.



Democracy.



Autocracy.



Military Junta.



Marxist Leninist Maoist Systems.



Constitution.



State power.



And, of course, Global Market and corporate Imperialism!



The State Power of every color held by the Global Ruling Classes consisting of the Neo Galaxy Hindu, Zionist White Hegemony led by US Imperialism.



The letters are defined as Information nowadays!



Incidentally, my father Pulin Babu was deprived of letters as the family as well as the geopolitics disintegrated with Partition Holocaust with Great transfer of power from British Empire to the Brahminical Hegemony. But he had the vision as BR Ambedkar, Jyoti Ba Phule and Guruchand Thakur all prominent leaders of Indian indigenous communities insisted on Education.



I recollect the stories of my ancestors in the stories told by Thamma as nothing is documented. We may not trace back into our History, Heritage. All documents and literature relating to Indigenous Dravid civilisation were first destroyed in Harappa and Mohanjodoro. US Imperialism did the same thing to Mesopotamia Civilisation as soon as they Captured Baghdad.



The history of Bengal (including Bangladesh and West Bengal) dates back four millennia.[1] To some extent, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra rivers separated it from the mainland of India, though at times, Bengal has played an important role in Indian history.



My father was an All India leader of Dalit Bengali refugee movement. He was proud of his past.



` See, we were the Rulers. We are the Indigenous people. We ruled during Maura empire. Shasanka was the king of Gaur. But the mainstream was indigenous. Later, Paul dynasty saw the Golden Age of democracy in Bengal. The Indigenous people were ruling. It was Buddhism, the state religion. As sen dynasty wiped out the great Pals, Ballal Sen imported Five Kannojia Brahmins from Kannoj. Until this period, until Vijay Sen conquered Bengal, there was no existence of caste Hindus in Bengal. For Aryans, Banga was a cursed land of Asuras. Banga, the Asur being the king of the Anarya, Black Untouchable Kings. We had the helms of politics, economy and culture. We wrote Charya Padas and Mangal Kavys. Ballal sen introduced Hinduization on lines of conversion of Indigenous tribals by Victorious Aryans with their Ashwamedha yagn. King Rama of Ayodhya led and launched the War against Indigenous people branding them demons. Demonisation of Indigenous people henceforth continued in all parts of Indian subcontinent. But Son Of King Asoka, Mahendra was successful to spread the message of Gautama Buddha in other parts of Asia. From japan to Srilanka. China and South East Asia, where the Indigenous people remained the mainstream. In India, we were captured, defeated and converted as Lower caste Hindus. All indigenous people were enslaved and adjusted into the lower tier of Hindu caste system. We became out caste and deprived of all human and civil rights thence. We were deprived of Letters. For which King Rama killed the Tribal Rishi Sambuk!'



I don`t understand the logic of our family names. My father`s grand father was Uday. His father, Aaditya. It sounds strange. As the caste,creed and community do not reflect any tradition of Good names. We are also deprived of good names. These names do sound very very elite!



Ballal Sen drove us from the main land. We resettled in east Bengal remote areas.



Most of our people were drove into Sundarvana area on Sea Coast of South Bengal. The people left in mainland were ousted from the heart of villages. Ballal sen manged to separate the out castes with caste Hindus led by the imported Brahmins. These imported Brahmins do consist of the Ruling Hegemony in Bengal. That time they threw us into the Swamps of East Bengal. We got organised and revolted against them time to time. We mobilised a national Movement for Indigenous rights led By BR Ambedkar and Jogendra Nath Mandal. For this they partitioned India and ejected us out of our homeland. They have deprived us of Political Representation and constitutional reservation. Even Mother Tongue!'



Remnants of Copper Age settlements in the Bengal region date back 4,000 years,[1][2] when the region was settled by Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic peoples. After the arrival of Indo-Aryans, the kingdoms of Anga, Vanga and Magadha were formed by the 10th century BC, located in and around the Bengal region. The Anga, Vanga and Magadha kingdoms are first described in the Atharvaveda around 1000 BC.

From the 6th century BC, most of Bengal was a part of the powerful kingdom of Magadha, which was an Indo-Aryan kingdom of ancient India, mentioned in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It was also one of the four main kingdoms of India at the time of Buddha, having risen to power during the reigns of Bimbisara (c. 544-491 BC) and his son Ajatashatru (c. 491-460 BC). Magadha spanned to include most of Bihar and Bengal.

Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahā Janapadas (Sanskrit, "great country"). The Magadha empire included republican communities such as Rajakumara. Villages had their own assemblies under their local chiefs called Gramakas. Their administrations were divided into executive, judicial, and military functions. Bimbisara was friendly to both Jainism and Buddhism and suspended tolls at the river ferries for all ascetics after the Buddha was once stopped at the Ganges River for lack of money.

In 326 BC, the army of Alexander the Great approached the boundaries of the Nanda Empire of Magadha. The army, exhausted and frightened by the prospect of facing a larger Indian army at the Ganges River, mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas) and refused to march further East. Alexander, after the meeting with his officer, Coenus, was convinced that it was better to return.

