ABSTRACT
Indigenous peoples were defined by the United Nations in the 1980s as those human groups who have a historical continuity in a territory, a distinct culture, and who recognize themselves as indigenous. Indigenous peoples and local communities have long been considered as an impediment to progress in a modern world led by nation-states. Their traditional ways of managing natural resources were believed to damage the environment by ignorance. Indigenous peoples gradually emerged as a major international category of actors in the twentieth century, first in defense of their lands, then in a more comprehensive way. The rediscovery of traditional local institutions for the governance of natural resources provided a theoretical legitimacy for environmental and human rights. Studies demonstrated that besides the market and the state, some local institutions have enabled a sustainable management of natural resources, sometimes over very long periods of time.
