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General definitions| About the names of the peoples| Emerging identities

Who they are

 

The generic expression "Indigenous peoples" refers to many human groups that are scattered throughout the world and can be very different from each other. In Brazil alone there are more than 200 of these peoples (general table).

It is just the use of the language that makes that, in Brazil as well as in others, one talks about ‘Indigenous peoples’, while in Australia, for example, the generic form to designate them is ‘aborigines’. Indigenous or aborigine, says the dictionary, mean “born in a country, native”. By the way, ‘natives’ and ‘autochthonous’ are other words used around the world to name these peoples.

What do all these Indigenous peoples have in common? First of all, the fact that each one of them identifies itself as a specific collectivity, distinct from others, particularly from the large society of the country where it lives.

:: General definitions
:: About the names of the peoples
:: Emerging identities