One size does NOT fit all
There has been an increasing trend in society to try to erase or ignore the vast diversity contained in indigenous culture and history. Modern society and government tries endlessly to try to fit us all in to one stereotype in order to CLASSIFY us as a single people. This in and of itself is insulting and a further sign of the will of our respective nations to have us FIT IN to a mould they determine and can control. Modern Colonization is still alive and well in some circles despite some progress. The examined closely mass media descriptors and many advertised moves are little more than political OPTICS measures. Hollow and meaningless at the core.
Contemporary globalized markets, nation-state policies, and globalized cultural diversity, has created many opportunities for, and and yet placed renewed constraints on Indigenous Peoples who try to preserve their unique cultural, political and territorial organization. Modernization and modern colonization often go hand in hand. The forces of homogenization have been countered by the indigenous forces of specific culture, language, government, and land holding. Many indigenous nations and persons have made choices for engaging in the contemporary world, but at the same time retain core understandings of culture, government and land rights. A movement seen as threatening to many out there. Yet it is truly a representation by Indigenous Peoples of the will to engage in a way that allows for Cultural ties to the land and the inherent belief structures ingrained in our respective identities.
If we are to take our place as leaders and equals it must be acknowledged that Indigenous Peoples are diverse, and their diversity existed long before nation states. The nation building of contemporary nation states must cease trying to suppress indigenous diversities and no longer corral and coerce Indigenous Peoples and individuals to accept the political, economic, cultural stereotypes determined by nation states. The deceptive and contrived inclusion of Indigenous Peoples into present-day nation states continues to exact a heavy cost from indigenous identity and tradition.
The expression “indigenous” does not, and should not, refer to a common ethnic orientation, but rather refers to the collection of nations, usually located within nation states, that retain commitments to historical political organization, land, and culture that existed long before the formation of contemporary nation states. Most classifications of Indigenous Peoples result in avoidance of indigenous history, and hence do not address the issues like cultural diversity and cultural autonomy that are most central to Indigenous Peoples. It is painfully obvious that Indigenous nationalities are not widely understood among the general public.
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