The term ‘indigenous people’ is generally believed to be a prototype of American tribes and Australian aboriginals. Etymologically and semantically the word indigenous means native or vernacular which has been derived from the Latin word indigena which means innate or inborn. The conceptual cognates of the word indigenous in English are primitive people, aboriginals, first nation people, tribes, original inhabitants, etc. There are various terms to define indigeneity, for example, they are called Maori in New Zealand, first citizens in Canada, aboriginal in Australia, adivasis in India, indigenous people in the USA and so on and so forth. It is hard to deny that the term ‘indigenous’ is a popular expression, has a universal acceptance and bears a political overtone because it is related to the question of human rights. The term ‘aboriginal’ on the other hand has a colonial hangover which is equated with barbarism and cannibalism. Both the terms ‘tribe’ and ‘aborigine’ have been used interchangeably, but they are two completely different categories. The term ‘tribe’ has a colonial legacy which bears a sense of humiliation, but later it was politicised and used for negotiating power relations. The title of the ILO report of 1957, the Convention concerning the protection and integration of indigenous and other tribal and semi-tribal populations in independent countries, upheld the central premise that the indigenous people are essentially ‘tribal’ who are not fully assimilated with the larger society and it is a subject of respective nation-states to consider. In Asia, however, ‘indigenous’ means ‘tribal and semi-tribal communities’ in general which does not pertain to the international definition of indigeneity. In a nutshell, the criteria of being indigenous people are: 1. they are the original inhabitants; 2. are non-dominant and have a different culture and 3. self-identification. The indigenous people are far from homogenous and spread over different regions because of which there cannot be one single inclusive category of definition. There is often an attempt to generalise indigenous communities as victims of shared experiences like colonialism, liberalism or globalisation. But it is practically impossible to find commonality among these divergent groups. There is no common cultural or linguistic feature, political interests, and terminology which can provide some logical certitude or an all-embracing definition. Therefore, it is absurd to use all the terms interchangeably and that is why I have chosen the term ‘indigenous’ in spite of controversies as discourses are eternally debatable. India always opposed the term ‘indigenous’ and accepted adivasi to kind of swaddle almost all indigenous groups classified as Scheduled Tribes in the Indian Constitution and also to circumvent the pejorative connotations and colonial origin of the word ‘tribe’, in spite of the fact that colonial archives, museums, gazetteers, surveys etc. provide the most prized sources for indigenous past which are founded on the Victorian ethnology and on the basis of which claims of indigeneity are being made. Any effort of institutionalisation cannot escape diverse social consciousness and its articulation. It is the non-recognition of the rights and privileges of the tribal people by the dominant sections of the Indian society that has led to increasing articulation of the idea of indigenous people by the tribal people. The designation or description of tribes as indigenous people had not emerged from self-identification or description by the tribal people themselves. It was not a part of positive identification and evaluation by the tribes. Rather the outsiders had imposed it on the tribes. The identity that was forced from outside has now been internalised among the tribes. Today, it is an important mark of identity and consciousness of the people, an identity that evokes a sense of self-esteem and pride rather than a sense of lowly and inferior society that often goes with terms like tribe or tribal. The people now use it to identify and define themselves.

Introduction—Institutionalising Indigeneity

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2025年

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Debasree De

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The term ‘indigenous people’ is generally believed to be a prototype of American tribes and Australian aboriginals. Etymologically and semantically the word indigenous means native or vernacular which has been derived from the Latin word indigena which means innate or inborn. The conceptual cognates of the word indigenous in English are primitive people, aboriginals, first nation people, tribes, original inhabitants, etc. There are various terms to define indigeneity, for example, they are called Maori in New Zealand, first citizens in Canada, aboriginal in Australia, adivasis in India, indigenous people in the USA and so on and so forth. It is hard to deny that the term ‘indigenous’ is a popular expression, has a universal acceptance and bears a political overtone because it is related to the question of human rights. The term ‘aboriginal’ on the other hand has a colonial hangover which is equated with barbarism and cannibalism. Both the terms ‘tribe’ and ‘aborigine’ have been used interchangeably, but they are two completely different categories. The term ‘tribe’ has a colonial legacy which bears a sense of humiliation, but later it was politicised and used for negotiating power relations. The title of the ILO report of 1957, the Convention concerning the protection and integration of indigenous and other tribal and semi-tribal populations in independent countries, upheld the central premise that the indigenous people are essentially ‘tribal’ who are not fully assimilated with the larger society and it is a subject of respective nation-states to consider. In Asia, however, ‘indigenous’ means ‘tribal and semi-tribal communities’ in general which does not pertain to the international definition of indigeneity. In a nutshell, the criteria of being indigenous people are: 1. they are the original inhabitants; 2. are non-dominant and have a different culture and 3. self-identification. The indigenous people are far from homogenous and spread over different regions because of which there cannot be one single inclusive category of definition. There is often an attempt to generalise indigenous communities as victims of shared experiences like colonialism, liberalism or globalisation. But it is practically impossible to find commonality among these divergent groups. There is no common cultural or linguistic feature, political interests, and terminology which can provide some logical certitude or an all-embracing definition. Therefore, it is absurd to use all the terms interchangeably and that is why I have chosen the term ‘indigenous’ in spite of controversies as discourses are eternally debatable. India always opposed the term ‘indigenous’ and accepted adivasi to kind of swaddle almost all indigenous groups classified as Scheduled Tribes in the Indian Constitution and also to circumvent the pejorative connotations and colonial origin of the word ‘tribe’, in spite of the fact that colonial archives, museums, gazetteers, surveys etc. provide the most prized sources for indigenous past which are founded on the Victorian ethnology and on the basis of which claims of indigeneity are being made. Any effort of institutionalisation cannot escape diverse social consciousness and its articulation. It is the non-recognition of the rights and privileges of the tribal people by the dominant sections of the Indian society that has led to increasing articulation of the idea of indigenous people by the tribal people. The designation or description of tribes as indigenous people had not emerged from self-identification or description by the tribal people themselves. It was not a part of positive identification and evaluation by the tribes. Rather the outsiders had imposed it on the tribes. The identity that was forced from outside has now been internalised among the tribes. Today, it is an important mark of identity and consciousness of the people, an identity that evokes a sense of self-esteem and pride rather than a sense of lowly and inferior society that often goes with terms like tribe or tribal. The people now use it to identify and define themselves.