ABSTRACT
To be indigenous means that the entity in question occurs naturally in a specifi c area or environment. This concept carries the implication that the organism or culture under discussion evolved within the environment that is under study. With Indigenous cultures this means that the set of conditions found within that environment shaped the traditions and knowledge set of the culture (Basso 1996; Pierotti and Wildcat 1997a, 1997b, 1999b, 2000). People who are indigenous to a specifi c locality look at the environment around them to get a sense of their place in history, and depend upon the animals and plants of their local environments for companionship, as well as for food, clothing, and shelter.