Magadha was the seat of the Maurya Empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya, which extended over nearly all of South Asia and parts of Persia and Afghanistan under Ashoka the Great; and, later, of the powerful Gupta Empire, which extended over the northern Indian subcontinent and parts of Persia and Afghanistan.

One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal is the mention of a land named Gangaridai by the Greeks around 100 BC. The word is speculated to have come from Gangahrd (Land with the Ganges in its heart) and believed to be referring to an area in Bengal. For example, Diodorus Siculus (c. 90-30 BC) states that, "...Gandaridai, a nation which possesses the greatest number of elephants and the largest in size." This is presently known as 'Gangaridi' civilization and encompasses a period presumably from 400 BC to 100 AD. Some recent excavations in South 24 Parganas in West Bengal reveal small pearls of garnet, opal, quartz etc, which helped to detect the time and life-style of the people of this ancient civilization. There are engravings such as couple, snake, swastika, plough, trident, betel-leaf etc. found on these pearls.



The first recorded independent king of Bengal was Shashanka - reigning from 606.

More concrete evidence of Bengal becoming an independent political entity is found in the 6th century, with the first recorded independent king of Bengal - Shashanka - reigning around 606.

The first Buddhist Pala king of Bengal, Gopala I came to power in 750 in Gaur by election. This event is recognized as one of the first democratic elections in South Asia since the time of the Mahā Janapadas. The dynasty's most powerful kings, Dharmapala (reigned 775-810) and Devapala (reigned 810-850) united Bengal and made the Pala Empire the most powerful empire in 9th century India after expanding across much of the Indian subcontinent and parts of Afghanistan. Internecine strife during the reign of Narayanpala (reigned 854-908) and administrative excesses led to the decline of the dynasty.

A brief revival of the kingdom under Mahipala I (reigned 977-1027) ended in battle against the powerful, South Indian Chola kingdom. The rise of the Chandra dynasty in southern Bengal expedited the decline of the Palas, and the last Pala king, Madanpala, died in 1161.

The Malla dynasty emerged in Bengal in the seventh century, although they only rose to prominence in the 10th century under Jagat Malla who moved his capital to Vishnupur. Unlike the Buddhist Palas and Chandras, the Hindu Mallas worshipped first the Hindu god Shiva, then the Hindu god Vishnu. The Mallas built temples and spectacular religious monuments during their rule in Bengal.

Under the Sena dynasty, which lasted from 1095 to 1260, Bengali emerged as a distinct and important language in northern India, and Hinduism began to displace older Buddhism.



Pulin Babu was a fluent orator. he could speak for hours nonstop.



He said,` They tried their best to throw out Baba Saheb, the son of a Maharashtran Untouchable Mahar, from the school. they could not.'



`We have to fight for these letters', he used to see.



Meanwhile, I was admitted in the school. Our people opened a Bengali School in Basantipur. Initially, Chhotokaka was the teacher. Then he went to Assam in 1960. I may not remember him teaching. Then, an old man named Hari Dhali with his big belly appeared in the scenerio. he was an object of perfect amusement for us. Then the villagers appointed Prafulla Master,an immigrant from east Bengal. At that time, I was not interested in schooling. I would rather play and enjoy so many beauties abound in the Nature. Other children would be sent to get me in the school, I would fight with all of them. It would look like an intense street fight. It was a daily affair. If I landed in school, I would like riding making the teacher a Horse. Perhaps in 1961, I was admitted in Chittaranjan Kanya Primary school and then, Madam Christie looked after me so well.



We know another story of Out Castes. It is all about the Nobel Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore. His ancestors were based in East Bengal and they were amongst the Elite Brahmin. Later, someone from the Tagore smelt BEEF in the kitchen of Nawab. Tagores immediately became out castes and were called PEERALI Brahmins, Brhmins with Muslim connection. Some of the family converted as annoyed and persecuted they were by the Brahmins then. Brahmins refused to have matrimonial relations with Tagores. Thus, a stream of Tagores became untouchables marrying with Namoshudras. They settled in Narail. Later, Tagores migrated to Kolkata and Prince Dwarka Nath Tagore made fortunes with fort william. Even then, they were not accepted as Brahmins. It led the Tagores to Brahma dharma of Raja Ram Mohan Roy.



Tagore was denied entry in Puri Temple and was considered untouchable. Elite Bengalies could not accept Tagore as a poet at all. Only the Nobel Prize could change the scenario and Tagore was made an Icon of Ruling Hegemony. His writings in favour of Untouchables, peasants and indigenous people are never highlighted or discussed at all.





