ABSTRACT

There are widespread misunderstandings about the definitions and locations of Indigenous populations. While studies are abundant on the Indigenous populations, no clear indication or estimate are so far available about their locations. This chapter provides conceptual accounts of the Indigenous peoples around the world and attempts to analyze the existing definitions to come up with a unified and solid definition of Indigenous . Broadly, Indigenous refers to people comprising a group or culture regarded as coming from a given place; by this definition, this means almost any person or group is Indigenous to some location or other. As a contemporary cultural description, however, Indigenous has a much narrower meaning, describing people whose everyday lives and livelihood are governed largely by their own tradition and custom.