Indigenous People - Surviving and Reviving in the 21st Century

Indigenous peoples exist in many, if not most, of the world’s countries today, usually as fairly peripheral if not invisible minorities. Often they are viewed (if they are viewed at all) as remnants of tribal or premodern pasts or, at best, as quaint illustrations of “traditional cultures”. However, although they have suffered colonialism, conquest, disease, dispossession, and cultural loss, the i...

Indigenous peoples exist in many, if not most, of the world’s countries today, usually as fairly peripheral if not invisible minorities. Often they are viewed (if they are viewed at all) as remnants of tribal or premodern pasts or, at best, as quaint illustrations of “traditional cultures”. However, although they have suffered colonialism, conquest, disease, dispossession, and cultural loss, the indigenous peoples who have survived this onslaught (and many have not) are increasingly active in the promotion, preservation, or sometimes revival of their cultures and identities. The historical experiences and contemporary activities of indigenous peoples are diverse, and the very label is contentious, but in unison with more tolerant and supportive states and a dense web of translocal institutions, indigenous peoples are vocally and increasingly successfully expressing their intentions to maintain their uniqueness while also participating, in their own ways and on their own terms, in the modern world. The chapters of this volume explore the complex terrain of indigeneity and several specific cases in Anglophone settler-colonial states and in non-Anglophone or non-Western states, where indigenous peoples are confronting dominant populations, contributing to modern non-indigenous projects, or using modern non-indigenous concepts and technologies to become modern while remaining indigenous.

Order Print Copy Recommend to Your Library

This book aims at increasing awareness and promoting scientific research in support of the global United Nations Sustainable Development Goals programme. IntechOpen is a member of the UN SDG Publishers Compact.