Who We Are: Indigenous Peoples in Asia

More and more people in Asia identify themselves as belonging to Indigenous Peoples

This however does not mean that we claim to be the only people native to our countries. In most cases we are the “aboriginal” or “native” people of the lands we live in, and other people have come to settle there later. But we have also lived side-by-side with other peoples, native to their own lands, who however do not call themselves Indigenous Peoples. These are usually the dominant people, who have the economic and political power in our countries.

In some cases communities of Indigenous Peoples were forced to leave their lands be-cause of violent conflicts, and to move to another country, like to Thailand, Vietnam, or Laos. There, they are clearly not the first inhabitants, the aboriginal or native people. But they still remain Indigenous Peoples.