My Thamma told me that my grand fathers, they were four brothers, were the Musclemen Casteleaders and warriors, LATHIALS for the Zamindar. My real Grand father Umesh was the third brother. The Eldest Kailash was very famous for his fighting skills. He and his brothers were militant. My Grandma often told me stories about Police raids, riots during Harvesting and seizes. the women folk were also trained to use arms. They used to fight. The second brother amongst my Grandfathers was a real community Leader and was very popular in Narail area. now, I do not remember the name. he died early by snakebite. My grandfather Umesh died of shock within months. My Grandma was alone to feed the family as rest of the family captured the family property. Her father kalicharan Mandal was a Wise Man. He had a rare vision. my father was mostly influenced by his second Uncle, the community leader and his grandfather, Kalicharan Mandal.



Thamma was very close to me as she believed that I happened to be the reincarnation of her father.



Thus, my near ancestors dealt with Lathis more than LETTERS! My uncles also joined forces for a short period.



I had to break this tradition for which My Father, the refugee leader was very enthusiastic as he understood well the limitation of being undereducated as he was dealing with all types of National Leaders and ideologies to sort out the community Problems. Luckily, he could single out the cause of infinite enslavement of Underclasses as Lack of education!



I had to be educated. I had to be educated as my father was not. He learnt to read and write Bengali, English and Hindi. He could communicate in Oria and Assamese as he had been always in the heart of storms, the mass movement. He tried his best to make my Chhoto Kaka, the youngest Uncle a registered Medical practicener. He had been in army for some time. My eldest uncle, Jethamoshai also had been in Police during British period in undivided Bengal.Since my eldest aunt Jethima was on of the Thakurbari family. Thus, we had to know the value of education right from the word GO.



Pdt. Jawahar Lal Nehru was influenced by Soviet Russia. The soviet Model of Development adopted and heightened later by her worthy daughter Mrs Indira Gandhi, proves the theory. Even the Communists in India believed that Nehru was a Communist.



Thus, the Indian communist leadership allied with Congress from the beginning and betrayed Telengana and Dhimri Block movement.



In West Bengal, Marxists cooperated Siddharth Shankar Roy and his goons to wipe out the Naxalbari Movement.



Mahashweta Devi and other prominent writers try to prove with pain that Naxalbari movement was elitist, romantic, intellectual uprising of urban students and youth.



Mahashweta Di, however stresses on the tribal uprising althroughout her writings.



But all these caste Hindu writers deny to accept that Naxalbari was an Indigenous Uprising led by Indigenous people which was taken over by so called communist parties led by Caste Hindus quite detached from the indigenous interests. Repression by state power wiped out tribal as well as scheduled caste students and youths. But their contribution never accepted, evaluated.



Even to day the communists and the Congress consist of the Ruling Brahminical class along with fascist RSS.



Nandigram and Singur as well as kalingnagar insurrections are quite indigenous in character but the Ruling Class, the Dominant group holding the State Power and the Resisting one trying to capture the Reign of power, both, try to deprive the Indigenous People any scope for representation or participation.



The History of Partition is quite a case study of the character of not only the Indian ruling class but it exposes well the ruling haegemonies worldwide.



Everyone knows well about the roles played by British Empire.



Everyone is aware of the Two Nation Theory.



But the history of Bengal as well as that of Muslim League tells a different story.



Land settlement system instated the Brahmin and kayastha Zamindars in Bengali Rural Production system. Indigenous people were uprooted from their land. They were enslaved.



The Scheduled Caste Untouchables as well as majority Muslim peasants were enslaved. In this part of world there have been so many Peasant`s uprising led by tribals, Untouchables and Muslims. They were more or less united socially.



As fazlul haq allied with Hindu Mahasabha, led by Shayma Prasad Mukherjee from fascist caste hindu RSS, Muslims were detached from Krishak Praja Party and Muslim league got the momentum.



Muslim league was born in Dhaka in 1901, in East Bengal with initiative from the Nawab of Dhaka and it quested to defend the rights of majority Muslims in Bengal.



As the Muslim league escalated countrywide with large scale North India Participation, it lost the Indigenous character. Hindu Mahasabha politics to destroy Indigenous bases in Bengal transformed Muslim League.



On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi ensured the dominance of brahmincal hegemony with Puna Pact.



Bapu and Nehru ensured the power transfer to Brahminical system.



Ambedkar had no way to stop this.



Rather he stroke a deal with support form Jogendra Nath Mandal and his East Bengal base of militant scheduled castes , specially Rajbanshi and Namoshudras.



He was elected from Bengal for the Constitution Assembly and ensured reservation for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.



Ambedkar was defeated in Maharashtra.



And he never won an election in Independent Brahminical India.



Mandal decided to go with Muslim League and joined the Pakistan Cabinet.



The East Bengal Indigenous people were aliegnated and were devoid of leadership.



Thus, the ruling caste Hindus, got enough opportunity to eject out them from their Homeland in east Bengal and scattered them countrywide.



They were resettled up against tribal people everywhere. in Uttar Pradesh. In Orissa. In MP. In Andhra. In Tripura. In Bihar. In Assam. It sabotaged the very base of Indigenous Identity. Power politics with Congress Left alliance did its best to divide SC, ST, OBC and Muslims. Thus they rule.



