Dispossession of indigenous groups

Dispossessed tribes

Nature

Indigenous groups may be deprived of land (especially arable land) and resettled onto marginal lands, or into a condition of homelessness. In the process the relationship to their sacred sites may be broken, their valued cultural artefacts (through which their collective identity is articulated) may be scattered or acquired by collectors, to whom they may be forced to sell. Their local knowledge may result in patenting of products from which they do not benefit. In this process their particular language may be endangered to the point of extinction.

Incidence

According to the United Nations, over 370 million indigenous people in more than 70 countries have experienced dispossession of their ancestral lands, often due to resource extraction, agricultural expansion, and state development projects. The World Bank estimates that indigenous peoples account for 15% of the world’s extreme poor, despite representing less than 5% of the global population, highlighting the widespread impact of dispossession on their livelihoods and cultural survival.
In 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota, USA, faced dispossession when the Dakota Access Pipeline was rerouted to cross near their reservation, threatening sacred sites and water sources. The tribe’s legal and protest actions drew international attention to ongoing indigenous land rights violations.

Claim

Language and land are considered by most dispossessed indigenous peoples as equally constitutive of their identity as soveriegn peoples, and of their right to live as such.

Counter-claim

Dispossession of indigenous groups is often overstated and misrepresented. Many argue that these communities have simply adapted to modern society, and their struggles are exaggerated. The focus should be on progress and development rather than dwelling on past grievances. In a rapidly changing world, prioritizing economic growth and innovation is far more important than addressing historical injustices that no longer significantly impact the majority of society. Let’s move forward, not backward.