TSOS

• Flexible definitional approaches to indigenous people can enhance the human rights protection of IP groups and communities
• United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples strongly suggests upholding and protecting the rights of IPs even without a formal definition
• Three primary rationales for a clear and well-defined conceptualization of Indigenous Peoples:

  • Self-identification is essential for IPs' sense of identity
  • Easier acceptance as belonging to the IP classification to assert collective rights and advance group's needs
  • Clear definition provides opportunity to be heard and seen by local and international government to assert right to self-determination
• Derogatory remarks and discrimination towards indigenous peoples necessitate the need for a well-defined conceptualization
• The word "indigenous" comes from the Latin word "indigen" meaning native or original inhabitant
• Common understanding of indigenous people: original inhabitants of the land
• Indigenous people are often referred to as tribal people, ethnic groups, or communities
• Asian Development Bank Framework:

  • Descended from population groups that lived in a geographic area before modern state boundaries were defined
  • Maintain unique cultural identities separate from mainstream societies
• International Labor Organization Framework:

  • Tribal people have different culture, social organizations, economic conditions, and way of life
  • Indigenous People have historical continuity and territorial connection with distinct social, economic, cultural, and political institutions
• United Nations Framework:

  • Historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies
  • Consider themselves distinct from prevailing sectors
  • Preservation, development, and transmission of ancestral territories and ethnic identity
  • Preservation, development, and transmission are the basis of their continued existence
• World Health Organization Framework:

  • Identify themselves and recognized by their community as indigenous
  • Demonstrate historical continuity with pre-colonial societies
  • Have strong links to territories and natural resources
  • Maintain distinct social, economic, or political systems
  • Maintain distinct languages, cultures, and beliefs
  • Form non-dominant groups of society
  • Resolve to maintain and reproduce ancestral environments and systems
• Approximately 370 million people categorized as belonging to at least 5,000 indigenous groups living in 70 different countries
• Scholarly Definitions of Indigenous People:
• Indigenous People (IPs) are those with tradition-based culture, who were politically autonomous before colonization, and continue to struggle for the preservation of their cultural integrity, economic self-reliance, and political independence against colonizers and modern states
• Criteria for a group to be considered as IP:

  • Descended from the original inhabitants of the geographic areas they occupy
  • Intend to live in conformity with their tradition-based cultures
  • Political destiny subjected to policy from outside forces, primarily the State they belong to
• Indigenous Peoples are living descendants of pre-invasion inhabitants, with ancestral roots fixed in the territory they occupy, and considered as a distinct community because their ancestors' way of life is carried over into the present generation
• Distinction between indigenous people and ethno-nationalist phenomenon:

  • Indigenous People live mainly in conformity with traditional social, economic, and cultural customs without asserting cessation
  • Ethno-nationalists assert the right to self-determination and efforts to establish their own state
• IP definition should include four variables according to Fred Riggs:

  • Cultural level of the community
  • Historical sequence of who came first
  • Political position, marginalized communities
  • Geographical area, ancestral domain claim
• Constructivist approach in defining IPs by Benedict Kingsbury:

  • Self-identification as a distinct ethnic group
  • Historical experience of severe disruption or exploitation
  • Long historical connection with the region
  • Aspiration to retain a distinct identity
• Summary of existing definition of IPs:

  • Self-identification
  • Ancestral roots and descent
  • Historical continuity of way of life
  • Ancestral language sustained
  • Ancestral land claim
  • Distinct way of life and non-dominance
  • Aspirations for self-preservation and self-determination
• Who Are IPs in the Philippines:
• In the Philippines, Indigenous People are commonly referred to as katutubo and Lumad in Mindanao to separate them from Islamized ethnic groups
• Flexible definitional approaches to indigenous people can enhance the human rights protection of IP groups and communities
• United Nations Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples strongly suggests upholding and protecting the rights of IPs even without a formal definition
• Legal definition of IPs in the Philippines according to Republic Act No. 8371:

  • Identified by self-ascription and ascription by others
  • Continuously lived as an organized community on communally-bounded territory
  • Occupied, possessed, and utilized territories since time immemorial
  • Historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos
  • Retain social, economic, cultural, and political institutions
  • May have been displaced from their traditional domains or resettled outside their ancestral domains
• Three primary rationales for a clear and well-defined conceptualization of Indigenous Peoples:

  • Self-identification is essential for IPs' sense of identity
  • Easier acceptance as belonging to the IP classification to assert collective rights and advance group's needs
  • Clear definition provides opportunity to be heard and seen by local and international government to assert right to self-determination
• Derogatory remarks and discrimination towards indigenous peoples necessitate the need for a well-defined conceptualization
• The word "indigenous" comes from the Latin word "indigen" meaning native or original inhabitant
• Definition of ICCs or IPs in the Philippines highlights the need for self-identification, ancestral roots and descent, historical continuity of life, sustained ancestral language, ancestral land claim, distinct way of life, non-dominant status, and aspirations for self-preservation and self-determination
• Common understanding of indigenous people: original inhabitants of the land
• NCIP, national government, and academic literatures consider the Igorot and Islamized ethnic groups in the Philippines to belong to the IP category
• Different names associated with indigenous people in different countries:

  • Canada: first/people or nations
  • Australia: aboriginals
  • India: adivasi
  • Nepal: janajati
  • Indonesia and Malaysia: orang asli or bumiputera
• Asian Development Bank defines IPs as those with a social or cultural identity distinct from the dominant society, putting them at a disadvantage in development
• International Labor Organization distinguishes tribal people from IPs based on historical continuity and territorial connection
• Martinez Cobo's Report to the UN Sub-Commission provides a working definition of Indigenous People:

  • Historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies
  • Consider themselves distinct from prevailing sectors
  • Preservation, development, and transmission of ancestral territories and ethnic identity
• United Nations' Working Group on Indigenous Populations designates IPs as descendants of original inhabitants, isolated or excluded from other segments, and distant from national characteristics
• Factors characterizing historical continuity of indigenous people:

  • Occupation of ancestral lands
  • Common ancestry with original occupants
  • Culture, language, residence, and other relevant factors
• World Health Organization's modern understanding of IPs includes historical continuity, strong links to territories, distinct social, economic, or political systems, and maintenance of ancestral environments
• Approximately 370 million people categorized as belonging to at least 5,000 indigenous groups living in 70 different countries according to the International Labor Organization
• WHO aims to advance the health status of indigenous people, acknowledging their poorer health status compared to non-indigenous populations