Well. Pandit Nehru was believed to make refugee colonies in the Jungles of Terai of the model of soviet communes. Every refugee colony was a cooperative entity well expressed in Land settlement colonies.


Terai was not inhibitable at all. Kumaoon was ruled by the Gorkhas. British captured Kumaoon and Garwal with Terai. It was a happy Hunting Ground for the Rajas and Nawabs before independence. As Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and later as Home Minister of the Union, Pdt Govind Ballabh Pant tried his best to settle the Hill people in Terai. He failed miserably. The Jungles were very dense and full of fierce wild animals.



In 1922, dozens of Buksha villages around Gadarpur were wiped out by plague.



The locals believed in the myth that Terai was populated for seven times and deserted for seven times. Rudrapur, the present headquarter of SIDCULE and Udhamsingh Nagar district of Uttarakhand had been known as the capital of King Rudra.



The rehabilitation Ministery of Pdt. Nehru dumped Bengali and sikh refugees in this dense forest. Bengalies were untouchables. At the same time. the Sikhs were mostly Raisikh of similar status. Both communities were masters of farming and they cleared the Jungles! Before these refugees settled the place , it was inhibited by tribals Buksha and Tharu. Who were always mobile as they would move with their Jhoom style of farming. There were villages of these tribals which were mostly buldozed to make way for the colonies.



It was the subjective fact. In fact, the tribals were uprooted to accomodate Big farmers holding significant status in the ruling Class.



Until 1952, the Terai in Nainital disrtict was managed by Kham superintendent. He was the ultimate authority and had the power to allot any amount of land on whatsoever nominal cost. Army officials, IAS and PCS officers, political leaders, film stars and industrialist got infinite amount of land thanks to KHAM system. Refugee colonisation was just a cover up game.



Indigenous peoples
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The term indigenous peoples can be used to describe any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. However, several widely-accepted formulations, which define the term "Indigenous peoples" in stricter terms, have been put forward by prominent and internationally-recognized organizations, such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. Indigenous peoples in this article is used in such a narrower sense.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Convention concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries
Drawing on these, a contemporary working definition of "indigenous peoples" for certain purposes has criteria which would seek to include cultural groups (and their continuity or association with a given region, or parts of a region, and who formerly or currently inhabit the region either:

before its subsequent colonization or annexation; or
alongside other cultural groups during the formation of a nation-state; or
independently or largely isolated from the influence of the claimed governance by a nation-state,
linguistic, cultural and social / organizational characteristics, and in doing so remain differentiated in some degree from the surrounding populations and dominant culture of the nation-state.

To the above, a criterion is usually added to also include:

peoples who are self-identified as indigenous, and/or those recognised as such by other groups.
Note that even if all the above criteria are fulfilled, some people may either not consider themselves as indigenous or may not be considered as indigenous by governments, organizations or scholars.

Other related terms for indigenous peoples include aborigines, aboriginal peoples, native peoples, first peoples, first nations and autochthonous (this last term having a derivation from Greek, meaning "sprung from the earth"). Indigenous peoples may often be used in preference to these or other terms, as a neutral replacement where these terms may have taken on negative or pejorative connotations by their prior association and use. It is the preferred term in use by the United Nations and its subsidiary organizations.



Definitions

Main article: Definitions and identity of indigenous peoples

Ati woman. The Negritos were the earliest inhabitants of Southeast Asia.[1]
The adjective indigenous has the common meaning of "having originated in and being produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment".[2] Therefore, in a purely adjectival sense any given people, ethnic group or community may be described as being indigenous in reference to some particular region or location.

Key to a contemporary understanding of 'indigenousness' is the political role an ethnic group plays, for all other criteria usually taken to denote indigenous groups (territory, race, history, subsistence lifestyle, etc.) can to a greater or lesser extent also be applied to majority cultures. Therefore, the distinction applied to indigenous ethnic groups can be formulated as: “a politically underprivileged group, who share a similar ethnic identity different to the nation in power, and who have been an ethnic entity in the locality before the present ruling nation took over power” (Greller, 1997).

However, the specific term indigenous peoples has a more restrictive interpretation when it used in the more formalised, legalistic and academic sense, associated with the collective rights of human populations. In these contexts, the term is used to denote particular peoples and groups around the world who, as well as being native to or associated with some given territory, meet certain other criteria (such as having reached a social and technological plateau thousands of years ago). This article is concerned with the latter, and not the former, sense of the term.


[edit] Characteristics of indigenous peoples: overview

[edit] Population and distribution

Brazilian Indigenous chiefs of the Kayapo tribe.
Indigenous societies range from those who have been significantly exposed to the colonizing or expansionary activities of other societies (such as the Maya peoples of Mexico and Central America) through to those who as yet remain in comparative isolation from any external influence (such as the Sentinelese and Jarawa of the Andaman Islands).

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. Recent source estimates range from 300 million[3] to 350 million[4] as of the start of the 21st century. This would equate to just under 6% of the total world population. This includes at least 5000 distinct peoples[5] in over 72 countries.

