This archive is intended to serve as a brief and very general introduction to each and every Indigenous Nation we've written about, here at Intercontinental Cry. In effect, these Nations represent the frontline of the world-wide movement to defend the earth.
Please Note: This archive is a work in progress. There are still many profiles that need to be written (in several cases, there is no information available on the internet, and what information is available is extremely biased). If you would like to help us finish the archive or if you want to have your Nation added to the list, please get in touch with us.
The Batwa (also known as the Abatwa or Abathwa) are the oldest known inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of central Africa. They are often referred to as "pygmies" due to their small stature. That term, however, is considered to be quite pejorative.
Currently: The Abatwa are losing about one percent of their population each year, and miscarriages are frequent because the Abatwa's health is so low and they have little or no access to aid, medicine, or social supports.
The Aché Peoples are traditional hunter-gatherers living in the Atlantic coastal forests of eastern Paraguay. The Aché are also known as the Axe people. In the past they have been called the Guaiaqui, Guayakí, Guayaki-Ache, and Guoyagui by Guaraní-speaking neighbors and by early anthropologists, however, these terms are now considered derogatory.
Before the 1960s, the Aché lived in small nomadic bands. Groups of allied bands with a common dialect, common rituals, and affinal relations formed a larger political unit known as irondy or "those who are like me." There were four of these groups living in eastern Paraguay at the time of peaceful contact in 1959: the Northern Aché, the Aché ua, the Aché pura, and the Ñacunday Aché. The Northern Ache roamed an area of about 18,500 square km between the Acaray River and the Jejui River drainage systems (Hill & Hurtado 1996: 49), while the Aché ua and Aché pura occupied a much smaller area south of the Northern Aché home range in the foothills of the Yvytyruzu Mountains. The core area of the Ñacunday Aché was approximately two hundred kilometers east of the Yvytyruzu Mountains in the headwaters of the Ñacunday River. [1]
The Aché have suffered repeated abuses by rural Paraguayan colonists, ranchers, and big landowners. For instance, in the 20th century, the Northern Aché were confined to two reservations that totaled a mere 50 square kilometers. Prior to this confinement, they were the only inhabitants of an area that spanned 20,000 square kilometers. In recent times, they have faced massacres, enslavement, and crushing isolation in order to make room for investors (mainly Brazilian) to move in and develop Aché lands. [2]
Today, the Ache reside on five reservations. Two communities have resident Catholic missionaries, two are associated with Protestant missionaries, and one has recently evicted Protestant missionaries and is independent.
The reservation economy is a mix of swidden agriculture (manioc, maize, and yams are the primary crops), foraging, and wage labor. [3]
1. http://www.mpi.nl/DOBES/projects/ache/people
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ach%C3%A9
3. http://www.unm.edu/~kimhill/papers/ache.html
The Achuar are an Amazonian People located on either side of the border in between Ecuador and Peru. The name Achuar means "the people of the Aguaje Palm".
Photo by Amazon Watch
Adivasi is an umbrella term for the indigenous population of India, including, for instance, the Dongria Kondh. There are at least 645 distinct Indigenous Peoples in India.
The Ahousaht are one of five Nuu-chah-nulth Nations based on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. "Ahousaht" is a Nootka word meaning "facing opposite from the ocean" or "people living with their backs to the land and mountains."
The Ainu , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo, are indigenous peoples of Japan now inhabiting parts of Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. Historically, they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties. Official estimates of the population are of around 25,000; however, the unofficial number is much closer to 200,000 people.
The Akha are a hill tribe of subsistence farmers known for their artistry. Most of the remaining Akha people are now distributed in small villages among the mountains of China (where they are considered part of the Hani by the government, though this is a subject of some dispute among the Akha themselves), Laos (where they are considered Lao Sung), Burma, and northern Thailand, where they are one of the six main hill tribes.
The Akha have faced many controversies related to human rights and justice, particularly in the countries of Thailand and China. Their land is built upon hillsides considered valuable for both timber production and farming, and as such has been the target of seizure by government forces from both countries.
The Akha, like the other hill tribes, are viewed negatively by mainstream Thai people, generally referred to as "Egaw," a derogatory racial slur they find highly offensive. The use of the word is extremely commonplace and it is found on many tour websites and even in academic writings.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Akha PeoplesThe Akie are an ethnically and linguistically distinct Indigenous people predominantly living In Tanzania's vast Northern plains. In 2000 this group had a registered population of 5,268. The Akie are also known by the name Mosiro or as members of the Dorobo, an umbrella term for Indigenous groups hailing from Kenya and Tanzania. Locally they are known to the Maasai by the derogatory term 'Iltorobo'- meaning 'one without cattle.'
The Akie speak a Kalenjin dialect, part of the Niltoic group of languages. Their particular dialect suggests a relationship to Northern Kenyan tribes such as The Okiek, this has led to speculation about The Akie's historical migrations as the linguistic evidence would suggest that they moved southwards into Tanzania at some point.
With this move seems to have come a change in subsistence strategies. If they did indeed migrate southward in the past The Akie probably led a semi-nomadic existence practicing animal husbandry like the Maasai and other Doroban groups who keep cattle. However they are now Hunter Gatherers and small scale cultivators. The Akie are an example of the phenomena of groups returning to supposedly more 'primitive' strategies. This has proved an important factor in the 'Revisionist debate', helping to challenge notions that people like the Akie are backward rather than optimally adapted to their 'new' environment.
More recently The Akie's lifeways have changed once again. It has been ascertained that, post migration, they used to live in definite clan territories relating to notions of ancestral ownership and also to family access to resources such as Baobab and honey by family groups. Animals were however, free to be hunted by anyone revealing the openness of boundaries, probably necessary with regards to the harsh environment and variable rainfall. Today though The Akie's territory has decreased dramatically due to agricultural concessions, poaching and Maasai encroachment. This has limited Akie mobility and forced them into more permanent settlement and heavier reliance on cultivating crops such as Maize, however, as these crops are not reliable The Akie retain a great deal of knowledge of the flora and fauna of their home land.
The Akie are well known for their prowess as hunter gatherers. Chief amongst their impressive armory of skills is the symbiotic relationship they maintain with the Greater Honeyguide bird which they call to and subsequently follow in order to find honey which is of great social value to the group. After then climbing gargantuan trees, pacifying the bees all using only vine, axe and smoke the hunters leave a little honey and comb for the bird to ensure this special relationship continues.
Though they are commonly described by their Tanzanian countrymen as backward The Akie are fighting hard to maintain their traditional practices and the special link they have with their lands and environment they continue to rely on.
The Alangan are one of several Mangyan Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines. Predominantly living in the northern part of both Occidental and Oriental Mindoro provinces, the Alangan's population today is roughly 7,690.
Photo: http://allan.lissner.net
The Aleuts are Indigenous Peoples from the Aleutian archipelago, a 1,300-mile-long volcanic island extending from the Alaska Peninsula west nearly to Kamchatka.
The Aleuts refer to themselves as Unangan, a term closely associated with “coastline.” Russian fur traders named them Aleuts during the Russian fur trade period in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Aleuts are skilled at hunting and fishing in the harsh northern climate, something that was bitterly exploited by Russian fur traders. They received assistance and support from the Russian Orthodox missionaries subsequently and became closely aligned with Orthodox practices and beliefs. Despite this, an estimated 90 percent of the population was killed during the years of Russian fur trade.
During the nineteenth century the Aleuts were deported from the Aleutian Islands to the Komandorski Islands (now part of Kamchatka Oblast) by a Russian-American company. They were transferred to American citizenship late in the twentieth century after Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia.
Fortunately, the Aleuts, with a population estimated at about 18,000 people, have retained much of their culture and language.
The Algonquin people call themselves either Omàmiwinini (plural: Omàmiwininiwak) or the more generalized name of Anicinàpe. Many Algonquins still speak the Algonquin language, called generally as Anicinàpemowin or specifically as Omàmiwininìmowin. The language is considered one of several divergent dialects of the Anishinaabe languages.
The term "Algonquin" is French, and may derive from the Maliseet word elakómkwik (IPA: [ɛlæˈɡomoɡwik]), "they are our relatives/allies". Alternatively, it may come from the Mi'kmaq word meaning "at the place of spearing fish and eels from the bow of a canoe." Another possibility is the Maliseet word for "dancers," which Samuel de Champlain might have mistaken for their tribal name while watching a combined Algonkin, Maliseet, and Montagnais victory dance in 1603.
The tribe has also given its name to the much larger, heterogeneous group of Algonquian-speaking peoples who stretch from Virginia to the Rocky Mountains and north to Hudson Bay, referred to as the Algonquian peoples. Popular usage reflects some confusion on this point, in that the term "Algonquin" has also been used to refer to all Algonquian-speaking societies.
Most Algonquins, however, live in Quebec. The nine Algonquin bands in that province and one in Ontario have a combined population of about 11,000.
The Alyawarra are one of more than 300 distinct Indigenous Peoples in Australia. Located in what is now the Northern Territory, members of the Alyawarra have been some of the most vocal opponent's of the Australian government's "NT Intervention".
The Amazigh are the Indigenous Peoples of Northwest Africa, with a population exceeding 30 million in what is now Tunisia, Libya, Mauritania, Mali, Morocco, Niger and Egypt.
The Amazigh are also known by the name “Berber”, a term that is derived from the Roman word for “barbarian”. Such a name was a given by Rome to anyone who did not speak Latin. Most Imazigen (plural of Amazigh) consider "Berber" to be extremely offensive. The term Amazigh, conversely, means "free man". 
Amuzgo, also spelled Amusgo, live near the Pacific Ocean, in the lower portions of the Sierra Madre del Sur, along the coasts of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaco. Their language is related to that of the Mixtec, their neighbors to the north and west.
The name "Amuzgo" comes from a Nahuatl word to which various interpretations have been given. According to one version, the term derives from amoxtli, "place of books or papers"; another version—perhaps a more plausible one—translates the word amoxko to mean "place of clouded water" (the greenish slime floating on the surface of rivers).
In 1990 the number of Amuzgo speakers was calculated at 32,637: 27,629 in the state of Guerrero and 5,008 in Oaxaca.
To learn more about the Amuzgo, visit www.everyculture.com
Anishinaabe or more properly Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek (which is the plural form of the word) is a collective term that refers to the Ojibway, Odawa and Algonkin Peoples, who all share closely related Algonquian languages.
There are many variant spellings of the name "Anishinaabe" which essentially means "First-" or "Original-People". For instance, among the eastern Ojibwe and Odawa, the name is realised as "Nishnaabe". The cognate word Neshnabé comes from Potawatomi, a people long allied with Odawas and Ojibwes; who together form the Council of Three Fires. Identified as Anishinaabe but not part of the Council of Three Fires are the Nipissing, Mississaugas and Algonquin.
The Saulteaux people of western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan are also Anishinaabe, a sub-tribe of the Ojibwe, but they often call themselves Nakawe(-k) and their form of the Anishinaabe language as Nakawemowin. Closely related to the Ojibwe and speaking a language mutually intelligible with Anishinaabemowin (Anishinaabe language) are the Oji-Cree (also known as "Severn Ojibwe"). However, their most common self-description is Anishinini (plural: Anishininiwag) and their language Anishininiimowin. 
The Anuak are a riverine people who live along the banks and rivers of southeastern Sudan and western Ethiopia, in the Gambela Region.
Most widely known by the name Apache (a word derived from the Zuni 'Apachu', meaning enemy) this name refers to a group of culturally related Native Americans. The Apache know themselves by the names Tineh, Dini, Inde, Deman and Haisndayin. Despite this, the monkier Apache has stuck in the minds of most and refers on the behalf of the Zuni to the famed ferocity and pride of this group.
Traditionally the Apache dwelt in the 'South West Culture Area' spanning a number of US states such as Texas and Colorado as well as parts of Mexico. Originally they would have spoken related Southern Athabaskan languages forming seven different language groups relating to geographical area. However, since the settlement of Indian populations into reservations linguistic cultures have merged and encountered the ubiquity of the American-English language leading to the breakdown of this classification. All seven Athabaskan languages are listed as endangered and Lipan is thought to be near extinct.
Evidence for the subsistence strategies of the Apache can be found early in their history as it is suggested that these groups were nomadic hunter gatherers, migrating southwards from other Athapascan groups speaking similar languages and operating some similar lifeways in Canada. Later some Apache took up some level of agriculture if they had come into contact with others using this strategy, however this was by no means a given as different Apache groups had quite distinct histories of migration, the Jicarilla Apache for example instead stole horses to hunt Buffalo on the Plains. Largely groups operated mixed economies utilising a number of physical and intellectual resources.
