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In the 1970s, the term was used as a way of linking the experiences, issues, and struggles of groups of colonized people across international borders. At this time 'indigenous people (s)' also began to be used to describe a legal category in Indigenous law created in international and national legislation.
Apr 6, 2023 · Indigenous Peoples are distinct social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced.
While the role of Indigenous peoples in maintaining the diversity of the world's cultural and biological landscape is significant, many continue to face marginalization, extreme poverty and other human rights violations.
There are more than 5,000 different Indigenous Peoples around the world comprising 476 million people – around 6.2% of the global population. They are spread across more than 90 countries in every region and speak more than 4,000 languages.
Indigenous peoples live on all continents, from the Arctic to the Pacific, via Asia, Africa and the Americas. There is no singularly authoritative definition of Indigenous Peoples under international law and policy, and the Indigenous Declaration does not set out any definition.
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are groups of people native to a specific region that inhabited the Americas before the arrival of European settlers in the 15th century and the ethnic groups who continue to identify themselves with those peoples.
Indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of living. Nearly 70 million depend on forests for their livelihoods, and many more are farmers, hunter gatherers or pastoralists. These communities thrive by living in harmony with their surroundings.