Contemporary distinct indigenous groups survive in populations ranging from only a few dozen to hundreds of thousands or more. Many indigenous populations have undergone a dramatic decline and even extinction, and remain threatened in many parts of the world. Some have also been assimilated by other populations or have undergone many other changes. In other cases, indigenous populations are undergoing a recovery or expansion in numbers.

Certain indigenous societies survive even though they may no longer inhabit their "traditional" lands, owing to migration, relocation, forced resettlement or having been supplanted by other cultural groups. In many other respects, the transformation of culture of indigenous groups is ongoing, and includes permanent loss of language, loss of lands, encroachment on traditional territories, and disruption in traditional lifeways due to contamination and pollution of waters and lands.


Tsengel Tuvan child and grandmother.

[edit] Common characteristics
Characteristics common across many indigenous groups include present or historical reliance upon subsistence-based production (based on pastoral, horticultural and/or hunting and gathering techniques), and a predominantly non-urbanized society. Indigenous societies may be either settled in a given locale/region or exhibit a nomadic lifestyle across a large territory. Indigenous societies are found in every inhabited climate zone and continent of the world.


[edit] Common concerns
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. Some challenges are specific to particular groups; however, other challenges are commonly experienced. Bartholomew Dean and Jerome Levi (2003) explore why and how the circumstances of indigenous peoples are improving in some places of the world, while their human rights continue to be abused in others.[6] These issues include cultural and linguistic preservation, land rights, ownership and exploitation of natural resources, political determination and autonomy, environmental degradation and incursion, poverty, health, and discrimination.

The interaction between indigenous and non-indigenous societies throughout history has been complex, ranging from outright conflict and subjugation to some degree of mutual benefit and cultural transfer. A particular aspect of anthropological study involves investigation into the ramifications of what is termed first contact, the study of what occurs when two cultures first encounter one another. The situation can be further confused when there is a complicated or contested history of migration and population of a given region, which can give rise to disputes about primacy and ownership of the land and resources.


[edit] Historical indigenous cultures

An Adivasi woman from the Kutia Kondh tribal group in Orissa.
The migration, expansion and settlement of societies throughout different territories is a universal, almost defining thread which runs through the entire course of human history. Many of the cross-cultural interactions which arose as a result of these historical encounters involved societies which might properly be considered as indigenous, either from their own viewpoint or that of external societies.

Most often, these past encounters between indigenous and "non-indigenous" groups lack contemporary account or description. Any assessment or understanding of impact, result and relation can at best only be surmised, using archaeological, linguistic or other reconstructive means. Where accounts do exist, they frequently originate from the viewpoint of the colonizing, expansionary or nascent state.


[edit] Classical antiquity
Greek sources of the Classical period acknowledge the prior existence of indigenous people(s), whom they referred to as "Pelasgians." These peoples inhabited lands surrounding the Aegean Sea before the subsequent migrations of the Hellenic ancestors claimed by these authors. The disposition and precise identity of this former group is elusive, and sources such as Homer, Hesiod and Herodotus give varying, partially mythological accounts. However, it is clear that cultures existed whose indigenous characteristics were distinguished by the subsequent Hellenic cultures (and distinct from non-Greek speaking "foreigners", termed "barbarians" by the historical Greeks).


Alonso Fernández de Lugo presenting the captured Guanche kings of Tenerife to Ferdinand and Isabella.

[edit] European expansion and colonialism
The rapid and extensive spread of the various European powers from the early 18th century onwards had a profound impact upon many of the indigenous cultures with whom they came into contact. The exploratory and colonial ventures in the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific often resulted in territorial and cultural conflict, and the intentional or unintentional displacement and devastation of the indigenous populations.


[edit] Europe
The Canary Islands had an indigenous population called the Guanches whose origin is still the subject of discussion among historians and linguists.[7]


[edit] Contemporary distribution and survey
See also: List of indigenous peoples
Indigenous populations are distributed in regions throughout the globe. The numbers, condition and experience of indigenous groups may vary widely within a given region. A comprehensive survey is further complicated by sometimes contentious membership and identification.


[edit] Africa
Main article: Indigenous peoples of Africa
See also: Category:Indigenous peoples of Africa
In the post-colonial period, the concept of specific indigenous peoples within the African continent has gained wider acceptance, although not without controversy. The highly-diverse and numerous ethnic groups which comprise most modern, independent African states contain within them various peoples whose situation, cultures and pastoralist or hunter-gatherer lifestyles are generally marginalised and set apart from the dominant political and economic structures of the nation. Since the late 20th century these peoples have increasingly sought recognition of their rights as distinct indigenous peoples, in both national and international contexts.


A San man from Namibia.
Although the vast majority of African peoples can be considered to be indigenous in the sense that they have originated from that continent and nowhere else, in practice identity as an "indigenous people" as per the term's modern application is more restrictive, and certainly not every African ethnic group claims identification under these terms. Groups and communities who do claim this recognition are those who by a variety of historical and environmental circumstances have been placed outside of the dominant state systems, and whose traditional practices and land claims often come into conflict with the objectives and policies promulgated by governments, companies and surrounding dominant societies.