Though subsistence strategies may have remained diverse amongst the Apache, their reputation as fearsome warriors was far more ubiquitous. This was experienced by those Indian and settler farmers whom the Apache encountered and raided along their migratory route but was most spectacularly displayed post contact with Spanish, Mexican and American adversaries. Not only did the Apache hold off the Spanish and Mexicans advances, they repeatedly raided their colonial outposts during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Furthermore, perhaps the most enduring accounts of the Apache's bravery and skill come from the Apache Wars of the nineteenth century when they fought for their independence from US rule. Out of these conflicts came the compelling tales of Geronimo and Victorio who escaped reservations and mounted what proved to be acts of final resistance to their subjugation, and acting as a testament to the overwhelmed but freedom loving and proud Apache Nation. Geronimo embodied this spirit and the tragedy of the fate suffered by so many Native American groups when, upon his capture he remarked, “Once I moved about like the wind. Now I surrender to you and that is all.”
Away from the battlefield The Apache were also renowned basket weavers and crafts people, making brightly beaded clothing and adorning much that they owned. In addition they are notable for their musical traditions, most specifically for their playing of the Apache fiddle, Tsii edo'a'tl - 'wood that sings.'
Today man Apache still live on the original reservations designated to them in their old territiories, for example, the Fort McDowell reservation is still shared by the Mojave and Yavapai of Maricopa County. The Apache are now involved in the US cash economy and earn a living mostly through tribal enterprises such as tourism, saw mills, crafts and Casinos. They face many challenges and like other First Nations are engaged in a constant struggle to protect their lands and culture which have been sadly diminished already. One recent example is the Apache nations staunch opposition to Resolution Copper's mining project in South East Arizona which willfully endangers the Oak Flat and Apache Leap Sacred sites which are important burial grounds and campsites. The Apache fight goes on and they face it with the same resolve shown by some of their most esteemed ancestors.
Longtime allies of the Cheyenne, the Arapaho (who historically referred to themselves as Inuna-Ina), are an Algonquian-speaking people, based mostly in the Great Plains.
Today, there are two main Arapaho tribes: the Northern Arapaho, who number about 6000 and are concentrated in Wyoming, and the Southern Arapaho, who are united with the Cheyenne into the Cheyenne-Arapaho Nation in Oklahoma, with a combined 11,000 members.
Text adapted from native-languages.org
The Arará were known as great warriors and hunters and were largely nomadic; they depended on the ability of hunters to make ties and connections with groups of outsiders. Most of the Arará, also known as Ukarãngmã (or the '‘people of the red macaws'), reside in the Brazilian state of Pará.
The Arará language is from the Karib family. The Apiacá of the Tocantins (extinct), the Yaruma (extinct) and the Ikpeng are all part of the same linguistic family. The Arará were traditionally polygamous and spouses were chosen based on traditional socio-cultural norms. They do not bury their dead and instead build funeral platform homes in the forest.
Since the 1970s Arará have been driven off their land and forced to live in three villages where the National Indian Foundation has allowed fundamentalist missionaries to come in, bringing rapid and profound changes to the Arará way of life.
The community was severely impacted by the development of the Trans-Amazonian highway. The Arará population in 1998 was only 195, but has grown slightly since then, the community is so small that all descendants can trace their ancestry to one woman. Much of community life takes place in the Laranjal village plaza, where there are three recognized groups occupying five homes.
You can learn more about the Arará at http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=5290
Long considered extinct, the Arawak people (from "aru", the Lucayan word for cassava flour) are one of several Indigenous Peoples from the West Indies. The Arawak were the first to encounter Christopher Columbus when he accidentally landed far away from the United States in 1492.
The Arhuaco, related to the Kogi and Arsario peoples, live in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada in Santa Marta near the San Sebastián de Rábago and on the river banks of the Sevilla, Aracataca and Fundación The Sierra Nevada is the highest coastal region in the world at almost 12,600 square kilometers, and has an extremely diverse climate with great biodiversity. The Arhuaco are also known as the Ika and their language is part of the Chibcha family. The Arhuaco grow coffee and sugar for their own consumption and participate in small animal husbandry (cattle, goats, pigs, and chicken). In order to marry, the man must live and work for his future father-in-law for one or two years. If the marriage does not take place after this period of time the man is given compensation for his labour. The Arhuaco consider neighbouring communities "little brothers." The spiritual leader or Mamu, lives separate from family and is responsible for solving community legal problems and providing religious counselling. There are 42 separate Arhuaco communities that are consolidated under the Tayrona Indigenous Federation.
In 1982 Arhuaco took action to evict a Roman Catholic mission which was attempting to prohibit use of national dress and language. In 1990 the Colombian military tortured and killed Arhuaco leaders. This unprovoked violence seems to have been generated in response to the activities of the leftist guerrilla group FARC.
The Arhuaco have been on the forefront of the indigenous movement. Since 1980 the lands of the Arhuaco have become the battleground between growers of illicit crops and the Colombian government. In 2004, the community was the site of a vicious bomb attack by the army. Spiritual leader Mariano Suárez Chaparrro was also assassinated the same year. But the greatest continuous threat to the Arhuaco is the growing military conflict in the region.
Source: Minority Rights Group
The Ariaal are northern Kenyan pastoralists. They are a combination of Samburu and Rendille Peoples, herding camels as well as cattle, sheep and goats. Due to their desert isolation, the Ariaal have been constantly "poked and prodded" by researches from around the world.
The Ashaninka have a long history of resistance, standing up to invaders since the time of the Inca empire until the rubber boom of the nineteenth century and, especially those on the Brazilian side of the border, resisting the encroaches of loggers from the 1980s to today. A people proud of their culture, driven by strong sense of freedom, ready to die in defence of their territory, the Ashaninka are no mere objects of western history. They possess an astonishing capacity to reconcile traditional customs and values with ideas and practices from the western world, such as those to do with socio-environmental sustainability.
You can learn more about the Ashaninka at http://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/ashaninka
Ashanti, or Asante, are an Akan people who live predominantly in Ghana and Ivory Coast. They speak Twi, an Akan dialect. Prior to European colonization, the Ashanti people developed a large and influential empire in West Africa. The Ashanti later developed the powerful Ashanti Confederacy or Asanteman and became the dominant presence in the region.
Today Ashanti number close to 7 million people (roughly 19% of the Ghanaian population, speaking Asante, also referred to as Twi, a member of the Niger–Congo language family.) Their political power has fluctuated since Ghana's independence, but they remain largely influential. The former president of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor is Ashanti. Kofi Annan, the past U.N secretary General was also raised and brought up in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region. The majority of the Ashanti reside in the Ashanti Region, one of the administrative regions of the country. Kumasi, the capital of the current Ashanti region, has also been the historic capital of the Ashanti Kingdom. Currently, the Ashanti region of Ghana has a population of 3,812,950, making it Ghana's most populous administrative district.
The Ashanti strongly resisted attempts by Europeans, mainly the British, to subjugate them. The Ashanti aligned themselves with the Dutch to limit British influence in the region. Britain annexed neighbouring areas. The Ashanti were described as a fierce organized people whose king "can bring 200,000 men into the field and whose warriors are evidently not cowed by Snider rifles and 7-pounder guns"
Ashanti was one of the few African states able to offer serious resistance to European colonizers. Between 1823 and 1896, Britain fought four wars against the Ashanti kings (the Anglo-Ashanti Wars). In 1900, the British finally defeated the kingdom and incorporated it into the Gold Coast colony as a protectorate.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Ashanti people
The Atayal (also known as the Tayal and the Tayan) are the second largest Indigenous People in Taiwan, numbering close to 100,000. The meaning of Tayal (pronounced dah-YEN) is "genuine person" or "brave man."
You can learn more about the Atayal at http://www.atayal.org/ Not to be confused with the Avars of the Thirteenth Century with military repute, this ethnically mixed group of largely assimilated peoples resides in the North Caucasus between the Black and Caspian seas. Most live in ancient villages located in Dagestan but smaller populations also exist in Chechnya, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
The total Avar population stands at around 1.04 million and the majority speak a dialect called Maharul Mac'- 'The language of the mountains,' belonging to the Avar-Andic language family. There are around 1.4 million speakers worldwide, again largely in Dagestan but also in Georgia, Azerbaijan and Russia.
The history of the Avars is a proud but in many ways a tragic one exhibiting hardships suffered by many of the worlds indigenous peoples. First mentioned in 463AD by the Roman diplomat Priscus the Avars appear to have undertaken a migration from an area near the Arral sea to the Caucasus where they established a Christian state in the Dagestani highlands where many Avars live to this day. During the 1800's, under high taxation stress and the ever present problem of land dispossession, in this case at the hands of the Russian state, the Avars mobilised to fight in the Caucasian War as the Imamate of Dagestan, resisting Russia's southward expansion. Though defeat in 1864 was harsher on the indigenous Circassians who suffered an ethnic purge as a result of the war, the Avars suffered nonetheless. Many migrated to the Ottoman empire rather than remain in Dagestan. Some did remain in the highlands only to be forced to migrate to the shores of the Caspian sea post World War Two by the Soviet government. This move had drastic consequences. Those of the Avar who had had to leave their highland homes were exposed to novel diseases such as Typhoid and Malaria not encountered at the altitudes the Avar had previously lived at, mortality rates increased greatly.
Today the Avar suffer from a lack of coverage of the issues that threaten their culture and very existence. For example, they are currently at risk of being forcibly assimilated into Azerbaijani society as a result of a discriminatory government policy aimed at achieving this goal. There is some hope however, supplied by the upcoming conference for the 'Indigenous peoples of the Caucasus and Caspian region.' (5-7 October, 2012) Which could successfully deliver the rights the Avar and neighbouring groups require to ensure their own autonomy and well-being.
The Awá (or Kwaiker, a name given to them by Spanish conquistadors and missionaries) traditionally inhabit the regions of northern Ecuador and southern Colombia.
In Colombia, the Awa population is frequently targeted by paramilitary groups and the government's own military forces. In the past two years, there have been at least five Awa Massacres. According to the United Nations, the Awa are currently facing extinction, along with 33 other Indigenous Peoples in Colombia.
Located in the Peruvian Amazon, the Awajún (sometimes referred to as Aguaruna) have a reputation for being some of the most skillful warriors in South America. They successfully defended their land from the Incas and expelled the Spanish Conquistadors.
Historically living along the banks of the Marañón River in Peru, the Awajun--along with the Wampis, Shiwiar and Achuar in Peru and the Shuar and Achuar in Ecuador--belong to the Jíbaro ethno-linguistic family, which is one the largest ethno-linguistic families in the Amazon.
With notes from the Organization for the Development of the Border Communities of El Cenepa, a group that represents 56 Awajun and Wampis communities.
The Aymara or Aimara are an ancient people of herders and farmers that continue to use ancestral techniques.
Over time, the Aymara spread from the shores of the Titicaca Lake and the Andean Mountains to the northeast of Argentina. Their territory expands over the borders of several nation states, including Bolivia, Peru and Chile.
The Aymara economy depends on exchanges between producers from the higher and lower altitudes. In the Altiplano, people have abundant livestock but few plantations, while those living in the precordillera, produce plenty of vegetables, fruits and seeds, mainly due to their efficient system of traditional terraces.
Their economy is based on reciprocity, or "ayne", that grants every Aymara the return of what is given.
You can learn more about the Aymara at http://www.beingindigenous.org/regions/aymara/region_aymara.htm
The Totobiegosode are an indigenous sub-group of the Ayoreo people who hail from areas between both Bolivia and Paraguay along the Pilcomayo, Parapeti, and Grande rivers. They are considered the most isolated of all Ayoreo; as as many as three hundred Totobiegosode have chosen to live in isolation. The groups name reflects this, translating as 'people from the place of the wild pigs'.
Ayoreo peoples speak Ayoreo languages of the Zamucoan family which is especially small and is considered endemic to specific areas of Bolivia and Paraguay. Those Totobiegosode who remain isolated are thought to maintain traditional practices observed in other groups. Living in small villages along rivers and amongst semi arid lowland forests the Totobiegosode grow a number of crops including squashes, beans and melons. To supplement their subsistence horticulture economy the Totobiegosode also hunt and gather, ensuring a diverse diet. As semi-nomadic people groups of Totobiegosode practice these lifeways in different locales across the year.
