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 lines of inquiry have developed to explain nationalist group formation
1. The first theoretical body of work, broadly known as the Primordialists (gender and
nationalist, coupled with the ideas of historical continuity) school:
● Posts that ethnic identity is the essential component leading to political and military
separatism regardless of any social, political, and economic discontent many precede
violence
● It focuses on the historical ties shared by the ethnic group and how affective symbols
may evoke deep emotional responses in people
● Primordialists assume that ethnicity's shared belief in a common ancestry
● It is suggested that ethnic 'life attachments' are natural and provide the basis for 'easy
affinity' with people from the same background
● Applying this to Indigenous people seems logical and for Anthony D. Smith a nation can
be said to exist if it has the following 5 features
1. A collective proper name
2. Myths and memories of communal history
3. A common public culture
4. Common laws and customs
5. A historical territory or homeland
6. The Instrumentalist (the invention of tradition) school approach
● Instrumentalist claim that ethnonationality movements form in reaction to the state
dominace of a particular group of people- in other words, ethnicity is capable of being
invented
● Instrumentalists maintain that national groups are social constructs formed in reaction to
people's immediate needs and their relationships with others
● The idea of invented traditions enhances group solidarity as individuals rationally select
ethnic identity to attain desired power, economic and social goals
● While the instrumentalist approach has merit, it does not accurately depict indigenous
nations who have existed for 10,000 years or more on their homelands
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 lines of inquiry have developed to explain nationalist group formation
1. The first theoretical body of work, broadly known as the Primordialists (gender and
nationalist, coupled with the ideas of historical continuity) school:
● Posts that ethnic identity is the essential component leading to political and military
separatism regardless of any social, political, and economic discontent many precede
violence
● It focuses on the historical ties shared by the ethnic group and how affective symbols
may evoke deep emotional responses in people
● Primordialists assume that ethnicity's shared belief in a common ancestry
● It is suggested that ethnic 'life attachments' are natural and provide the basis for 'easy
affinity' with people from the same background
● Applying this to Indigenous people seems logical and for Anthony D. Smith a nation can
be said to exist if it has the following 5 features
1. A collective proper name
2. Myths and memories of communal history
3. A common public culture
4. Common laws and customs
5. A historical territory or homeland
6. The Instrumentalist (the invention of tradition) school approach
● Instrumentalist claim that ethnonationality movements form in reaction to the state
dominace of a particular group of people- in other words, ethnicity is capable of being
invented
● Instrumentalists maintain that national groups are social constructs formed in reaction to
people's immediate needs and their relationships with others
● The idea of invented traditions enhances group solidarity as individuals rationally select
ethnic identity to attain desired power, economic and social goals
● While the instrumentalist approach has merit, it does not accurately depict indigenous
nations who have existed for 10,000 years or more on their homelands