A Tuareg wearing the Niqab.
Given the extensive and complicated history of human migration within Africa, being the "first peoples in a land" is not a necessary pre-condition for acceptance as an indigenous people. Rather, indigenous identity relates more to a set of characteristics and practices than priority of arrival. For example, several populations of nomadic peoples such as the Tuareg of the Sahara and Sahel regions now inhabit areas in which they arrived comparatively recently; their claim to indigenous status (endorsed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights) is based on their marginalisation as nomadic peoples in states and territories dominated by sedentary agricultural peoples.

The Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC) is one of the main trans-national network organizations recognised as a representative of African indigenous peoples in dialogues with governments and bodies such as the UN. IPACC identifies several key characteristics associated with indigenous claims in Africa:

political and economic marginalisation rooted in colonialism;
de facto discrimination based often on the dominance of agricultural peoples in the State system (e.g. lack of access to education and health care by hunters and herders);
the particularities of culture, identity, economy and territoriality that link hunting and herding peoples to their home environments in deserts and forests (e.g. nomadism, diet, knowledge systems);
some indigenous peoples, such as the San and Pygmy peoples are physically distinct, which makes them subject to specific forms of discrimination.
With respect to concerns expressed that identifying some groups and not others as indigenous is in itself discriminatory, IPACC states that it:

"...recognises that all Africans should enjoy equal rights and respect. All of Africa’s diversity is to be valued. Particular communities, due to historical and environmental circumstances, have found themselves outside the state-system and underrepresented in governance...This is not to deny other Africans their status; it is to emphasise that affirmative recognition is necessary for hunter-gatherers and herding peoples to ensure their survival."

A Berber family crossing a ford - scene in Algeria. Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley.
At an African inter-governmental level, the examination of indigenous rights and concerns is pursued by a sub-commission established under the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), sponsored by the African Union (AU) (successor body to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)). In late 2003 the 53 signatory states of the ACHPR adopted the Report of the African Commission's Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities and its recommendations. This report says in part (p. 62):

...certain marginalized groups are discriminated in particular ways because of their particular culture, mode of production and marginalized position within the state[; a] form of discrimination that other groups within the state do not suffer from. The call of these marginalized groups to protection of their rights is a legitimate call to alleviate this particular form of discrimination.
The adoption of this report at least notionally subscribed the signatories to the concepts and aims of furthering the identity and rights of African indigenous peoples. The extent to which individual states are mobilising to put these recommendations into practice varies enormously, however, and most indigenous groups continue to agitate for improvements in the areas of land rights, use of natural resources, protection of environment and culture, political recognition and freedom from discrimination.


Peruvian indigenous people, learning to read.[8]

[edit] The Americas
Main article: Indigenous peoples of the Americas
See also: Category:Indigenous peoples of the Americas
Indigenous peoples of the American continents are broadly recognised as being those groups and their descendants who inhabited the region before the arrival of European colonizers and settlers (i.e., Pre-Columbian). 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.


A Choctaw Belle (1850)
The impact of European colonization of the Americas on the indigenous communities was in general quite severe, with many authorities estimating ranges of significant population decline due to the ravages of various epidemic diseases (smallpox, measles, etc), displacement, conflict and exploitation. The extent of this impact is the subject of much continuing debate. Several peoples shortly thereafter became extinct, or very nearly so.

All nations in North and South America have populations of indigenous peoples within their borders. In some countries (particularly Latin American), indigenous peoples form a sizeable component of the overall national population--in Bolivia they account for an estimated 56%-70% of the total nation, and at least half of the population in Guatemala and the Andean and Amazonian nations of Peru. In English, indigenous peoples are collectively referred to by several different terms which vary by region and include such ethnoynms as Native Americans, Amerindians, Indians. In Spanish or Portuguese speaking countries one finds the use of terms such as pueblos indígenas, povos, nativos, indígenas, and in Peru, Comunidades Nativas, particularly among Amazonian societies like the Urarina and Matsés.

The Aboriginal peoples in Canada include the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. The combined indigenous population is over a million (1,172,790). This means they represent 3.8% of the Canadian population. Their status is recognized by Canada's Constitution Act, 1982.[9] The Inuit have achieved a degree of administrative autonomy with the creation in 1999 of the territories of Nunavik (in Northern Quebec), Nunatsiavut (in Northern Labrador) and Nunavut, which was until 1999 a part of the Northwest Territories. The self-administering Danish territory of Greenland is also home to a majority population of indigenous Inuit (about 85%).


Yanomami village of the Amazon Rainforest.
In the United States, the combined populations of Native Americans, Inuit and other indigenous designations totalled 2,786,652 (constituting about 1.5% of 2003 US census figures). Some 563 scheduled tribes are recognized at the Federal level, and a number of others recognized at the State level.