Thought to be the only "uncontacted" indigenous people south of the Amazon basin it may be tempting to assume that this people have entirely avoided the attentions of those who would seek to ‘civilize’ and assimilate them. Unfortunately this could not be further from the truth. First contact with whites came in the 1940’s and 50’s during which invasions staged by Mennonite farmers were repelled and since around 1969 concerted efforts have been made by a number of groups to forcibly contact the Totobiegosode. Perhaps the key perpetrator of offences against this people is the US based fundamentalist New Tribes Mission. In both 1979 and 1986 this group forced contact upon those Totobiegosode in Paraguay who had actively chosen to reject it, the result was a number of native deaths due to direct conflict and also disease and an exodus to Bolivia. Many were also forced out of the forest into settlements as a result of this violation of Ayoreo autonomy, a phenomena repeated in the 90’s and in 2004 as groups were forced out of the forest due to continual invasion.
Today some protection is supposed to have been afforded to the Totobiegosode, with Paraguayan law supposedly recognizing their indigenous title to their lands. Despite this Mennonite farmers, Paraguayan and Brazilian ranchers have been allowed to buy up huge amounts of Ayoreo traditional territory and have blocked their attempts to claim title whilst operating illegal extractions from the forest and destroying vast swathes. Brazilian firm Yaguarete Pora and their attempts to clear two thirds of their 78,000 hectare stake in Totobiegosode forest are the most recent and high profile aggressors and their supposed plans for a nature reserve for the people have been widely derided.
Totobiegosode people who have already been forced into settlement are desperate to save their un-contacted kins people from the fate they have suffered. Settled Totobiegosode have been forced to live in individual family huts, unlike more communal traditional living arrangements. Unable to own land or claim their own they are forced to work as exploited labourers on the very ranches that are responsible for their dispossession in order to feed their families in an unfamiliar cash economy. To compound these issues the New Tribes Mission maintain a base nearby to the newly settled Totobiegosode and have suppressed many traditional customs and beliefs. Unless their lands can be saved and their autonomy respected the as yet un-contacted Ayore-Totobiegosode will face the cultural annihilation already being suffered by their brothers and sisters.. Photo from http://lastdaysoftheincas.com Known as the Babongo, Bongo, “Forest people” or as Pygmies this indigenous people inhabit the rainforest of Gabon in West Africa and have an estimated population of around twelve thousand people.
There is no one Babongo language as groups speak three main dialects depending on region. In the central regions variations of Tsogho are spoken, in the South East it is the same but with Teke and Kaning'i as the starting languages. Interpretations of these vary between groups dependent on historical and cultural differences such as contact with Bantu speaking neighbours.
As far as it is possible to tell the Babongo have always been hunter gatherers living in bands of up to twenty people, a situation suiting a traditionally nomadic lifestyle in a bio-diverse environment. Some Babongo, those from Lastoursville and Lebamba, are famed for using nets in their hunting activities, snaring bush meat to complement the plant stuffs provided by Babongo women and their encyclopedic knowledge of rainforest flora. As well as hunting and gathering. the Babongo have historically traded with Bantu farmers exchanging forest goods such as honey and meat for metal tools and guns to aid them in their hunting. Though in some respects this relationships has proved advantageous for the Babongo it has also left them open to exploitation at the hands of the Bantu as a recent UNICEF report shows.
The Bantu often do not share the Babongo's positive view of themselves as the first people of the earth, yet they are often fearful of them. The Babongo are renowned sorcerers and boast a vibrant animistic tradition called 'Bwiti' which centres around the use of the hallucinogenic Iboga plant which some Bwiti experts believe to be the tree of knowledge. According to the Babongo Iboga can facilitate soothsaying, healing, and communion with the dead by liberating the soul of the body for a time.
In light of this many Bantu do not wish to cross the Babongo but unfortunately the same cannot be said for others who today threaten the physical and cultural continuance of the Babongo. Commercial logging is rapidly depleting Gabon's rainforest with thirty percent already cleared. As a result of the vast roads bulldozed through the forest many Babongo have experienced the traditionally damaging effects of contact with the outside world, disease, violence and governmentality. Mortality rates have risen as the result of the first two of these results of deforestation whilst the governmental contribution has been to begin a resettlement programme to move the Babongo to villages beside the roads flayed from the forest. Here, considered as the backward remnant of Gabonese society, the Babongo suffer discrimination in the form of pitiful levels of access to healthcare and education.
Despite the threat of assimilation there are hopes that the Babongo have a brighter future than the negative developments of recent years may suggest. Logging is being rapidly restricted as national parks are established across the country to encourage eco-tourism. In tandem efforts are being made to enable the Babongo to take their future into their own hands given this potentially beneficial transition. One way in which this is being attempted is through the innovative grassroots use of Participatory mapping technologies which have allowed some Babongo groups to commune and mark out their traditional territories, safe guarding them for future generations.
The Bakola-Bagyeli, also referred to by the generic name Pygmy, live predominantly in the tropical forests of Southern Cameroon.
The population of around 3,700 have a mixed subsistence economy which incorporates hunting gathering and cultivation into daily life. In the past this would have meant the Bakola-Bagyeli moving around occasionally but as the group have come into greater contact with a cash economy agriculture has become more important to secure an income and groups are now thought to be more sedentary.
Unfortunately the Bakola-Bagyeli have suffered a recent history of persecution in their home country and from foreign agents. Viewed as backward they have suffered from government and neighbouring Bantu groups attempts to settle them by highways and impose development. One particular issue which has had a negative impact on the Bakola-Bagyeli's struggle to protect their culture is the ID cards required under Cameroonian law. Most cannot afford these and without them access to the justice system and other public services is severely curtailed.
Recently issues of this peoples marginalisation have been epitomised by their fight against an oil pipeline running through their lands. Despite plans for compensation being in place at the UN's insistence due to a lack of ID cards the World Bank failed to properly distribute it and much fell into the hands of Bantu who, with ID cards, 'captured' the funds.
However there is cause for the Bakola-Bagyeli to be optimisitic and to strive for a recognised and autonomous future. Despite initial problems and exclusion they have now been allowed access to hunt and gather in the Campo Ma'an national park and using participatory mapping techniques alongside other 'Pygmy' groups have been able to lay a claim to their own territories as they, not others, see them. Their fight to survive continues.
The Baluch (or Baloch) are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the region of Baluchestan in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia.
The Barabaig, with a population of at least 30,000, are perhaps the most widely known of the Datooga (Datoga, Tatoga) Pastoralists in Tanzania. In fact, they are so well known that people sometimes mistakenly refer to the Datoga as Barabaig.
Though decimated by European colonizers, the Datoga Peoples have retained much of their culture and livelihood which resembles that of the Maasai and the Hadzabe.
Sadly, the violence and marginalization endured by the Datoga , has persisted over the decades, and for much the same reasons.
The Barabaig themselves have been in dispute with the Tanzania Canada Wheat Project since 1969. The joint international effort has "alienated over 400,000 hectares of the best grazing land in Hanang district. The dispute has been accompanied by numerous abuses against Barabaig, including assault, house burnings, shooting and confiscation of cattle, destruction of rights of way and a desecration of sacred sites, including destruction of graves by ploughing," says Minority Rights International.
More recently, "in 2005 the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights adopted a report of the Working Group of Experts on Indigenous Populations/Communities. The report found that Barabaig displacement has continued to various parts of Tanzania and Malawi, with other communities routinely objecting to their presence," continues Minority Rights.
The Barabaig's ancestral lands is still in the hands of the government, and there is talk of it being sold to willing buyers. 
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ʿašāʾir (عَشَائِر). . The term "Bedouin" means, "those who live in bādiyah" or "those who live in the desert".
Starting in the late 19th century, many Bedouin under British rule began to transition to a semi-nomadic lifestyle. In the 1950s and 1960s, large numbers of Bedouin throughout the Middle East started to leave the traditional, nomadic life to settle in the cities of the Middle East, especially as hot ranges have shrunk and population levels have grown. For example, in Syria the Bedouin way of life effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961, which forced many Bedouin to give up herding for standard jobs. Similarly, government policies in Egypt and Israel, oil production in the Persian Gulf, as well as a desire for development has effectively led most Bedouin to become settled citizens of various nations, rather than "stateless" nomadic herders.
Government policies pressuring the Bedouin have in some cases been executed in an attempt to provide services such as schools, health care and law enforcement; but others have been based on the desire to seize the Bedouin's traditional lands, such as the case in Israel.
There are an estimated 3 million Bedouin living in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Syria and Sudan.The Bedzang are also known as the Tikar and generically as a Pygmy people. They live predominantly in the Ngambe-Tikar region of Central Cameroon and their population is thought to be very small with estimates as low as 1,000.
In this region a number of languages are spoken including Twumwu, Badogo and others; but the Bedzang instead speak Tikar which is a Bantu language. This has led some to know them as Tikar; but they are in fact a distinct group.
Traditionally the Bedzang were semi-nomadic hunter gatherers; but in recent times, with threats posed to their traditional land rights, they are becoming increasingly sedentary. This is a common feature amongst Cameroon's 'Pygmy' peoples. The Bedzang have practiced small scale farming for generations now due to these changes and their main cash crops include coffee and cocoa. However, they are often unable achieve a good price for these products and to trade fairly in their local and global market systems. Furthermore, their livelihoods themselves continue to be threatened by logging concessions on or close to their lands. In the absence fair market participation and an outside respect for Bedzang lands their culture, language and existence remains at risk.
Bidayuh is the collective name for several indigenous peoples found in southern Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, that are broadly similar in language and culture.
The name "Bidayuh" means 'inhabitants of land'. Originally from the western part of Borneo, the collective name Land Dayaks was first used during the period of Rajah James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak.
With a population reaching 200,000 people, the Bidayuh constitute one of the main indigenous peoples in Sarawak.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article about the Bidayuh People.
The Siksika ('black feet', from siksinam 'black', ka the root of oqkatsh, 'foot'. The origin of the name is disputed, but it is commonly believed to have reference to the discoloring of their moccasins by the ashes of the prairie fires; it may possibly have reference to black-painted moccasins such as were worn by the Pawnee, Sihasapa, and other tribes). An important Algonquian confederacy of the northern plains, consisting of three subtribes, the Siksika proper or Blackfeet, the Kainah or Bloods, and the Piegan, the whole body being popularly known as Blackfeet. In close alliance with these are the Atsina and the Sarsi.
The Bodi or Me'en people live close to the Omo River in southern Ethiopia. South of the Bodi are the Mursi tribe. They are pastoralists (livestock farmers) and agriculturalists. Along the banks of the river, they will grow sorghum, mais and coffee. They live with their cattle herds and livestock plays a large role in the tribe.
Men of the Bodi are typically overweight because they consume large amounts of honey. The men wear a strip of cotton around their waist or walk around naked. In June, the Bodi celebrate Ka'el. This is a tradition that measures the body fat of a contestant. Each family or clan is allowed to enter an unmarried contestant. The winner of this contest is awarded great fame by the tribe. Men also wear a headband with a feather attached to it during rituals. The women in the tribe wear goatskin skirts and have a plug inserted into their chin.
By http://www.omovalley.com/
The Boruca (also known as the Brunca or the Brunka) are an indigenous people living in Costa Rica. The tribe has about 2,660 members, most of whom live on a reservation in the Puntarenas Province in southwestern Costa Rica. The ancestors of the modern Boruca made up a group of chiefdoms that ruled most of Costa Rica's Pacific coast, from Quepos to what is now the Panamanian border, including the Osa Peninsula. Boruca traditionally spoke the Boruca language, which is now nearly extinct.
Like their ancestors the Boruca are known for their art and craftwork, especially weaving and their distinctive painted balsa wood masks, which have become popular decorative items among Costa Ricans and tourists. These masks are important elements in the Borucas' annual Danza de los Diablitos ceremony, celebrated every winter since at least early colonial times. The Danza depicts the resistance of the "Diablito", representing the Boruca people, against the Spanish conquistadors.
The majority of the indigenous population throughout Costa Rica makes their living from agriculture, and for this reason the reduction of indigenous lands and its occupation by non-indigenous people has a serious effect on the livelihood of those who live on the reservas.
Article Three of the Indigenous Law of Costa Rica specifically states, "Non-indigenous [people] may not rent or buy … lands or farms included within these reserves." According to Article 5, the ITCO (the Institute of Lands and Colonization) must relocate the non-indigenous land owners of good faith in the Reserves, or expropriate and indemnify them.
