There is an International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. It was this Sunday, August 9, 2020.
But who compose the indigenous communities? Who is the indigene? How do I celebrate the International Day of the indigene?
Three questions. Three contentious issues. Three difficult definitions.
According to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the United Nations body for Biodiversity, “Indigenous peoples and local communities are, typically, ethnic groups who are descended from and identify with the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently.”
Following the data from the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), indigenous peoples are further defined as “arguably among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people in the world.” With this in mind, it was recognized that laws and other measures be enacted with the aim of not only maintaining the distinct cultures of the said communities but also protecting the rights of the indigene.
Before any actions could be done to assist the indigenous communities, international communities agreed that the awareness of the needs of these peoples should be raised. Thus in 1982, the 9th of August was chosen to be the annual International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The day commemorates and recognizes the first meeting of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Peoples held in Geneva, Switzerland.
From the World Bank also comes the information that indigenous peoples and local communities make up 5 percent of the world’s population but protect 81 percent of the world’s biodiversity. The most threatened human group is the same society that, without their knowing it from the perspective of the outside experts, eventually works to counter the destruction of the world we live in.
Without formal education, the indigene relies on what we term as “local knowledge” to solve difficulties posed by the ecology of their land. This know-how does not translate to actions that are received well by parties that have different designs on the vast resources seemingly at the disposal of the indigenous communities.
Why am I belaboring these points? These are many reasons. First, I do not think most of us are ever aware that there is a day set aside for the indigenous communities. Second, I doubt if we see the said groups as subject, with access not only to education and other social resources. Third, I am of the belief that we do not believe human agency resides in the indigene.
Examine how arbitrary the selection of the day to celebrate the day of the indigenous communities. What meaning is there in that day? It honors the “founding fathers” of the day set aside from the most persecuted communities in the world. We might say, these communities are so diverse we cannot pick a day that will favor one group over the other. Let us then choose a day selected by outsiders, by experts who can assess the values and virtues of the indigene not so much within their group but in the context of the development strategies we offer to them.
The fact is the whole notion of indigeneity is suspect. The idea of purity of culture can be overrated and duplicitous. Let us not touch these communities because in their pristine state, they represent what we were before development? With the questions raised too difficult to adjudicate, we resign to romanticizing ignorance and poverty.
In the meantime, we who are “outside the forests” ask: what separates us from the indigenous?
Where did we come from? Do I not belong to local communities?
Mobility both physical and social therefore creates non-indigene. Moving from the town or the small city to a metropolis does not only cut off one’s identity from the source but also generates a new origin.
The definition offered above is threateningly normative and naïve, if not, hasty generalization of a very complex nomenclature. Instead of clarifying a concern, the label muddles the issue. It hides once more what developmental non-governmental organizations unknowingly manufacture out there in the field—a totalizing instrument easily a strategy for exploitation and abuse.
Avoided in the definition is the aphoristic elephant in the room and that is this beast or being called authenticity. By definition, the indigene seems to be the only human being in the world. Startling is that information from the World Bank about the indigenous communities as being so small but protecting a massive world territory. Certainly, that makes them the greatest citizen of any country where their lands are.
With world biodiversity practically guarded by them, then the world is alright. Stewardship of the Earth is well and fine, and there is enough to spare, spend, and squander.
Thus, I ask the most important question: if I am not indigenous, what am I?
A statement on the day of the indigenous communities from the Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty declares: “Defending the lands, languages and cultural practices of indigenous peoples and tackling the racism and injustices against them will lessen the outbreaks of future pandemics and manage climate change.”
Thus, I claim: I am an indigene. Do the same thing to my communities.
E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com
Image credits: Jimbo Albano