| Summary: | Indigenous peoples are "peoples … regarded as indigenous, on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, or a geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of conquest or colonisation or the establishment of present state boundaries and who, irrespective of their legal status, retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions" (ILO, 1990). At least 370 million people worldwide considered indigenous, live in remote areas of the world. There are at least 5000 Indigenous peoples ranging from the forest peoples of the Amazon to the tribal peoples of India and from the Inuit of the Arctic to the Aborigines in Australia. Indigenous peoples do not necessarily claim to be the only people native to their countries, but in many cases indigenous peoples are indeed "aboriginal" or "native" to the lands they live in, being descendants of those peoples that inhabited a territory prior to colonization or formation of the present state. Indigenous peoples have their own distinct languages, cultures, and social and political institutions that are very different from those of mainstream society. While indigenous peoples face the same experience of discrimination and marginalization as other ethnic minorities, there are very important differences in terms of their rights and identity. This is compared and contrasted with Indian and Australian experiences through this paper. There are numerous challenges posed to indigenous people. A common feature is the attempts by federal/ central authorities to suppress their cultures for the purpose of mainstreaming, by way of long-term assimilation policies, e.g. the Norwegian Sámi population. In India, Adivasi women refuse to deliver their babies in health centers because they "don't think it necessary"; this the health providers perceive to be on account of 'ignorance'. But then, a few and some social workers perceive this as women exercising their choice. Further, they simply refuse to go to a health ...
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