ABSTRACT
This chapter problematizes contemporary engagements with ‘indigenous’ peoples by drawing on Mahmood Mamdani’s analysis of the ways in which colonial taxonomies and representations of ethnic groups have affected subjugated peoples in Africa in general and indigenous peoples specifically. It suggests that African belonging still tends to be defined by colonially constructed notions of ethnicity and race, which have subsumed indigenous peoples into overstated assertions of ethnic homogeneity. It then focusses on the South African context to illustrate how the state and state apparatus, like museums, have tried to re-engage colonial representations of indigenous peoples via exhibitions like Miscast (1996), before considering how indigenous people are mobilizing performance in cultural tourist projects to survive. It contrasts these performances with theatre and dance projects (Magnet Theatre, Jazzart Dance Company, Garage Dance Ensemble) that have more critically demonstrated the complexities of indigeneity in the fluid, multicultural context of contemporary South Africa.