Despite this, large portions of the population on the reserves are non-indigenous, and large portions of the land are not owned by indigenous people. Specifically, only 43.9% of the land in Boruca was in indigenous hands in 1994, while indigenous individuals made up only 46.9% of the population. The situation was worse yet in the neighboring reserve of Rey Curré, where only 23.3% of the land was owned by indigenous people, while a full 58.9% of the population was indigenous. The Indigenous Law defines indigenous people as those who “constitute ethnic groups descendant directly from pre-Columbian civilizations that conserve their own identity”.
The Bribri, located in the mountains and low-lying coastal areas of southern Costa Rica and northern Panama, are the original inhabitants of Talamanca.
The Bribri are sometimes referred to as "the hidden people" because of their extreme isolation from Costa Rica's public life. [1].
Fortunately, that isolation has allowed the Bribri to maintain their language, culture and their economy. The Bribri are agriculturalists; and with more than 120 wild and domestic crops, they are relatively self-sufficient. [2]
There are four Bribri reservations in total: the Talamanca Bribri and Këköldi on the Atlantic watershed, and the Salitre and Cabagra on the Pacific watershed.
The Bribri's population on reserve is about 11,500; although, according to some estimates, their true population is closer to 35,000.Cashinahua or Kashinawa (Kash- 'bat' or 'cannibal', nawa- 'outsiders') is the name commonly given to this group by other indigenous peoples living in Brazil and Peru along the waters of the Curanja and Purus rivers. However, their self designated name is Huni Kuin which means 'real people'. The Huni Kuin speak hancha kuin - 'real words', a Panoan language, in the number of small settlements in which they live. Two thirds of Huni Kuin live in Brazil, mostly in Acre and the South of Amazonas state whilst a third hail from Peru, predominantly the state of Coronel Portillo. Population estimates vary greatly and taking both countries into account estimates range from 2,400 to 7,500.*
The Huni Kuin have a mixed subsistence economy that consists of hunting, fishing and gathering to supplement staples of Manioc and Plantain which they grow using swidden agricultural techniques. Villages, Mae kuin, are the main productive units and consist of a few extended families grouped matrilocally. However, despite the village autonomy, all Huni Kuin consider themselves bound to all others by the same name. They are known for their use of the powerfully hallucinogenic Liana plant and also as great artists, painting themselves and adorning many objects with designs and motifs of Kene Kuin- 'true design.'
The Huni Kuin's history since first contact has involved a great deal of hardship. Many were forced to migrate from their original home on the Envira river's three affluents as early as the turn of the Twentieth Century, pressured and sometimes massacred by Brazilian rubber extractors in acts of organized violence to destroy 'wild' indians. The relationship between the Huni Kuin and forest prospectors seemed to improve in some cases around the 1940s when some began to seek contact and to offer their services working lumber and wild rubber. Unfortunately, poor treatment undermined this harmony and they broke off relations once more. Some Huni Kuin who were 'tamed' still bear the brands of their former 'owners' and today the real people still question their own logic in seeking contact. A handful became independent rubber trader or livestock owners for a time but most are no longer involved. Distrust for outsiders was further enhanced when the 1951 visit of an ethnographer was followed by a disease epidemic, wiping out a huge proportion of the population. Some groups did choose and maintain isolation from contact.
Today most still live in the villages they migrated to; though some have moved to cities such as Santa Rosa in Brazil. Alongside their traditional lifeways which the Huni Kuin staunchly defend they sell artifacts and forest goods to earn money and Western culture has been accepted in some forms. It is not uncommon to see the Huni Kuin use Western boats, tools or wear Western clothing. Brazilian groups tend to have been more greatly influenced in this respect.
Chagossian (also Îlois or Chagos Islanders) Peoples are the traditional indigenous inhabitants of the Chagos Islands.
After being deported from their homeland by the British government in the late 1960s and early 1970s, most Chagossians today live in Mauritius and the United Kingdom.
The Cherokee (who refer to themselves as Tsalagi or Aniyvwiya'i) historically settled in the Southeastern United States. There are three federally recognized Cherokee tribes: the Cherokee Nation and the Keetoowah Band in Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina. You can learn more about the Cherokee People at Peoples of the World
The Cheyenne are a Plains People, who are of the Algonquian language family.
In the centuries before European contact, the Cheyenne were at times allied with bands of the Lakota (Sioux) and Arapaho. In the 18th century, they migrated west away from Lakota warriors, but by the next century, bands of Lakota had followed them into the Black Hills and Powder River Country. By the mid-nineteenth century, they were sometimes allied with other Plains peoples.
The Cheyenne Nation formed into ten bands, spread across the Great Plains, from southern Colorado to the Black Hills in South Dakota. At the same time, they created a centralized structure through ritual ceremonies, such as the Sun Dance. When gathered, the bands leaders met in formal council.
The name "Cheyenne" derives from Dakota Sioux exonym for them, Šahíyena (meaning "little Šahíya"). Though the identity of the Šahíya is not known, many Great Plains tribes assume it means Cree or some other people who spoke an Algonquian language related to Cree and Cheyenne.[5] The Cheyenne word for Ojibwa is "Sáhea'eo'o," a word that sounds similar to the Dakota word Šahíya.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Cheyenne PeopleChin, meaning fellow or friend, is one of a number of names of this large indigenous group. Others include Kuki, Hkyang Iu, Myui and Chin-Kuki-Mizo. The Chin are Burma's largest indigenous population, living mostly in the country's Chin State. Chin groups also inhabit areas of India, especially Mizoram, and Bangladesh. These various Chin groups speak as many as forty nine variations of the Kukish language. The largest Chin population is based in Burma and stands at an estimated 1.5 million people.
It is thought that the Chin migrated to Burma in the late Ninth Century before moving west to establish what is now the Chin State. There are many groups amongst the Chin, hence the collective name Chin-Kuki-Mizo, and a great deal of diversity in situation and practice; however most were and continue to be agriculturalists growing rice, corn and millet as staples and saleable goods.
Some attempts have been made to unify the various Chin groups in the past. One successful example is the establishment of the Mizoram State in India as a result of the collective Mizo National Movement which called on the Chin to unite under their common linguistic and ethnic roots. However, today differences and diversity remain and have grown, for example in the field of belief. The Chin were once animists but due to British colonialism most are Christian whilst others practice a range of faiths from Theravada Buddhism to Judaism. One particular group of Chin claims to be a lost tribe of Israel, the Bnei Menashe, some of whom have been settled in Israel.
In recent times the Chin have labelled themselves a forgotten people in Burma. Subjected to numerous abuses there at the hands of the brutal SPDC government and the Tatmadaw, many Chin have fled the country and become refugees. Yet the Chin often find that this transition is one similarly plagued by torture, extortion and unfair retention, sometimes at the hands of their own forces. The Chin National Front and The Chin Army have both been implicated in human rights abuses of their own people. For those who have successfully fled Burma life as a refugee can be hard, in Mizoram State they struggle for recognition and protection, constantly facing deportation alongside the challenges of malnutrition and religious repression. In the USA Chin migrants are amongst the poorest and suffer a great deal from alcohol and tobacco abuse, severely affecting the populations health.
These struggles continue today and many Chin make the long march to New Delhi to gain full refugee recognition, with around a thousand able to achieve this and passage to a third country. However with the radical transitions in Burma, including the founding of a democratically elected government, there is hope that the abuses felt by the Chin in their homeland will abate, stemming the exodus and the problems it has brought the Chin.
Located in what is now northeastern Ecuador and southeastern Colombia, the Cofan (A’i) are a riverine people that firmly established themselves in the headwaters of several rivers in the area
Today numbering less than 2,000, the Cofan are establishing themselves as the vanguard of indigenous conservation efforts, taking on the task of caring for over a million acres of rain forest in Ecuador and large areas in adjacent Colombia.
You can learn more about the Cofan at their official website, cofan.org
The Cree are one of the largest Indigenous Nations in North America, with a population of over 200,000 people.
In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although 15,000 live in eastern Quebec.
In the United States, this Algonquian-speaking people lived historically from Lake Superior westward. Today, they live mostly in Montana, where they share a reservation with the Ojibway (Chippewa).
The name "Cree" is derived from the Algonkian-language exonym Kiristino, which the Ojibway used for tribes around Hudson Bay. The French colonists and explorers, who spelled the term Kilistinon, Kiristinon, and Cristinaux, used the term for numerous tribes which they encountered north of Lake Superior, in Manitoba, and west of there.
Depending on the community, the Cree may call themselves by the following names: the nehiyaw, nihithaw, nehilaw, and nehinaw; or ininiw, ililiw, iynu (innu), or iyyu. These names are derived from the historical autonym nehiraw (uncertain meaning) or from the historical autonym iriniw (meaning "person"). Cree using the latter autonym tend to be those living in the territories of Quebec and Labrador.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Cree People
Referring to themselves as Xawill kwnchawaay (Those Who Live on the River), the Cucapa are a Yuman-speaking people who historically lived along the lower Colorado River and delta for centuries.
Today, the Cucapa (sometimes spelled Cocopah or Cocopa) mainly inhabit three communities in Southern California, northern Baja California, Mexico, and southwest Arizona.The Culina, whose self chosen name is Madija - 'Those who are people' - are an indigenous group living in five territories on the Brazil-Peru border. These territories are all recognized indigenous lands which the Madija share with groups such as the Huni Kuin, Yaminawa and others and centre around the Jurua and Purus rivers, tributaries of the Amazon.
One of the most numerous indigenous groups in this area, figures from the turn of the millennium estimate the Madija population to be around three thousand, with the majority living in Brazil. The Madija speak a highly variable language known as Culina Madiha, of the Arawa linguistic family. It is of great interest to linguists and lexicographers as the male and female dialects are quite distinct and women speak versions of Culina Madiha almost exclusive to their own village.
The Madija are especially well known for two aspects of their culture. First is that their cosmological, social and physical words revolve around a central axis, the principle of reciprocity. The structure of the universe, made up of sky (Meme), Earth (Nami) and the world below (Nami budi) is echoed in the Madija's physical living arrangements. Reciprocity also governs their social relationships where the ideal is a cyclical continuation of a sharing system by which the Madija live by giving and gaining sustenance from one another. The second outstanding feature the Madija are known for is their use of music, which is also profoundly social. Young men play flutes to send love messages, the intended recipient is know to all and so the sound of the flute allows the whole community to share acollectively amorous experience. Madija women are know to sing almost all day and music and song are thought to evoke all worlds, expressing the whole.
The Madija operate similar subsistence strategies to other groups in the area, they have a mixed economy and hunt, gather, fish and keep pigs. They have traded with the outside world during various times in their history, beginning with commercial plant traders from whom they purchased industrial products in return for forest goods. However relations werenot always as amicable as reported in these cases. WIth the dawn of the rubber boom came the Madija's first concerted contact with Whites, Brazilian rubber extractors and Peruvian Cacheiros. The Madija were subjected to repeated violent incursions, 'correiras', from these strangers, taken as slaves whilst fleeing to more inaccessible parts of the forest. After forced contact for a long period, an alliance with the Huni Kuin (Cashinahua) in 1984 allowed the demarcation of the Alto Purus region as indigenous land , a move later formalized by FUNAI.
Further lands have since been claimed in nearby areas such as the Humaita river zone and in the area of The Pau Stream and legal ownership established. Despite this the Madija still suffer illegal incursions by ranchers, poachers and loggers but remain committed to expelling these raiders, continuing their traditional practices and finding a long term solution to ceasing unwanted and illegal contact.
Traditionally pastoralists, the Daasanach are one of the largest Indigenous Peoples in Ethiopia with a population estimated to be about 48,000 people.
Their main homeland is in the Debub Omo Zone, around the Northern side of Lake Turkana in southern Ethiopia.
In recent years, the Daasanach have become more agropastoral, growing sorghum, maize, pumpkins and beans in addition to herding goats and cattle.
The Daasanach are sometimes referred to as the Merille--especially by their neighbours, the Turkana of Kenya.
The Dayak or Dyak are a people indigenous to the island of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling peoples, each with their own dialect, customs, laws, territory and culture.
Some of the more well-known Dayak Peoples include the Kayan and Kenyah, the Ibans, the Penan, the Ngajus and Baritos.
Adapted from Wikipedia article on the Dayak People.
Also known as the Deh Gah Got'ine or the Slavey, the Dehcho are a part of the Dene Nation. Historically, the Dehcho lived and travelled along the Mackenzie River (called the Dehcho, or "Big River") in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
The Dehcho today are represented by the Deh Cho First Nations Tribal Council, which is made up of 14 First Nations.
Other members of the Dene include the Chipewyan, Dogrib, Yellowknife and Sahtu Dene.
The Dene were the first people to live in the Northwest Territories following the glacial retreat about 14,500 years ago. The word "Dene", when translated, is broken down into two words: "De" meaning flow and "Ne" meaning Mother Earth.
