In India, ‘indigeneity’ is a complex and contested concept. Notionally, the tribal people are known as Adivasis, connoting original inhabitants of India, in other words, indigenous people. Popular locally, the term ‘Adivasi’ is now in academic usage internationally. Yet, on the one hand, the idea is ensconced in the heart of the Adivasis, who have been claiming separate distinct cultural entity. On the other, dominant classes have consistently denied them the status and called them ‘backward Hindus.’ This introductory chapter traces the roots of denial to the mainstream Indian nationalism. The nationalist historiography on Adivasis since the early years of independence never addressed this core issue. Rather, it sustained the nationalist notion. The enlightened Adivasi viewpoint of autonomous cultural existence inherited from history since the independence time was never considered. The chapter critiques the later genre of historical writings which argue ‘colonial creation’ of ‘tribe’ or Adivasi. By a scrutiny of secondary literature and juxtaposing early British colonial observations and Adivasi cultural traditions, the chapter shows that unlike the case of the ‘indigenous people’ of the West, the suppression and birth of the Adivasis has a much longer history. Despite sustained suppression, the chapter argues that the stem of Adivasihood continues to nourish Adivasi cultural fibres today.