Understanding Indigenous People

Understanding Indigenous People
Name
Institution
Understanding Indigenous People
Definition of Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous people are ethnic groups of people who remain in their original place which they found themselves and they continue with their pre-colonial social, economic and political cultures. Indigenous people found themselves where they are by the start of life, unlike the other groups which moved to where they are (Stewart, 2018). They uphold their original ancestral beliefs, religion, language, mode of dressing, housing and eating culture and they work towards transmitting the culture to their generations. Also, they maintain their secluded ancestral land which they associate themselves with and which is sacred to them. They preserve the area in its natural form without interfering with the natural resources like trees.
Problems in Defining Indigenous People
One challenge in determining indigenous people is their diversity with distinct features (Omohundro, 2008). It is hard to generalize them because of differences in the culture of each group in each country. Each group is recognized differently by the dominant group in each state. Another problem is that their identity is related to their occupation like a nomadic or geographical position like people of the lake or forest (Stewart, 2018). Giving them a general definition would, therefore, be a way of discriminating and assuming their culture. Indigenous groups being self-identifying creates another problem in defining the people (United Nations, 2018).

Each group is created by people who individually identify with the group through culture and belief. It is hard to put all the culture and ideas together and have one culture and common beliefs to be an identity of all diverse indigenous groups.
Anthropological Perspective
I chose scientist anthropological perspective which involves the use of evidence to learn people and their culture. Observable materials like houses, crops, and food define culture. Having a sample of each to analyze as evidence would bring more practical understanding and reasons for certain behaviors in a community. It is easier to comprehend something which one is seeing or is being taken through a process of understanding.
References
Omohundro, J. T. (2008). Thinking like an anthropologist: A practical introduction to cultural anthropology. New York, NY; McGraw-Hill
Stewart, G. (2018). What does ‘indigenous’ mean, for me?
United Nations. (2018). Indigenous peoples, indigenous voices; who are ingenuous peoples? United Nations permanent forum on indigenous issues.