Today, most Dene live in communities; however, they still maintain a close relationship to the land.
Dene Peoples include the Chipewyan (Denesuline), Dogrib, Yellowknife, Slavey and the Sahtu.
More commonly known as the Navajo, the Dineh (Dine) are one of the most populous of Indigenous Nations in North America. In the 2000 U.S. census, 298,197 people claimed to be fully or partly of Dineh ancestry
Speaking an Athabaskan language of Na-Dené stock, the Dineh have more speakers than any other Indigenous language north of the U.S.-Mexico border, with 170,717 self-reported speakers in 2007.
The traditional home of the Dineh is on the Colorado Plateau in northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona, where the Dineh continue to reside today.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Navajo People
The Dogon are an Indigenous People, living in the central plateau region of Mali, south of the Sahara Desert in Africa. The Dogon population numbers somewhere between 400,000 and 800,000.
The Dogon are best known for their mythology, their mask dances, wooden sculptures and their architecture. The past century has seen significant changes in the social organization, material culture and beliefs of the Dogon, partly because Dogon country is one of Mali's major tourist attractions.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Dogon.
The Dongria Kondh (also known as the Dongria Kondhas) are Indigenous Peoples who inhabit the plateaus of the Niyamgiri hill ranges in Orissa, India.
The Dongria Kondh call themselves "Jharnia" a term that means "those who live by the Jharana" (streams).
Unlike other Indigenous Peoples of India, the Dongria Kondh are accomplished horticulturists, farming on the mountain ranges of Niyamgiri.
Living along the desolated coasts of Lake Turkana, the El Molo are the smallest Indigenous Peoples in Kenya, numbering about 300 people. They live on lava rock of the southeast shore of Lake Turkana. Their dwellings resemble igloos, built from what scrub vegetation of the volcanic wasteland has to offer.
The Embera People live in the Darien of Panama and the department of Choco in Colombia.
In Panama they inhabit the same areas as the Waounan with whom they share many cultural similarities. The Embera-Wounaan were formerly known by the name Chocó, and they speak the Choco language.
In Colombia, the Embera have an estimated population of about 71,000, making them the third largest indigenous group in the Country.
You can learn more about Embera at nativeplanet.org
The Enawene Nawe are a relatively isolated Indigenous people in Mato Grosso state, Brazil.
Numbering around 500, the Enawene Nawe are perhap, best known for their unique fishing techniques. During the fishing season, Enawene Nawe men build dams across rivers and spend several months camped nearby, catching and smoking the fish.
Fish is an essential part of the Enawene Nawe diet and their culture, as demonstrated by rituals such as Yãkwa--an exchange of food between humans and spirits that takes four months.
The Enawene Nawe are also well known for the fact that they do not hunt or consume any red meat.
Today, Enawene Nawe are in danger of being wiped out by corporations who are encroaching on their landa and polluting their rivers.
Learn more about the Enawene Nawe at http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/enawenenawe
The Endorois people are are semi-nomadic pastoralists, who earn their livelihood through the rearing of livestock, Beekeeping and subsistence farming.
In the early 1970s the Endorois were evicted from their ancestral lands around Lake Bogoria by the Government of Kenya, to make way for the Lake Bogoria Game Reserve.
Never receiving adequate compensation for the eviction or the systematic repression they endured, the vast majority of the Endorois people today live in severe poverty.
You can learn more about the Endorois at www.endorois.org
Formerly known as the Tungus or Tunguz, the Evenks are an Indigenous People of central and eastern Siberia, Mongolia, and Inner Mongolia.
In addition to the general name, the Evenk (or Evenki, which means simply "person" or "people") also identify themselves by the names of their clans.
In Russia, the Evenks are recognized as one of the Indigenous peoples of the Russian North, with a population of roughly 35,500 people. In China, the Evenki are one of 56 Indigenous Peoples recognized by the People's Republic of China, with a population of 30,500.
The Gabra (also Gabbra or Gebra) are an Oromo people who live as camel-herding nomads, mainly in the Chalbi desert of northern Kenya and the highlands of southern Ethiopia. They are closely associated with other Oromo, especially their non-nomadic neighbors, the Borana. The language of the Gabra is the Borana dialect of Oromo.
The Gabra's overal population is estimated at about 31,000 people.
The Garifuna are descendants of Carib, Arawak and West African people. The British colonial administration used the term Black Carib and Garifuna to distinguish them from Yellow and Red Carib, the Amerindian population that did not intermarry with Africans. The Amerindians who had not intermarried with Africans are still living in the Lesser Antilles; Dominica, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, etc.
Today the Garifuna live primarily in Central America. They live along the Caribbean Coast in Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras including the mainland, and on the island of Roatán. There are also diaspora communities of Garifuna in the United States, particularly in Los Angeles, Miami, New York and other major cities.
Excerpted from Wikipedia article on the Garifuna
The Guambiano are a South American People, located in what is now the Cauca Department of Colombia. The Guambiano call themselves "Wampimisamera" or "people of Guambia." However, the mestizos of the area frequently call them "Silveños," referring to the people in the environs of Silvia, a small town in the heart of Guambian territory. The Guambiano are also sometimes referred to as the Misak.
The language of the Guambiano, Wampi-misamera-wam, has been classified within the Guambino-Kokonuco Group of the larger Chibcha Language Family. According to more recent investigations, it is believed to be an isolated language and of dubious classification (Matteson 1972). The majority of the Guambiano speak Spanish, especially the young people. Although they consider Spanish essential to survive in and withstand the hostility of the White world, the Guambiano nonetheless resist losing their own language, which is an essential aspect of their ethnic and cultural identity.
Excerpted from EveryCulture's page on the Guambiano
The Guarani are a group of culturally-related indigenous peoples living in several different states, including Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay. The Guarani's overall population is estimated at 257,400 people.
Three aspects of Guarani life express an identity that gives them a specificity among other indigenous peoples, shaping and creating a “Guarani way of being": a) the ava ñe'ë (ava: Guarani person, man; ñe'ë: a word that is confused with "soul") or speech, language, that defines identity in verbal communication; b) the tamõi (grandfather) or common mythical ancestors and c) the ava reko (teko: "being/essence, state of life, condition, custom, law, habit") or behavior in society, which is sustained through a mythological and ideological framework. These aspects inform the ava (Guarani Man) how to understand experienced situations and the world that surrounds him/her, providing guidelines and reference points for his/her social conduct (Susnik, 1980:12).
There are, however, differences among the Guarani subgroups living in Brazil – the Ñandeva, Kaiowa and Mbya, differences in the linguistic forms, customs, ritual practices, social and political organization, religious orientation, as well as specific forms for interpreting the reality they experience and for interacting according to situations in their history and their present-day circumstances.
Learn more about the Guarani Kaiowá, Guarani Mbya and Guarani Ñandeva at http://pib.socioambiental.org/en
The Gwich'in people live in a vast area extending from northeast Alaska in the U.S. to the northern Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada. Oral tradition indicates that the Gwich'in have occupied this area since time immemorial or, according to conventional belief, for as long as 20,000 years.
The Gwich'in life and culture have traditionally been based on the Porcupine Caribou herd, the people's main source of food, tools, and clothing. Fish and other animals supplement their diet.
The Gwich'in practised a nomadic lifestyle until the 1870's, when fur traders came into the area to establish forts and trading posts that later became settlements. Approximately 9,000 Gwich'in currently make their home in communities in Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories.
Excerpted from Gwichin.org
The Hadzabe People (or Hadzabe'e) have lived around Lake Eyasi in the central Rift Valley and in the neighbouring Serengeti Plateau for more than 10,000 years.
With a population of under 1000, the Hadzabe, who survive on fruit-gathering and hunting wild animals for subsistence, are under serious threat of extinction as their habitats have been converted into conservation areas and agricultural farms. 
The Haida are an indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Haida territories lie in both Canada and the United States, as do those of the Tlingit, and Tsimshian. The Haida territories comprise the archipelago of Haida Gwaii (as officially named since 2010, but still commonly referred to by their historic name, the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia.
In the Haida language Haida Gwaii translates to "islands of the people"). Historically, and still today, "Kaigani Haida" families live in Southeastern Alaska, primarily the southern half of Prince of Wales Island in the southernmost Alaska Panhandle.
Excerpted from Wikipedia's article on the Haida People
The Haisla (also Xa’islak’ala, X¯a’islak'ala, X?à'islak'ala, X?a'islak’ala, Xai:sla) are an indigenous people living at Kitamaat in the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Their indigenous Haisla language is named after them. The name Haisla is derived from the Haisla word x?à'isla or x?à'is?la '(those) living at the rivermouth, living downriver'. Along with the neighbouring Wuikinuxv and Heiltsuk people, they were incorrectly known in the past as the Northern Kwakiutl.
Kitimaat Village, the Haisla reserve, is a short 20 minute drive south of the town of Kitimat at the head of the Douglas Channel, a 90-km (56-mi) fjord that serves as saltwater corridor that connects the community and the town and port of Kitimat, which is the site of the aluminum smelter of Alcan Incorporateed, to the Pacific Ocean. Kitamaat is a Tsimshian name, applied by European explorers who asked their Tsimshian guides for the name of the place; it means "people of the snows" or "place of the snows". The Haisla name for Kitimaat is C'imo'ca (pronounced tsee-MOTE-sah) which means "snag beach."
Excerpted from Wikipedia's article on the Haisla People
The Harakmbut (also known as the "Arakmbut") are one of three distinct Indigenous Peoples in Southeastern Peru.
When they were first contacted by members of the Dominican Order (a Catholic religious order) in 1940, the Harakmbut's population was estimated to be about 30,000 people.
Today, there are about 5,000 Harakmbut, all of whom can be found in the Madre de Dios Region near the Brazilian border.
The Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse" are a confederation made up of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Tuscarora and Mohawk Nations.
For more than a thousand years, the Haudenosaunee have maintained the founding constitution known as the Kaianere'kó:wa (the Great Law of Peace) which was conceived and written by Deganwidah (Tekanawí:ta') known as The Great Peacemaker; his spokesperson, Hiawatha (Aiewáhtha); and Tsikónhsase, a clan mother seldom mentioned in the history books.
With a population today of about 80,000 people in the U.S and 45,000 in Canada, the Haudenosaunee continue to maintain their cultures and Traditions.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy's official website can be found at www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.ca 
The Havasu ’Baaja (the-people-of-the-blue-green-waters), or more commonly the Havasupai, are an Indigenous Nation ("American Indian tribe") that has called the Grand Canyon its home for centuries.
Located primarily in an area known as Cataract Canyon, this Yuman-speaking population once laid claim to a land reservation the size of Delaware. In 1882, however, the Havasupai was forced by the US government to abandon all but 518 acres of its land. The Havasupai witnessed a silver rush and the Santa Fe Railroad in effect destroyed what was fertile land. Furthermore, the inception of the Grand Canyon as a National Park in 1919 pushed the Havasupai to the brink, as their land was consistently being unlawfully entered and misused by the National Park Service.
Over the next century the tribe used the United States judicial system to fight for the restoration of the land. In 1975, after years without progress, the tribe succeeded in regaining 251,000 acres of their ancestral land with the passage of Congressional bill S. 1296.
Besides their battle on Capitol Hill, the Havasupai are well-known for the area in which they reside. As a means of surviving and flourishing in the modern economy the tribe has turned its land, which consists of richly colored waters and awe-inspiring waterfalls, into a bustling tourist hub that attracts thousands of people every year.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Havasupai People
The Kanaka Maoli, more commonly referred to as Hawaiians, are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
As note in 'Oiwi, an Indigenous Journal from Hawai'i, "Hawaiians for centuries were master orators and chanters, articulate historians, prolific songwriters, and eloquent storytellers. In the 1800s, the rate of literacy in Hawai‘i was higher than in any other part of the world and writings by Hawaiians appeared in numerous newspapers produced in the islands. But the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, the banning of the Hawaiian language from all public schools, the systematic disenfranchisement of Hawaiians from our land, and the decimation of the Hawaiian population through foreign disease nearly put an end to the Hawaiian people and culture."
The Heiltsuk people have lived in their lands, on what has become the Central Coast of British Columbia, since time immemorial. Formerly known as the Bella Bella Indians, the Heiltsuk speak Hailhzaqvla, the Heiltsuk language. It is considered a separate language but is part of what linguists call the Wakashan Language Family.
Heiltsuk oral tradition states that the original Heiltsuk ancestors were set down by the Creator in various areas in the territory now referred to as the Central Coast of British Columbia, before the time of the great flood.
