indigenous peoples

the World Council of Indigenous Peoples uses the following definition: "Indigenous peoples are such population groups as we are who from old-age time have inhabited the lands where we live, who are aware of having a character of our own, with social traditions and means of expression that are linked to the country inherited from our ancestors, with a language of our own, and having certain essential and unique characteristics which confer upon us the strong conviction of belonging to a people, who have an identity in ourselves and should be thus regarded by others." When writing or speaking about indigenous peoples, use the names they prefer for themselves rather than the broad "indigenous," which refers to only one part of who they are (connected to the lands that they occupied before their "discovery" by others). See also aborigine/aboriginal, American Indian, Bushman.