Part 1 of definition of an “indigenous people”…. history details matter!
What is the definition of an “indigenous people”? To answer this properly, we must first briefly summarize pre-Industrial history of Empires. (I promise to keep it directly brief!)
From ancient BCE to the 6th century CE, Arabs were the Indigenous tribes located in the Southern part of Arabia. These Arab tribes had their own uniquely Arabic polytheistic ethno-religion, which Muhammad usurped (6th century CE) with his newly created religion of “Believers” in the Quran of the Prophet of Allah (which was Mohammed himself, of course). This religion based in *theology only* was called the Umma, “Community of Believers.”
Through Muhammad, Arabia herself was the first to be Islamized. After Muhammad’s death, the Rashidun Caliphate set it’s sight upon North Africa for Islamizing into this new Islamic State. Then, Islamic Arabs chose to conquest the entire Levant to the North, expanding their power of control over other nations and indigenous peoples all the way to the Iberian Peninsula. Now with neighboring nations and indigenous peoples properly Arabized politically, the long term strategy for this Islamic State empire was to convert the 30 million non-Arab peoples into loyal and abiding Arabs by converted ethnicity and into converted Muslims by colonized religion.
Mind you, that this is after Roman Christianity already took a crack at this conversion by force approach upon the Palestine Levant. Seeing how Romans were already there occupying the land, this should have been a “piece of cake,” right? Roman Christianity began in the 4th century CE in Nicaea (a city that is now in present day Turkey). From here, the Roman Empire was the first to be Christianized out of all the people of the earth. Nevermind this being at the cost of Rome’s ancient polytheistic ethno-religion. From here, near all the indigenous peoples across Europe would be forcibly converted from their indigenous ethno-religions to the colonizing Christian religion.
Mind you, again, like with later Islam, Christianity is a religion that is based in *theology only*. In other words, every last Muslim and Christian is so by *conversion* only, none are born this way like we have among indigenous peoples. The purpose for Christian colonizing was to expand control and political/religious power over other indigenous peoples – by converting them, by force as necessary, into loyal and abiding Christians by colonized religion. How else are you going to be the “God”-ordained sovereign and supreme of the world?
Now, since Jews have been directly affected by both colonizing religions – being literally an indigenous people in a portion of land that is directly between these two world conquering religions – Islam to the South and Christianity to the North, on the *same continent* – we might want to ask the following: Who and what are the Jews that are caught in between?
Jews are an indigenous tribal nation that originated in Moab (Transjordan area, East historic Palestine), that developed into nationhood in Judea-Samaria (West historic Palestine), and was the brother tribe of Southern Edom. The only difference between Edomites and Judeans was Jews became henotheistic in ethno-religion and Edomites remained polytheistic in their ethno-religion (until being assimilated into Jews during the Greek occupation of Israel). Jews have been physically present living in Judea-Samaria (now called Palestine) for 3,500 years and counting.
Further, despite briefly and occasionally being forced out of Zion, “Jerusalem,” by conquesting/colonizing powers, Jews have maintained a majority ethnic presence in Zion the city, determinedly. Zion itself means both Jerusalem and Israel throughout BCE to CE historically. Also indigenous to this portion of the Levant with “the Jews” were the Bedouin tribes and the Samaritan tribe (a henotheistic offshoot of Jews). But, none have strived to keep Zion (Jerusalem) as a Jewish city and Judea-Israel as Jewish land – as Jews have done – for 3,500 years now!
Okay, with world history now out of the way (needed for proper humanitas perspective), we must now ask a deeply important question towards achieving world peace between peoples, nations, and religions: What is the definition of an *”indigenous people”*?
For the answer to this question, you’ll have to read post number two. My apologies! For this post is already too long (based on previous feedback experience!).
Part 2 is a coming….
Photograph of: Indigenous ethnic Assyrian peoples of Mesopotamia, who still speak Aramaic to this day (geographical location: northern Iraq in the Middle East)
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Part 2 of definition of an “indigenous people”…. definition details matter!
