Who is Indigenous reading page 75-100 Who is Indigenous? Peoplehood and Ethnonationalist Approaches to Rearticulating Indigenous Identity JEFF J. CORNTASSEL Summary Academicians Define Indigenous · Franke Wilmer was among the first social scientists to systematically examine the global historical process of moral exclusions undertaken by Western powers against Indigenous people. She describes Indigenous as: 1. With tradition-based cultures 2. Who were politically autonomous before colonization 3. Who, In the aftermath of colonization and/or decolonization, continue to struggle for the preservation of the cultural integrity, economic self-reliance, and political independence by resisting the assimilationist policies of nation-states . This list is so broad that it is difficult to ascertain whether indigenous peoples are different in terms of their cultural worldviews. . Coauthor with Alfred wrote an article revising Wilmer's original three-part definition; 1. They are descended from the original inhabitants of the geographic areas they continue to occupy, hence they are aboriginal 2. They wish to live in conformity with their continuously evolving cultural traditions 3. They do not now control their pollical destiny, and consequently, are frequently subjected to policies arising from the cultural hegemony originally imposed by an 'outsider' force · The 3 definitions emphasizes the importance of geographic homelands and evolving cultural traditions for indigenous peoples. . This definition is still very broad and doesn't focus on language, the collective rights of the groups and traditions · Indigenous scholars, such as Alfred and S. James Anaya tend to advocate broad and inclusive definitions of Indigenous groups in order to avoid de-emphasizing variation between and within groups · Anaya's definition of Indigenous people highlights the continued colonial domination of Indigenous homelands as well as the ancestral roots of these 'pre-invasion inhabitants' · Under another man's definition, his name is Gurr, he defines Indigenous people as people being 'conquered' and being dominated by another group are preconditions for the Indigenous status - however not all Indigenous people were conquered militarily by colonial powers . For example; treaty-making, rather than outright conquest took place in North America on a wide scale between colonial powers, such as Great Britain, France, Holland, and the Indigenous people of Canada and the U.S. · Gurr's conceptualization of Indigenous people becomes problematic when a group could conceivably stop being considered Indigenous under the MAR code (Minorities at Risk) coding scheme when they achieve independent statehood
. In other words, Indigenous people are identified according to the highest level of aggregation possible · In order to avoid excluding specific Indigenous groups from claiming Indigenous Status, Benedict Kingsbury advocates maximum flexibility while establishing four "essential requirements" 1. Self-identification as a distinct ethnics group 2. Historical experience of, or contingent vulnerability to, severe disruption, dislocation or exploitation 3. Long connection with the region 4. The wish to retain a distinct identity ? Kingsbury's identification of Indigenous people as ethnic groups diminishes their identity as nations- it is a 'loose use of terminology, given that 'a nation is ,pre than an ethnics group' Nationalism Research and Indigenous Identity · Distinct