ABSTRACT
Indigenous is not a race, an ethnicity, or a religion. Indigenous is a complex concept: as an identity, a relationship to the land and the State, and as a form of legitimation. Being indigenous is about “continuity of habitation, aboriginality, and often a ‘natural’ connection to the land” (Clifford 1997 [1994]: 287). This chapter begins with the presentation of a definition of indigenous and a comparison of this definition to the traditional definitions. After proposing this definition of indigenous that can be applied more widely in sociological research, I problematize indigenousness. Next, I describe indigenousness as a relational concept, and then consider the label “indigenous” as a means of legitimating communities.