The Heiltsuk people lived in many villages and seasonal camp locations throughout Heiltsuk territory. There were a number of tribal groups that lived in areas of Heiltsuk territory for millennia. After contact, as a result of disease and increased conflict on the coast, villages and whole tribal groups tended to concentrate in some locations, eventually coming together at McLoughlin Bay between the 1860s and 1890s. This village was called 'Qlc or Bella Bella. The village moved in the 1890's to the present site of Bella Bella, which is also known as Waglisla.
From a large pre-contact population the Heiltsuk dropped to just over 200 in the early part of this century. It is estimated that nearly 85% of the population died during the nineteenth century. The population decline reversed itself following the 1918 'flu epidemic.
Like our neighbours on the coast, the Heiltsuk were subject to pressure from colonization and attempts to assimilate us into the Euro-Canadian society.
Pressure from missionaries, government, and hospital staff was applied to the Heiltsuk to abandon their traditional beliefs and practices. Many practices were forced underground by this pressure. The Potlatch, an institution involving public feasting and display and public witnessing of business, was outlawed by the Federal government from the late nineteenth century until 1951. Heiltsuk children were required to attend the now infamous Residential schools, where they were given poor quality education, low quality food, and subjected to curriculum designed to assimilate them. Native languages were forbidden at these schools, even though it was the only language many children spoke. Many children were subjected to psychological, physical and sexual abuse while attending these schools. The Residential School System was part of a government policy of assimilation of First Nations.
Despite these forces acting upon the Heiltsuk, there remains today a Heiltsuk Nation that is striving to retain its lands, and culture. During this century the Heiltsuk have maintained close ties to their land and resources. The language and potlatch system survived. Traditional foods continue to be harvested and preserved from the land. These foods contribute significantly to the contemporary diet and local economy.
The Heiltsuk are now working to preserve their language. Today it is taught in the school. There is a challenge to maintaining the language. Funding for curriculum development is scarce.
The Heiltsuk have never surrendered their aboriginal rights or title. Leaders of the community have struggled to address the land question through out this century. As one chief said in 1913:
"We are the natives of this Country and we want all the land we can get. We feel that we own the whole of this Country, every bit of it, and ought to have something to say about it. The Government have not bought any land from us so far as we know and we are simply lending this land to the Government. We own it all. We will never change our minds in that respect, and after we are dead our children will still hold on to the same ideas. It does not matter how long the Government take to determine this question, we will remain the same in our ideas about this matter. The British Columbia Government are selling the land all around us, and we do not know but they might well it all, even including these Reserves, in time. We consider that the Government is stealing that land from us, and we also understand that it is unlawful for the Government to take this land." Bob Anderson
The Heiltsuk became involved in the Comprehensive Claims Process in 1981. When the current Treaty Process began, the Heiltsuk immediately filed their statement of intent and have been actively involved in trying to resolve the land question with the federal and provincial Canadian governments.
Quoted from http://www.bellabella.net/
The Hmong, also known as the Miao, are an Indigenous People from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand.
The Hmong's current population is estimated at 4-5 million people.
A number of Hmong people fought against the communist-nationalist Pathet Lao during the Laotian Civil War. Hmong people were singled out for retribution when the Pathet Lao took over the Laotian government in 1975, and tens of thousands fled to Thailand seeking political asylum. Thousands of these refugees have resettled in Western countries since the late 1970s, mostly the United States but also Australia, France, French Guiana, and Canada. Others have been returned to Laos under United Nations-sponsored repatriation programs. Around 8,000 Hmong refugees remain in Thailand.
Excerpted from Wikipedia's article on the Hmong People
The Homalco (also known as Xwémalhkwu) are a Coast Salish People whose traditional territories encompass Bute Inlet, British Columbia, as well as the Inlet's surrounding areas. The Homalco's population today is estimated at about 230 people.
Along with the Sliammon, Klahoose and K'omoks Peoples, the Homalco speak the Éy7á7juuthem language. Linguists, however, refer to the language as "Comox" and "Mainland Comox".
Learn more about the Homalco's language at http://maps.fphlcc.ca/ey7a7juuthem
The Hopi are Pueblo people, descendants of the ancient Anasazi Nation (The Hopi reject the term Anazazi, however, because it is a Navajo word meaning "enemy of my ancestors." The Hopi prefer to say
"Hisatsinom", or Old Ones.
The name Hopi, itself, is a shortened form of the word Hopituh Shi-nu-mu, which literally means "The Peaceful People" or "Peaceful Little Ones."
Today, the Hopi live primarily on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, which is entirely surrounded by the much larger Navajo Reservation.
According to the Twenty-Second United States Census, the Hopi have a population of 6,946 people.
The Hualapai (Hwal'bay, which means 'People of the Tall Pine') live on a reservation encompassing a million acres along 108 miles of the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. The Hualapai call this middle river corridor 'Hakataya' or 'the backbone of the river'.
The Colorado River is a significant landmark for the Hualapai. Historically, all of the Yuman language family tribes were located on or near or in close proximity to the Colorado River. There is a common binding creation myth which took place at “Spirit Mountain,” or “Wikahme”, along the Colorado River near Bullhead City, Arizona.
The Hualapai are descendants from one people, a group known archaeologically as the Cerbat. The Hwal`bay originally lived in groups composed of fourteen bands. Culturally, the Hualapai consider themselves as part of the “Pai” meaning “the people.” The earliest physical remains of the Pai was found along the Willow Beach bank near the Hoover Dam in the 1960's and dates back as early as A.D. 600.
The Grand Canyon always provided important food sources for eating, for medicinal uses, and for utilitarian purposes. The major wild foods are derived from cactus fruit and from the seeds of various grasses and with the use of metates and mano stones.
An Executive Order created the reservation in 1883. Peach Springs, the tribal capital, is 50 miles east of Kingman on Historic Route 66, owes its name to peach trees growing at springs nearby.
Occupying part of three northern Arizona counties, Coconino, Yavapai and Mohave, the reservation’s topography varies from rolling grassland to forest and the rugged canyons of the Colorado River. Elevations range from 1,500 feet at the Colorado River, to over 7,300 feet at the highest point of the Aubrey Cliffs, which are located on the eastern portion of the reservation.
The total population of the Hualapai Tribe is 1,532 and the median age is 23.6 (1990 U.S. Census). Tribal, public school, state and federal governmental services provide the bulk of current full-time employment.
The principal economic activities are tourism based, cattle ranching, timber sales, and arts and crafts.
Text source: Inter Tribal Council of Arizona 
The Huaorani, Waorani or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are native Amerindians from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador (Napo, Orellana and Pastaza Provinces) who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate name Auca is a pejorative exonym used by the neighboring Quechua Indians, and commonly adopted by Spanish-speakers as well. Auca – awqa in Quechua – means "enemy".
They comprise almost 4,000 inhabitants and speak the Huaorani language, a linguistic isolate that is not known to be related to any other language. Their ancestral lands are located between the Curaray and Napo rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) south of El Coca. These homelands – approximately 120 miles (190 km) wide and 75 to 100 miles (120 to 160 km) from north to south – are threatened by oil exploration and illegal logging practices. In the past, Huaorani were able to protect their culture and lands from both indigenous enemies and settlers.
In the last 40 years, they have shifted from a hunting and gathering society to live mostly in permanent forest settlements. As many as five communities – the Tagaeri, the Huiñatare, the Oñamenane, and two groups of the Taromenane – have rejected all contact with the outside world and continue to move into more isolated areas.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Huaorani People. 
The Huichol or Wixárika (pronounced we-SHA-re-kaare) an indigenous people in western central Mexico, living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango. They are best known to the world as the Huichol, however, they refer to themselves as Wixárika in their own language.[1] The term Wixárika means "those who dress in honor of our Ancestors". [2]
For more than 1,000 years, the Wixárika have made pilgrimages from their ceremonial centers in the Sierra Madre across the Chihuahua desert to Leunar, the sacred mountain where the sun first rose. The Wixárika pilgrims traverse over 300 miles to reach Leunar, stopping to give offerings and prayers at dozens of sacred places along the way – the natural temples of a deeply spiritual people. They undertake their journey, which they call their "essence," to retrace the steps of creation, repeating the prayers of their ancestors in order to maintain the earth's equilibrium and keep their culture alive. [3]
Resources
Background Information on Mexico: Stop Mining. Save Sacred Sites–Cultural Survival
The Huitoto (we-toe-toe), also spelled Witoto, live along several different rivers in northeastern Peru (Loreto Region), southwestern Colombia (Amazonas Department) and western Brazil (Amazonas State).
Until the early part of the twentieth century, the Witoto numbered about 50,000. As a result of diseases, forced labor, and migration during the rubber boom in the latter half of the twentieth century, the Huitoto's population rapidly fell to less than 10,000. All the surviving Huitoto fled to marginal interfluvial areas. Some have returned to their traditional homelands, but others have settled in different regions and lost their ethnic identity.
With notes from everyculture.com
The Hyolmo people (also spelled Yolmo and Hyolmopa) are ethnically Buddhist people whose ancestors migrated to the Hyolmo region at some point during the 13th and 15th centuries from the Kyirong region of Tibet.
Hyolmo is considered to be a "hiding place for sacred treasures." It is said that in the 8th century, a Prominent Buddhist Master left his "sacred treasures of wisdom" (doctrine) to be revealed by powerful masters in a future time of need.
The population of the Hyolmo exceeds 50,000 within Nepal. However, the 2001 census carried out by the government only listed 579 Hyolmo people.
You can learn more about the Hyolmo at http://hyolmo.com/
The Ibaloi or Nabaloi are a subgroup of the Igorot, the Indigenous People of the Cordillera region, in the Philippines island of Luzon. Other Igorot Peoples include the Balangao, Bontoc, Ifugao, Isneg, Kalinga and Kankana-ey.
The Ibaloi are a mostly an agricultural people who cultivate rice in terraced fields. Many contemporary Ibaloi have integrated into the mainstream Filipino culture. In 1975, the Ibaloi's population was about 89,000.
The Ibaloi traditionally practised mummification. The process they used involved smoking the corpse for months to completely dehydrate the dead body, which preserved every part of the body including tattoos and internal organs. They would then encase the preserved body within a hollowed out log and place it in caves held sacred by the Ibaloi.
The Ibans are a branch of the Dayak peoples of Borneo. In Malaysia, most Ibans are located in Sarawak, a small portion in Sabah and some in west Malaysia. They were formerly known during the colonial period by the British as Sea Dayaks. Ibans were renowned for practising headhunting and tribal/territorial expansion. In ancient times the Ibans were a strong and successful warring tribe in Borneo. They speak the Iban language.
Today, the days of headhunting and piracy have been replaced with the modern era of globalization and technology. However, many Ibans have retained their heritage and continue to live in traditional houses, longhouses called rumah panjai or rumah panjang.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Iban People
The Ifugao are wet-rice agriculturalists occupying the mountainous area of northern Luzon, Philippines.
Known to the Spanish conquistadores and missionaries as the Ygolote, (Igolot, or Igorrote) and to Americans as the Igorot, the Ifugao inhabit the most rugged and mountainous part of the country.
In the Philippines and around the world, the Ifugao are best known for the Banaue Rice Terraces, which were carved into the mountains of Ifugao at least 2,000 years ago. Aside from their rice terraces, the Ifugaos are known for their literary traditions of the "hudhud" and the "alim."
The term "Ifugao" is derived from "ipugo" which means earth people or mortals or humans, as distinguished from spirits and deities. It also means "from the hill," as "pugo" means hill.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Ifugao People
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada (Northwest Territories, Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, Nunavut, Nunatukavut), Denmark (Greenland), Russia (Siberia) and the United States (Alaska). Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language. An Inuk is an Inuit person. The Inuit language is grouped under Eskimo-Aleut languages.
The Inuit live throughout most of the Canadian Arctic and subarctic: in the territory of Nunavut ("our land"); the northern third of Quebec, in an area called Nunavik ("place to live"); the coastal region of Labrador, in areas called Nunatsiavut ("our beautiful land") and Nunatukavut ("Our Ancient Land"); in various parts of the Northwest Territories, mainly on the coast of the Arctic Ocean and formerly in the Yukon. Collectively these areas are known as Inuit Nunangat.
In the US, Alaskan Inupiat live on the North Slope of Alaska and Siberian Coast, Little Diomede Island and Big Diomede Island. Greenland's Kalaallit are citizens of Denmark.