Let’s start with etymology, shall we? The Latin word indigena, from which “indigenous” derives, literally means “sprung from the land,” aka, a native. Indigena is derived from Old Latin indugignere, which means “to beget within” a specific geographical area. Ancient Greeks used this word to refer to the earlier group of people who inhabited Greece before Greeks became the presently settled people of the land.
A key significant feature of being an Indigenous People in this world today has to do with preserving a way of life – language, rituals, community laws, and attachment to a specific geographical land area – from which one’s collective and individual identity is derived, is rooted in antiquity, and is distictively different from the surrounding cultures. Though the Indigenous People might migrate to different parts of the continent after “springing forth” (after forming as an ethnic group) within the land and develop secondary language tribes, the continuity of ritual-civil identity among them is preserved *without* the need for conquest and/or colonization of other cultures.
By this very definition, ethnic groups that made the jump to conquesting/colonizing – such as Arab Muslims and Roman Christians – for the purpose of spreading their universalist religion and particular culture to all nations and lands and, in the process, usurp or repress these non-Arab/non-Roman peoples are *excluded* from the indigenous definition. Another factor that further defines indigeneity is currently living in countries where the indigenous ethnic group are not a majority ethnic group, while facing threats to their sovereignty, languages, and economic well-being.
All of this is applicable to Kurds and Jews in the Middle East, and Jews in North Africa, West and Central Asia, and in Europe. All these geographical locations are on the same continent as the specific indigenous land. To name a few, Kurds, ethnic Iranians, Jews, and present day Assyrians are all tied to a specific ancestral geographic area of the continent by their inherited histories and indigenous traditions. Further, both Bedouins and Jews are somewhat nomadic, as well. And the entire Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and Europe have been carved out into nations that benefit the colonizing Islamic and Christian religious empires, that believe in maintaining racial and religious superiority over all non-assimilating ethnic groups that are still remaining.
The United Nations defines an indigenous as the following:
“It is estimated that there are more than 370 million indigenous people spread across 70 countries worldwide.”…
Note, 15.2 million of this 370 million are Jews. And, further note, that compared to the 4,300 million converts to Islam and Christianity through world-wide colonization, all the indigenous peoples still resisting conversion in this world is less than 9 percent of the total number of converts (0.086) that enjoy majority status and privilege in the colonized world.
…”Practicing unique traditions, they retain social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live. Spread across the world from the Arctic to the South Pacific, they are the descendants – according to a common definition – of those who inhabited a country or a geographical region at the time when people of different cultures or ethnic origins arrived. The new arrivals later became dominant through conquest, occupation, settlement or other means.”
In other words, every known Census conducted in Israel throughout history has shown Zion (Jerusalem) to have a Jewish majority by ethnic group but, while Israel has been known as “Palestine” (courtesy of Rome’s renaming), Jews have been the minority ethnic group since Arab Muslim conquest and colonization of the Levant.
Stay tune for Part 3, wherein we will compare the similarities between Judaism (Judah-People-ism) and Puebloism (Pueblo-People-ism). 🙂 !
Photograph of: Indigenous ethnic Sámi peoples of Sápmi (geographical location: northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland and northwestern Russia in Europe)
“First, they took the religion, then they broke the Siida system, then they took the lands and the language. And now they want to build a railroad,” Sami parliament president Tiina Sanila-Aikio says.
Almost every Sami family can tell you stories of children taken to boarding schools and beaten if they spoke Sami after the second world war. Or relatives from the same generation stripped naked and measured by officials trying to establish their racial inferiority. Although much has changed since those dark days – the Sami now have an elected parliament, and language and culture rights enshrined in the Finnish constitution – they do not have ultimate control of their lands and waters.
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/23/battle-save-lapland-want-to-build-railroad
The Battle To Save The Raindeer People of Sapmi
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Part 3 of definition of an “indigenous people”…. Judaism and Puebloism comparison
First, a quick refresher on the definition of an Indigenous People: “Indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment. They have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live.
