The category of tribe unlike that of caste is universal. People so described exist in other parts of the world as well. This is not the same with the caste which stands by and large as a distinctive feature of South Asia. Hence any issues relating to such universal categories at the global level find resonance within nation-state boundaries. This has truly been the case with the category of the Indigenous Peoples and India is no exception. Adivasi meaning the original inhabitants has been in use among tribal people long before the usage and popularity of the term Indigenous People. People described and classified as tribes in India have taken note of such developments at the global level and have incorporated them as important dimensions of their economic, political, social, and cultural articulations and assertions. Often the issues relating to Indigenous People are discussed merely in terms of Indigenous or Indigeneity. Such a use poses no problem in the new world but it does in the old world such as Asia and Africa. In India, for example, the mere use of the term indigenous/indigeneity does not necessarily refer to tribal/indigenous people, its use has many shades and meanings. The paper is an attempt to engage with it and disentangle the underlying threads.