The most important feature of the indigenous activism is its fast growth and the pace with which it is crossing the national boundaries and gaining acceptance on the international platform. The indigenous activists are also getting visible in the international political central stage. They are now mapping their own steps and are not inactive or mute participants any more. They are taking part in the decision-making process, carving out plans for their own development, negotiating for better deals and meeting targets. Indigenous activism has become a potential force to underscore indigenous people’s desires and demands to the state and other socio-political actors who were hitherto indifferent about their rights. Indigenous activism is also aimed at incorporating other forms of social movements, for example anti-racial movements, LGBTQ movements, feminist movements and the like. It longs for a transformation in the view of looking indigeneity with lenses of primitivism and traditionalism. Having said that indigenous activism has some special characteristics which make them different from other social movements. This activism is in the first place ethnic in nature and against the state-led development initiatives, though we should not call them anti-development, as state has a fixed notion of capitalist development model which does not suit the indigenous people’s perception of sustainable development. There is a complex relationship between the state and the indigenous activism. Indigenous self-assertion is a conscious process and propelled by the want of proper acknowledgement at the national level which later on led the activists to seek for support at the international domain that is both indigenous and non-indigenous. There are historical injustices meted out to the indigenous people which created a sound scope for identity assertion. It is not merely ethnic state of affairs that upturned the indigenous activism; rather it is the dereliction of the state that could not value the claims of indigeneity. Colonial policies used ethnicisation as an effective tool to enumerate different groups under wide-ranging identities on the pretext of administrative streamlining and in this way it created the concept of “other” within the same ethnic community. But it botched up the ethnic scenario completely. Therefore, we need to separate indigeneity from ethnicity, castism and racism and trace its roots in the modern construction of cultural identity and socio-political mobilisation. Similarly, indigenous rights have a particular separate definition and connotation in relation to the civil rights in general. There are many countries where indigenous people enjoy rights exclusively meant for them. In India, we have also enacted special constitutional provisions for the tribals, such as scheduled areas act, acts for prevention of atrocities against the tribals, panchayati raj acts for scheduled areas only, etc. But these have actually institutionalised the indigeneity and thereby questioned the very necessity of such special legal measures and their roles in essentialising indigenism. It is also to be noted that indigenous people possess some special customary rights, usufruct rights and rights over the communal property resources which are distinct in nature and incomparable to the other marginal caste groups. They are spatially and temporally different from the lower caste people and attached to their land not only for subsistence but also for existence. Territory is inseparable from the construction of tribality or indigeneity which is why the demand for an autonomous state was so strong among them. Indigenous activism is the need of the hour. It questions the mainstream model of development, hegemony of state, patriarchy and the dominance of the non-indigenous ideologies. Indigenous activism reserves an idea of indigenous nationalism, indigenous feminism and indigenous development based on its own gaze of modernity and progress. Indigenous activism does not only cry for survival rather it fights for it and struggles to establish an indigenous cultural entity. Indigenous activism has been interpreted in various ways, some say it is for the preservation of indigenous identity, some argue it is preserving cultural heritage, some highlight its demand for self-determination. Indigenous activism is nothing but an indigenous mobilization for an indigenous right of sovereignty. The right to self-determination ought not to be viewed as an uncompromising romantic idea; rather as a part of indigenous people’s survival and development. Yet self-determination is something really important for the indigenous people who want to live with their well-defined self-understanding and cultural merit. It is not fitting for them to live in a Western type of government or just to head the government as it is not indigenous from within. Only an indigenous form of government based on indigenous principles can be the best option for self-rule. It is also pertinent to note that in indigenous perception self includes the nature and the entire eco-system. Nevertheless, the indigenous people of the non-indigenous modern nation states are negotiating for the accommodation and acknowledgement of their culture.

Indigenous Activism—Global and Local

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发表日期：

2025年

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Debasree De

摘要

The most important feature of the indigenous activism is its fast growth and the pace with which it is crossing the national boundaries and gaining acceptance on the international platform. The indigenous activists are also getting visible in the international political central stage. They are now mapping their own steps and are not inactive or mute participants any more. They are taking part in the decision-making process, carving out plans for their own development, negotiating for better deals and meeting targets. Indigenous activism has become a potential force to underscore indigenous people’s desires and demands to the state and other socio-political actors who were hitherto indifferent about their rights. Indigenous activism is also aimed at incorporating other forms of social movements, for example anti-racial movements, LGBTQ movements, feminist movements and the like. It longs for a transformation in the view of looking indigeneity with lenses of primitivism and traditionalism. Having said that indigenous activism has some special characteristics which make them different from other social movements. This activism is in the first place ethnic in nature and against the state-led development initiatives, though we should not call them anti-development, as state has a fixed notion of capitalist development model which does not suit the indigenous people’s perception of sustainable development. There is a complex relationship between the state and the indigenous activism. Indigenous self-assertion is a conscious process and propelled by the want of proper acknowledgement at the national level which later on led the activists to seek for support at the international domain that is both indigenous and non-indigenous. There are historical injustices meted out to the indigenous people which created a sound scope for identity assertion. It is not merely ethnic state of affairs that upturned the indigenous activism; rather it is the dereliction of the state that could not value the claims of indigeneity. Colonial policies used ethnicisation as an effective tool to enumerate different groups under wide-ranging identities on the pretext of administrative streamlining and in this way it created the concept of “other” within the same ethnic community. But it botched up the ethnic scenario completely. Therefore, we need to separate indigeneity from ethnicity, castism and racism and trace its roots in the modern construction of cultural identity and socio-political mobilisation. Similarly, indigenous rights have a particular separate definition and connotation in relation to the civil rights in general. There are many countries where indigenous people enjoy rights exclusively meant for them. In India, we have also enacted special constitutional provisions for the tribals, such as scheduled areas act, acts for prevention of atrocities against the tribals, panchayati raj acts for scheduled areas only, etc. But these have actually institutionalised the indigeneity and thereby questioned the very necessity of such special legal measures and their roles in essentialising indigenism. It is also to be noted that indigenous people possess some special customary rights, usufruct rights and rights over the communal property resources which are distinct in nature and incomparable to the other marginal caste groups. They are spatially and temporally different from the lower caste people and attached to their land not only for subsistence but also for existence. Territory is inseparable from the construction of tribality or indigeneity which is why the demand for an autonomous state was so strong among them. Indigenous activism is the need of the hour. It questions the mainstream model of development, hegemony of state, patriarchy and the dominance of the non-indigenous ideologies. Indigenous activism reserves an idea of indigenous nationalism, indigenous feminism and indigenous development based on its own gaze of modernity and progress. Indigenous activism does not only cry for survival rather it fights for it and struggles to establish an indigenous cultural entity. Indigenous activism has been interpreted in various ways, some say it is for the preservation of indigenous identity, some argue it is preserving cultural heritage, some highlight its demand for self-determination. Indigenous activism is nothing but an indigenous mobilization for an indigenous right of sovereignty. The right to self-determination ought not to be viewed as an uncompromising romantic idea; rather as a part of indigenous people’s survival and development. Yet self-determination is something really important for the indigenous people who want to live with their well-defined self-understanding and cultural merit. It is not fitting for them to live in a Western type of government or just to head the government as it is not indigenous from within. Only an indigenous form of government based on indigenous principles can be the best option for self-rule. It is also pertinent to note that in indigenous perception self includes the nature and the entire eco-system. Nevertheless, the indigenous people of the non-indigenous modern nation states are negotiating for the accommodation and acknowledgement of their culture.