Indigeneity

Developed over the past two decades, the term indigeneity has developed out of the contemporary global indigenous peoples’ movement. The term describes this evolving pan-indigenous movement and corresponding identity among peoples who, despite often considerable cultural divergence, share significant symmetries that have evolved from the common experiences of European colonialism. These similarities are founded in an ancestral birthright in the land, a common core of collective interests, and the shared experience of dispossession precipitated through the colonial projects perpetrated against their communities by colonial and neocolonial state administrations. The term is used not only to support the rights of indigenous peoples but also to recognize indigenous ways of knowing and the ethical codes evolved over thousands of years by indigenous communities.