In Mexico, approximately 6,011,202 (constituting about 6.7% of 2005 Mexican census figures) identify as indígenas (Spanish for natives or indigenous peoples). In the southern states of Chiapas, Yucatan and Oaxaca they constitute 26.1%, 33.5% and 35.3%, respectively, of the population. In these states several conflicts and episodes of civil war have been conducted, in which the situation and participation of indigenous societies were notable factors (see for example EZLN).

The Amerindians make up 0.4% of Brazil's population, or about 700,000 people.[10] Indigenous peoples are found in the entire territory of Brazil, although the majority of them live in Indian reservations in the North and Centre-Western part of the country. On 18 January 2007, FUNAI reported that it had confirmed the presence of 67 different uncontacted tribes in Brazil, up from 40 in 2005. With this addition Brazil has now overtaken the island of New Guinea as the country having the largest number of uncontacted tribes.[11]


[edit] Asia
Main article: Indigenous peoples of Asia
See also: Category:Indigenous peoples of Asia
The vast regions of Asia contain the majority of the world's present-day indigenous populations, about 70% according to IWGIA figures.

The most substantial populations are in India, which constitutionally recognises a range of "Scheduled Tribes" within its borders. These various peoples (collectively referred to as Adivasis, or tribal peoples) number about 68 million (1991 census figures, approximately 8% of the total national population).

The languages of Taiwanese aborigines have significance in historical linguistics, since in all likelihood Taiwan was the place of origin of the entire Austronesian language family, which is spread across the whole of Oceania.[12][13][14]


Ainu bear sacrifice. Japanese scroll painting, circa 1870.
Indigenous peoples of Iran include the Bakhtiari, Laks, Lurs, Kurds, and Qashqai. The Assyrians and Marsh Arabs are also indigenous to areas of the geocultural region of Mesopotamia which includes parts of Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The Lurs also inhabit parts of Iraq close to the Iranian border with the provinces of Lorestan and Ilam.

Ainu people are an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. As Japanese settlement expanded, the Ainu were pushed northward, until by the Meiji period they were confined by the government to a small area in Hokkaidō, in a manner similar to the placing of Native Americans on reservations.[citation needed]


[edit] Europe
Main article: Indigenous peoples of Europe
See also: Category:Indigenous peoples of Europe and European ethnic groups

The Khinalug people are the indigenous inhabitants of the Caucasus.
Since most of Europe in historical times was never colonized by non-European powers with lasting effect (arguably except for Hungary, Turkish Thrace, Tatarstan, Kalmykia and islands such as Malta or Cyprus[15]), the vast majority of Europeans can be considered "indigenous". However several widely-accepted formulations, which define the term "Indigenous peoples" in stricter terms, have been put forward by important internationally-recognised organizations, such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. Indigenous peoples in this article is used in such a narrower sense.

In Europe, present-day recognized indigenous populations are relatively few, mainly confined to northern and far-eastern reaches of this Eurasian peninsula. Whilst there are various ethnic minorities distributed within European countries, few of these still maintain traditional subsistence cultures and are recognized as indigenous peoples, per se. Notable indigenous populations include the Sami people of northern Scandinavia, the Nenets and other Samoyedic peoples of the northern Russian Federation, and the Komi peoples of the western Urals.

The Basque people, indigenous people who inhabit northern Spain and southwestern France, are the oldest indigenous ethnic group in Europe. The main theory about Basque origins suggests that they are a remnant of Paleolithic Europeans inhabiting continuously the Franco-Cantabrian region since at least Magdalenian times, and maybe as early as the original colonization of Europe by Homo sapiens. The only archaeological evidence for an invasion of the Basque Country dates to some 40,000 years ago when Cro-Magnon people first arrived in Europe and superseded Homo neanderthalensis.[16]

Caucasus is unique in its ethnic diversity, with a greater variety of languages spoken there than in any region of similar size in the world. Caucasus region is the home of over 50 indigenous ethnic groups.[17][18]


[edit] Oceania

Huli man from the Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea. New Guinea has more than 1,000 indigenous languages.
Main article: Indigenous peoples of Oceania
See also: Category:Indigenous peoples of Oceania
Many of the present-day Pacific Island nations in the Oceania region were originally populated by Polynesian, Melanesian and Micronesian peoples over the course of thousands of years. European colonial expansion in the Pacific brought many of these under non-indigenous administration. During the 20th century several of these former colonies gained independence and nation-states were formed under local control. 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.

In most parts of Oceania, indigenous peoples outnumber the descendents of colonists. Exceptions include Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. According to the 2001 Australian census, Indigenous Australians make up 2.4% of the total population, while in New Zealand 14.6% of the population identify at least partially as indigenous Māori, with slightly more than half (53%) of all Māori residents identifying solely as Māori. Indigenous Hawaiians make up nearly a quarter of the general Hawaiian population.

The independent state of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a majority population of indigenous societies, with some 700+ different tribal groups recognised out of a total population of just over 5 million. The PNG Constitution and other Acts identify traditional or custom-based practices and land tenure, and explicitly sets out to promote the viability of these traditional societies within the modern state. However, several conflicts and disputes concerning land use and resource rights continue to be observed between indigenous groups, the government and corporate entities.