Despite their cultural differences, indigenous peoples from around the world share common problems related to the protection of their rights as distinct peoples.
Indigenous peoples have sought recognition of their identities, way of life and their right to traditional lands, territories and natural resources for years, yet throughout history, their rights have always been violated. Indigenous peoples today, are arguably among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people in the world.” – United Nations
Meaning, if you identify with the colonizer’s ethnicity and support the colonizers way of life at the expense of the safety and sovereignty of the land’s indigenous people, then you are *not* an indigenous person or you have *lost* your indigeneity through colonization.
There are two very large continents upon this earth, separated by history and time. Because this is so, unique parallel cultures have independantly developed upon each continent. Shall we explore the similarities between two of them? Since I am familiar with both communities, this post will be a comparison of Jews of “Palestine” (Judea-Samaria) and the Pueblo people of Southwest North “America.”
Like with the Jewish people, the Pueblo people have been an existing ethno-group for well over three thousand years and, like with Jewish language tribes, share between them common agricultural, material, and religious practices.
Like the Jewish people, the Pueblo nations have maintained much of their traditional cultures, which center around agricultural practices, a tight-knit community revolving around family communities, and an unrelenting respect for the need to preserve tradition.
Like the Jewish people, the Pueblo people have been remarkably adept at preserving their culture and core religious beliefs, *despite* repeated attempts to coerce or force conversions to the Colonizer’s religion. And, also like Jews, developing a syncretic approach to dealing with Colonizer religions, in their expressions of indigenous ethno-religion within a colonized environment.
Like the Jewish people, the Pueblos engaged in a revolt against the Colonizers that were conquesting indigenous land and, like with the Jewish revolts against Rome, the Pueblos managed to successfully expel the European colonists for a brief number of years.
I kid you not, the parallels are staggering between these two ethnic groups that, until the 18th century CE, were separated by an ocean for their entire histories as indigenous peoples! Want more?
In Judaism, deities typically appear as visionary beings who bring blessings and curses upon the people that is based upon our behavior upon the land and, through mandated agricultural festivals, there is a direct relationship between the People and the land (nature).
In Puebloism, Pueblos also hold annual sacred ceremonies, that centers on the relationship between the People and the land, and they, too, have deities that appear as visionary beings who bring blessings.
Both Jews and Pueblos have traditional dances that are considered a form of prayer, and both have strict rules of conduct that apply to those who are in attendance.
I could keep going on, but am trying to keep it brief! (I know! It’s *so* hard for me to do so!)
Before I end this three-post reflection on Indigeneity, let me answer a couple of questions:
Q: Does a change of continent end one’s indigeneity status? For example, if a Jew was born on an island or in “America,” does he/she lose indigenous status for not being in Judea-Samaria (Israel-Palestine) or, at the very least, on that continent?
The answer is, “No!” Indigeneity is established by born, adopted, or ethno-religious converted inclusion into the Jewish people, no matter where you were born/adopted/converted in the world. If a legitimate Jewish community says you are Jewish, then you are Jewish for life – you belong to the ancestral land.
Q: Is there a skin color connected to indigeneity?
Again, the answer is, “No!” Full stop! There are indigenous on every continent and on every island, and the range of skin colors go from black to white with *everything* in between. Do not be deceived by the Colonizers of this world into thinking otherwise!
Okay, may my words and shared posts open minds!
Photograph of: An indigenous Ainu member of the Kuril Islands (geographical location: Hokkaidō, Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin in Japan) – *and* – a Pueblo people dance (geographical location: Southwest section of the northern part of the continent that Colonizers have named “America”)
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Did you know?
Judaism is the *only* “World Religion” that is also an *endangered* ethno-religion of a minority indigenous people.
Also, did you know?
Indigenous People of *all* human colors still exist upon this earth. The binary brown versus white is a European invented “race” construct, borrowed by Arabs, with *no* validity in reality, being based originally within the founding teachings of the Christian religion.
Ask me questions, if you don’t understand.
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