In Alaska, the term Eskimo is commonly used, because it includes both Yupik and Inupiat, while Inuit is not accepted as a collective term or even specifically used for Inupiat (who technically are Inuit). No universal replacement term for Eskimo, inclusive of all Inuit and Yupik people, is accepted across the geographical area inhabited by the Inuit and Yupik peoples.
In Canada and Greenland, the Natives prefer the word Inuit. As they consider "Eskimo" pejorative, it has fallen out of favour. In Canada, the Constitution Act of 1982, sections 25 and 35 recognised the Inuit as a distinctive group of Canadian aboriginals, who are neither First Nations nor Métis.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Inuit People
The Jarawa are a small society of hunter-gatherers who live on the isolated Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal. Their present population is estimated at between 250-350 people.
Before the 19th century, the Jarawa homelands were located in the southeast part of South Andaman Island and nearby islets. With the establishment of the initial British settlement, these are suspected to have been largely depopulated by disease shortly after 1789. The Great Andamanese Peoples were similarly decimated by disease, alcoholism and alleged British government-sponsored destruction,leaving open the western areas which the Jarawa gradually made their new homeland.
Prior to their initiating contact with settled populations in 1997, theJarawa vigorously maintained their independence and distance from external groups, actively discouraging most incursions and attempts at contact. Since 1998, they have been in increasing contact with the outside world and have increasingly been the choosers of such contact. All contact, especially with tourists, remains extremely dangerous to the Jarawa due to the risk of disease.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Jarawa People
You can learn more about the Jarawa at http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/jarawa
Jumma is a collective term for Indigenous Peoples in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.
For more than 30 years, the Jummas have experienced a near-continous wave of murder, torture, rape, land theft and displacement at the hands of the Bangladesh military and settlers wishing to occupy Jumma lands.
Though their current population is estimated at between 1 million to 1.5 million people, Jumma's are now almost completely outnumbered by settlers.
In 1997, Jumma leaders and the Bangladesh government signed the "CHT Peace Accord" which provided basic protections for the Indigenous population, including safe repatriation of indigenous refugees, regional autonomy, the withdrawal of military camps, and the return of illegally occupied lands.
Unfortunately, to date, the government has failed to implement most of the provisions outlined in the Accord.
You can learn more about the Jumma at http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/jummas
The Yudjá, also called the Juruna, Juruhuna, Yuruna, Juruûna, Geruna, and Yudya, are an indigenous people who live in the states of Mato Grosso and Pará, Brazil. They have a population of 362 (2006), up from a low of 52 in 1916 (2,000 in 1842; 200 in 1884; 150 in 1896).
"The Juruna, once the most important tribe of the Xingu, suffered the entire onslaught of the advance of rubber tappers. Especially the people from Coronel Tancredo Martins Jorge, at the mouth of the Rio Fresco, committed every sort of crime, from murder on down, against the poor Peoples, until they revolted and fled, headed by their Chief Máma, to the other side of the border of Mato Grosso, where they settled down on an island above the Martius Falls.
"Later, the Yudjá made peace with the rubber tapper Major Constantino Viana, of Pedra Seca, for whom they worked as crew members on his boats in 1916, going downriver to Altamira, when 22 of the Yudjá died within a few days. When the survivors returned with this news, the elderly Máma once again fled with the others upriver." (source: socioambiental.org)
The Juruna today are in a much more stable position; but that may soon change. Juruna lands are facing destruction at the hands of the Belo Monte dam.
The Jingpho (Jinghpaw) or Kachin Peoples largely inhabit the northern Myanmar (Burma) region. They are also one of 56 Indigenous Peoples officially recognized by the People's Republic of China and they are closely related to the people in India known as the Singpho.
In British Colonial Burma, Jingpho or Kachins were categorized by the Census as separate "races" or "tribes" according to the language, including Kachin (Jingpho), Gauri, Maru, Lashi, Szi, Maingtha, Hpon, Nung and Lisu. Other officials, missionaries and the local administration recognized them as a single ethnic group. The early independence period Burmese government recognized Kachin as an overarching category. The current Myanmar government again views the Kachin as a "major national ethnic race" comprising the Kachin, Trone, Dalaung, Jinghpaw, Gauri, Hkahku, Duleng, Maru (Lawgore), Rawang, Lashi (La Chit), Atsi and Lisu as distinct ethnic groups.
The Kaiabi (Kayabi, Kajabi, Kayaby, Caiabi, Cajabi) are an indigenous people inhabiting the northern Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, more precisely in the Xingu Indigenous Park and the Apiaká-Kayabi Reservation south of Pará. The Kaiabi speak the language of the Tupi-Guarani family. They have a population of 1,619 (in 2006).
The Kaiabi have vigorously resisted the invasion of their lands by rubber companies since the end of the 19th Century. After the 1950s, the region of the Arinos, Peixes and Teles Pires rivers was divided up into glebes that became ranches and the Kaiabi were divided into three groups. Most moved to the Xingu Indian Park, where they are outstanding for their practice of a strong and diversified agriculture, their art which is characterized by complex graphic designs inspired by their mythology, and by their active participation in the indigenous movement organized in defense of the interests of the ethnic groups of the Park.
You can learn more about the Kaiabi at socioambiental.org
Guarani-Kaiowá are an indigenous people of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. They inhabit Nhande Ru Marangatu, an area of tropical rainforest that was declared a reservation in October 2004. They are one of the three Guaraní sub-groups (the others being Ñandeva and M'bya).
It is estimated that more than 30,000 Guarani live in Brazil; and 40,000 in Paraguay, where the Guarani language is now considered to be an official language alonside Spanish.
The Guarani sub-groups have different customs and ways of social and political organisation, but all share the same religion which places great importance to the land. The Guaraní believe that all living things, including plants, animals, and water, have protective spirits. The Guarani also have a "secret" and a "sacred" language which is only used by religious leaders.
If you would like to learn more about the Guarani-Kaiowá, visit http://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/guarani-kaiowa/553
The Kalanguya Indigenous people are a distinct sub-group of the Ifugao, wet-rice agriculturalists who live the mountainous area of northern Luzon, Philippines. The Kalanguya, who refer to themselves as Ikalahan or "people of the forest", have a population of about 34,000.
In 1971, the Ikalahans became the first indigenous community in the Philippines to gain recognition for their traditional land stewardship practices. Today, the Ikalahans use those practices to manage some 57,000 hectares of forests.
As noted in the 2009 Report from the Asia Summit on Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples, the Ikalahan "aroforestry management system" includes the use of gen-gen (organic fertilizers), day-og, pangomis (inter-cropping and fallow periods) and gaik (firelines). They also devised their own Forest Improvement Technology (FIT). They run a food processing unit where they sell harvested fruits from their production forests to generate cash for their basic needs. Community members are also encouraged and supported to continue organic farming methods. As well, they delineate the forests into different functions--in effect, deviding it into conservation forests, forests where people can get wood for building their houses and where they can gather non-timber forest products and there is another part which is segregated for environmental services which they are considering to use for carbon trading. 
The Kalapalo are one of the sixteen Brazilian indigenous tribes who inhabit the Xingu National Park in the Upper Xingu river region of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. They are also one of the four peoples speaking Cariban languages in the area. They have a population of 569 (in 2010). The Kalapalo are a generally peaceful group.
The Kalapalo were the first Xingu tribe to be contacted by the Villas-Bôas brothers, in 1945. Before the arrival of the Villas Boas, the people had sporadic contact with the white man, so that the name Kalapalo was given to this group by white settlers in the late 19th century.
The Cariban dialect of the Kalapalos shows that they have not always lived in the Upper Xingu. The Kalapalo speak a dialect of a language that belongs to the southern branch of the Guyana Carib language family and their closest linguistic relatives are Ye'kuana or Makiritare in southern Venezuela and Hixkaryana language, spoken in the Nhamundá area in Brazil and Guyana.
Before the creation of the Xingu National Park in 1961, the Kalapalos lived at the confluence of the Tanguro and Kuluene, which are tributaries of the river Xingu. Since then, the Brazilian government has convinced them to settle near the Leonardo station, where medical treatment was made available. However, they frequently return to their former villages where they can grow cassava and cotton and where they can gather shellfish for art and craft-making purposes.
The Kalapalos have a strict code of ethics established by them that distinguish them from other peoples inhabiting the Upper Xingu. They all collectively share their culture as their fishing. Any public quarrels and fights are a serious violation of their code and are punished. They refrain from hunting land animals for fur by simply eating aquatic animals including fish.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Kalapalo People
Kanak (formerly also Canaque) are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific.
Kanak comprise about 44 percent of the total population of New Caledonia. The term "Kanak" is derived from kanaka maoli, a Hawaiian word that was once used indiscriminately by European explorers, traders and missionaries to refer to any non-European Pacific islander. Prior to European contact there was no unified state in New Caledonia, and no single self-appellation used to refer to its inhabitants.
The Kanak, who call their island Kanaky, are primarily subsistence fishermen and farmers. After their struggle to claim political independence failed in the mid-1980s, the Kanak obtained French recognition of their cultural identity through the 1988 Matignon Accord.
Since the mid-1990s, huge nickel mining industry projects haveve been undertaken by multinational companies such as Canadian INCO Ltd and Falconbridge, despite major opposition from the Kanak.
The Kankuamo are one of four indigenous peoples in the the Sierra Nevada region of Santa Marta, Columbia. With a population estimated at around 15,000 people, the Kankuamo are one of the few indigenous peoples to have almost no historical contact with outsiders due to their adopted survival strategy of isolation from the 'civilized' world.
Today however, along with the Kogui, Arhuaco and Wiwa, the Kankuamo are subject to a process of cultural assimilation and is facing a substantial loss of its unique culture and identity. It is thought that at some point in the foreseeable future with this continuing trend the Kankuamo will eventually become extinct as a people (Fundacion Hemera, 2006).
Like most of Colombia's Indigenous Peoples, the Kankuamo are highly spiritual and pay great reverence to the forces of nature. They are guided by the law of origin or ‘ley de origen' which they regard as being the traditional ancestral science of wisdom and knowledge which manages all that is material and spiritual. The adherence to this law is what guarantees the order and permanence of life, of the universe, and the Kankuamo as an indigenous people. The law of origin regulates the relationships between all living beings from the stones of the earth to humankind itself and tells them that Umunukunu or Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the sacred place given to the tribes of Iku, Kaggaba, Sanka y Kankuama. The orders received from the first fathers stated that from the Sierra they will be the guardians of the world with the responsibility to guard the permanence of all forms of life so that there will be continuing equilibrium and harmony between nature and humankind, being also that man is nature (OIK, Hoja de Cruz ,2006).
The Karen or Kayin people (Karen: Pwa Ka Nyaw Po or Kanyaw) people live mostly in the hills bordering the eastern region and Irrawaddy delta ofn Burma (Myanmar), where they make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people.
Due to political violence and instability, however, many Karens have sought asylum
and refugee protection in Thailand. There are roughly 400,000 Karen in Thailand today.
The Karen are often confused with the Red Karen (or Karenni). One subgroup of the Karenni, the Padaung tribe from the border region of Burma and Thailand, are best known for the neck rings worn by the women of this group of people. Karen legends refer to a 'river of running sand' which ancestors reputedly crossed. Many Karen think this refers to the Gobi Desert, although they have lived in Myanmar for centuries. The Karen constitute the biggest ethnic population in Myanmar after the Bamars and Shans.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Karen People
The Karuk (also Karok) are an indigenous people of California in the United States.
The Karuk do not have a legally designated reservation, but do have a number of small tracts held in trust by the federal government as well as tracts owned by the tribe in fee-simple status. These small non-contiguous parcels of land are primarily located along the Klamath River in western Siskiyou County and northeastern Humboldt County in California. A resident population of 333 persons was reported in the 2000 census. There are also a number of tracts located within the city of Yreka.
Since time immemorial, the Karuk, whose name means "upriver people", or "upstream" people,] have resided in villages along the Klamath River, where they continue such cultural traditions as hunting, gathering, fishing, basket making and ceremonial dances. The Karuk were the only California tribe to grow tobacco plants. The Brush Dance, Jump Dance and Pikyavish ceremonies last for several days and are practiced to heal and "fix the world," to pray for plentiful acorns, deer and salmon, and to restore social good will as well as individual good luck.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Karuk People
The Kayan people of Borneo are, like the Kenyah, often spoken of under the title Bahau or referred to as the orang ulu - ‘up river people’. They are called this as they inhabit the banks of the Baram, Bintulu and Mahakam rivers amongst others in Malaysian Sarawak and Indonesian East Kalimantan, Borneo. These rivers provide the possibility for vital transport, sustenance and trade for the Kayan population which, in the late 20th century, numbered around 27,000.