[edit] Indigenous rights, issues and concerns

A Chuckhi prisoner of Gulag. Painting by Nikolai Getman
Wherever indigenous cultural identity is asserted, some particular set of societal issues and concerns may be voiced which either arise from (at least in part), or have a particular dimension associated with, their indigenous status. These concerns will often be commonly held or affect other societies also, and are not necessarily experienced uniquely by indigenous groups.

Despite the diversity of indigenous peoples, it may be noted that they share common problems and issues in dealing with the prevailing, or invading, society. They are generally concerned that the cultures of indigenous peoples are being lost and that indigenous peoples suffer both discrimination and pressure to assimilate into their surrounding societies. This is borne out by the fact that the lands and cultures of nearly all of the peoples listed at the end of this article are under threat. Notable exceptions are the Sakha and Komi peoples (two of the Northern Indigenous Peoples of Siberia), who now control their own autonomous republics within the Russian state, and the Canadian Inuit, who form a majority of the territory of Nunavut (created in 1999).

It is also sometimes argued that it is important for the human species as a whole to preserve a wide range of cultural diversity as possible, and that the protection of indigenous cultures is vital to this enterprise.

An example of this occurred in 2002 when the Government of Botswana expelled all the Kalahari Bushmen known as the San from their lands [2] on which they had lived for at least twenty thousand years [3]. President Festus Mogai has described the Bushmen as "stone age creatures" [4] and a minister for local government, Margaret Nasha, likened public criticism of their eviction to criticism of the culling of elephants [5]. In 2006, the Botswanan High Court ruled that the Bushmen had a right to return to their land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve [6][7].

In response, many have pointed out that in many cases the indigenous peoples often haven't been living self-sufficiently in an area for centuries, and that economic development was not an issue before because it was not an option.


[edit] Representation
The rights, claims and even identity of indigenous peoples are apprehended, acknowledged and observed quite differently from government to government. Various organizations exist with charters to in one way or another promote (or at least acknowledge) indigenous aspirations, and indigenous societies have often banded together to form bodies which jointly seek to further their communal interests.

In cooperation, representatives of indigenous peoples have met in The World Council of Indigenous Peoples (WCIP), which held its first conference in British Columbia in 1975. Cooperation has continued in the research and education organization The Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS), founded in 1984, in Olympia, Washington, USA.


[edit] United Nations
Indigenous peoples and their interests are represented in the United Nations primarily through the mechanisms of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP). In April 2000 the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution to establish the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) as an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council with a mandate to review indigenous issues.

In late December 2004, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2005-2014 to be the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. The main goal of the new decade will be to strengthen international cooperation around resolving the problems faced by indigenous people in areas such as culture, education, health, human rights, the environment, and social and economic development.

In September 2007, after a process of preparations, discussions and negotiations stretching back to 1982, the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The non-binding declaration outlines the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to identity, culture, language, employment, health, education and other issues. Four nations with significant indigenous populations voted against the declaration: the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Eleven nations abstained: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russia, Samoa and Ukraine. Thirty-four nations did not vote, while the remaining 143 nations voted for it.


[edit] Other accredited organizations
Various organizations are devoted to the preservation or study of indigenous peoples. Of these, several have widely-recognized credentials to act as an intermediary or representative on behalf of indigenous peoples' groups, in negotiations on indigenous issues with governments and international organizations. These include:

African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR)
Society for Threatened Peoples International (STP)
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)
Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC)
Movement in the Amazon for Tribal Subsistence and Economic Sustainability
Survival International
Indigenous Dialogues
Cultural Survival
Asia Pacific Indigenous Youth Network

[edit] International Day of the World's Indigenous People
The International Day of the World's Indigenous People falls on August 9 as this was the date of the first meeting in 1982 of the United Nations Working Group of Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the Commission on Human Rights.

The UN General Assembly decided on 23 December 1994, that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People should be observed on August 9 every year during the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (resolution 49/214). Later on 20 December 2004 the assembly decided to continue observing the International Day of Indigenous People every year during the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (2005-2014) (resolutStrike-through textion 59/174).[19]


[edit] Indigenous knowledge and culture
Main article: Traditional knowledge
Indigenous societies possess an often unique body of cultural and environmental knowledge. The preservation and investigation of specialised indigenous knowledge, particularly in relation to the resources of the natural environment with which the society is associated, is an increasingly sought-after goal of both the indigenous and the societies who thereby seek to identify new resources and benefits (example: partnerships established to research useful biological extracts from vegetation in the Amazon rainforests).

For some people (e.g. indigenous communities from India, Brazil, and Malaysia and some NGOs such as GRAIN and Third World Network), indigenous peoples may be victims of biopiracy when they are subjected to unauthorised use of their biological resources, of their traditional knowledge on these biological resources, of unequal share of benefits between them and a patent holder. A controversial case of biopiracy was reported on human genes of a tribal community reported to be resistant to malaria and leprosy[citation needed].