The Kayan speak languages similar to the Kenyah belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. They traditionally operate a subsistence economy based on shifting cultivation, supplementing the staple crops made available for harvesting using this technique with meat hunted and fished from the surrounding area and with gathered forest foods. Alongside these subsistence activities the Kayan used to practice a number of notable customs which have become largely extinct. These included an intensely elaborate religion with a large pantheon of gods, the practice of institutions such as augury (divination) and shamanism and also head hunting. Raids tailored toward the goal of taking heads were once common as the Kayan sought to damage their traditional foes the Land Dayaks and the Ibans. Fortunately the Kayan have been able to maintain some of their traditional skills as craftsmen and are especially well known as master smiths and carvers.
Like the Kenyah the Kayan consider the head of the Kayan river to be their point of origin. However, reports seem to suggest that this group seems to have come to the area more recently than their neighbours with whom they share much in common. It is thought that for much of their existence in a recognisable form the Kayan were a warlike and mobile conquering group from the South East of the region. It is reported that they actively enslaved other indigenous groups such as the Murut and their ferocity was well known and feared. At the turn of the 20th century however, after the Kayan had migrated to their more recent location, these aspects of Kayan culture were radically challenged. After the Brooke intervention*, which saw the deaths of prodigious numbers of Kayan and Kenyah people, this group were brought further under the control of the colonial Brooke regime which operated for just over one hundred years. This period of cultural subjugation was followed by decades of missionary proselytizing and assimilationist policies as the Kayan endured a great deal of interference.
Many Kayan have abandoned or been forced to abandon their traditional lifestyles, leaving their longhouses empty and populating coastal cities. Those who have chosen to retain their traditional lifeways are currently involved in struggles against interventions such as the Baram Dam. Threatening to flood 38,900 hectares of traditionally land to which the Kayan and other groups have customary rights and to displace 20,000 of these people, this affront to these peoples’ culture and livelihoods is indicative of their continuing struggle. Their resistance is indicative of their resolve.
* Morrison, H, 1968, Sarawak. Donald Moore Press Ltd, Singapore.
The Kayapo (Portuguese: Caiapó) people are the Gê-speaking Indigenous population of the plain lands of the Mato Grosso and Pará in Brazil, south of the Amazon Basin and along Rio Xingu and its tributaries. They call themselves Mebengokre or "the men from the water place“. In 2003, their population was 7,096.
Kayapo use a system of shifting cultivation, a type of farming where land is only cultivated for a couple of years. After that, the Kayapo move to another location and allow the old farm land to lie fallow and replenish itself.
The Kayapo get medicine from 650 different plants that they find throughout their territory.
The Kayapo people believe that their ancestors learned social skills from bees and other insects. That's why the Kayapo paint their bodies, with patterns similar to insect and animal markings. They believe that this allows them to communicate better with the Spirits that exists everywhere and in everything.
Using global media and international attention, the Kayapo people have established political power over their own land. At one time, mining and logging threatened to destroy the rainforest, and thus their way of life. In retaliation, the Kayapo people used forceful tactics to banish loggers and miners in some areas, as well as establish themselves as an economic force. Later, they were again threatened by secretive government plans to build a series of hydro-electric dams on their land. Under the leadership of Paulinho Paiakan, the Altamira Gathering was orchestrated by the Kayapo, drawing media attention worldwide. This demonstration, staged at the planned site for the first dam in Altamira, Pará, lasted several days and brought much pressure upon both the World Bank and the Brazilian government.
You can learn more about the Kayapo at socioambiental.org
Photo by Tatiana_Reis. Some Rights Reserved.
With a population of around six thousand the Kelabit are one of the smallest indigenous groups in Sarawak. Traditionally this people speak several different Kelabitic dialects belonging to the Borneo-Phillipine arm of the Austronesian language family. Today, many speak English and Malay languages due to concerted contact and migration.
Historically most Kelabit groups inhabited Longhouses known as Barios in the Kelabit Highlands in the north eastern reaches of Sarawak. There they maintained a subsistence lifestyle which revolved chiefly around wet rice cultivation. In addition to growing this vital staple Kelabit fostered citrus fruits and other vegetable products and also owned buffalo, considered important status symbols. Hunting for bush meat and gathering vegetable matter and medicines supplemented growing activities. Kelabit traditional religious activities were entwined with local environmental phenomena. Bird augury and dream interpretation were important spiritual institutions and megaliths were erected to commemorate notable individuals. The Kelabit were also known as ferocious hunters, a reputation which inspired fear in other neighboring groups.
The traditional Kelabit lifeways as described here, with the exception of head hunting, continued largely unimpeded until after the Second World War. After fighting in the war alongside US forces however, rapid social and economic changes occurred as first schools and later Christian churches were introduced into Kelabit areas.
In terms of religious change Christianity has had a profound impact since its introduction, which is largely viewed in a positive light by the Kelabit. The 1973 Christian spiritual revival amongst the Kelabit people is held by many to be an important liberation event and the majority of the population are now Christians.
Technologically Western phenomena such as television, cinema and different forms of technology arrived in the 1980s to compound earlier social changes. These additions represent the supposed ‘modernization’ of the Kelabit during this period. Numerous Kelabit ‘updated’ their longhouses with generators and electrical appliances according to the prevailing direction of development thought at the time which held that the introduction such technology would inevitably see beneficial change.
The post war period also saw vast geographical shifts for the Kelabit which continue today. Many have now chosen to migrate to low lying urbanized areas. A trend which strongly echoes the Kelabit legend that non-highlanders were originally moved on from the highland birth place of all humans by a great flood. Now it is the highlanders themselves who have struck out down river. Those who have moved, many of whom are from the younger generations, rarely practice traditional Kelabit subsistence agriculture and have instead become involved in a cash economy.
Counteracting these changes wrung in over the last sixty years or so have been tireless efforts to maintain traditional Kelabit cultural practices alongside the additions recent history has brought. The endeavor shown by members of the Kelabit in this task has meant that today much of the culture remains. Master artists making beautiful instruments, and creating practical and decorative goods out of bamboo and rattan still exist. Traditional forms of adornment such as the beautifully worked weights worn in the ears to stretch them and elaborate tattooing are still visible, though usually amongst female elders in this case. Traditional Kelabit ceremonies and dances are still practiced whilst efforts to conserve and record Kelabit oral histories are ongoing. Many of those who have chosen to stay in the highlands maintain their traditional subsistence activities. The continuing virility and importance of these activities demonstrates that traditional knowledge and technology belong in and should be acknowledged as part of a ‘modern’ world rather than being viewed as ineffective anachronisms.
Kelabit efforts toward cultural conservation are not without obstacles however. The ongoing exodus of young Kelabit threatens to de-stabilise efforts toward cultural continuity whilst the interest of agricultural firms in developing the Kelabit highlands for large scale agriculture is worrying for those reliant on the land.
The Kenyah, also known as orang ulu - ‘upriver people' along with their close neighbours the Kayan - are based in Sarawak and East Kalimantan the Malaysian and Indonesian sections of Borneo respectively. They may also be referred to as a Bahau people, a generalizing term which belies the fact that the term Kenyah is itself a grouping term referring to over forty groups with similar migration histories, customs and dialects and to over one hundred and ten communities. These groups generally speak a variety of the six Kenyah languages which all belong to the Austronesian language family.
Based on the Indonesian and Malaysian Censuses from they year 2000 there are 44,350 Kenyah inhabiting areas of East Kalimantan and 24,906 areas of Sarawak. Many of this population inhabit the river headwaters of the Balui and Baram in areas of tropical jungles whilst others have more recently moved to live in more urbanized coastal areas. Along the rivers Kenyah people live/lived in very large community longhouses, usually at a confluence to ensure good transport by canoe. In their traditional homelands the Kenyah are swidden agriculturalists, cutting and burning small areas of forest to grow dry rice on hill padi, they also hunt and gather to supplement their diets. Most remain agriculturalists in some form today. Kenyah groups are also well known as exceptional craftsmen, boatsmen and for their ceremonies in which they display their prowess as both singers and dancers. In pre-modern times the the Kenyah practiced an animistic religion known as Bungan, but as a result of missionary activity most are now Christians whilst some have converted to Islam.
The Kenyah consider their origins to lie at the source waters of the Kayan river and appear to have inhabited the area they remain in for considerably longer than other groups. It is also established fact that the Kenyah had a great rivalry with Iban and Land Dayak peoples with whom they warred frequently and vied with in head hunting feuds. Much of the persecution felt by this group later in their history has been shared by their Kayan cousins as both have undergone religious suppression and had political power in their own lands wrested from them. The power of self determination was effectively taken from the Kenyah as a result of Charles Brooke’s expedition in 1863 which drove into the heart of Kenyah-Kayan territory with help from rival Iban warriors*. This resulted in a prodigious loss of life, ending the resistance of these peoples to rule the of the Rajah of Sarawak. The Brooke regime which followed this bloody campaign ensured that it’s legacy was felt and suppressed numerous traditional practices including the head hunting for which the area is well know. Since this time the Kenyah have adopted certain beliefs and customs such as the aforementioned religious orientations, though Christian churches and rituals in the area often still contain aspects of Bungan worship.
Today the Kenyah face issues similar to those encountered by many indigenous populations who inhabit valuable tropical forests. Lacking efficient protective measures illegal logging occurs frequently on Kenyah communal lands as companies such as Samling Timber seek to exploit their resources. When logging occurs legally the Kenyah often do not receive the benefits they are legally entitled to as stakeholders in the land. They continue to fight for their land title and to oppose illegal intrusions and extractions.
* Morrison, H, 1968, Sarawak. Donald Moore Press Ltd, Singapore.
The Kgeikani Kweni (First People of the Kalahari), more commonly known as the San or the Bushmen, are Indigenous Peoples of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. With a population of about 1,000 people, the Kgeikani Kweni are a part of the much larger Khoisan Peoples, who consist of several different groups in Botswana, Gambia and South Africa.
The Kgeikani Kweni strongly object to being called San, because it is a term that was applied to them by their ethnic relatives and historic rivals the Khoi [1]. The term is derogatory and racist. The Kgeikani Kweni would much rather be known simply as the Bushmen, even though the term is considered by some (outsiders) to be just as offensive as San.
Starting in the 1950s, government-mandated modernization programs forced the Bushemen to abandon their traditional subsistence way of life and become farmers. That policy lasted until the 1990s, when the government switched gears and implemented a relocation policy, forcing the Bushmen off their ancestral land on the Central Kalahari Game Reserve into newly created settlements.
Many Bushmen are still in those settlements today. Fortunately, in December 2006, the Bushmen won a landmark victory in the Botswana courts. The judges ruled that the forced relocation was unlawful, and that Bushmen have the right to return home.
However, despite the judgment, the government refuses to let the Bushmen hunt or gain access to what precious little water there is on their land. The government has also refused to help them return home.
Kichwa or Quichua refers to the Kichwa-speaking people of Ecuador. The Kichwa are a part of a much larger population in South America (Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Argentina) known as the Quechuas (also Runakuna and Ingas).
The Kichwa inhabit both the highlands and lowlands of Ecuador. The way of life of the lowland Kichwa has been significantly altered only in the past few decades. Many Kichwa still hold true to their customs and cultivate yuca and other traditional foods in permaculture gardens.
The Kichwa's current population (in Ecuador) is estimated at about 80,000 people.
The Kitasoo are one of the 14 tribes of the Tsimshian people in Canada, who inhabit, along with Xai'xais people of Heiltsuk ethnic affiliation, the village of Klemtu, British Columbia. The name Kitasoo derives from the Tsimshian name Gidestsu, from git- (people of) and disdzuu, which refers to a large, tiered house-depression. The Kitasoo, along with the Gitga'ata Tsimshians at Hartley Bay, B.C., are often classed as "Southern Tsimshian," their traditional language being the southern dialect of the Tsimshian language. Their band government is the Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nation, a member government of the Oweekeno-Kitasoo-Nuxalk Tribal Council.
Excerpted from Wikipedia's article on the Kitasoo Peoples
The Kogi (or Cogui or Kágaba) live in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta in northern Colombia. They are one of four indigenous peoples in the mountainous region, who refer to themselves as the Elder Brothers living in the "Heart of the World" (the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta). Those not living in the Heart of the World are called "Younger Brothers."
The Kogi base their lifestyles on their belief in "The Great Mother," their creator figure, whom they believe is the force behind nature, providing guidance. The Kogi’s understand the Earth to be a living being, and see the colonizers' mining, building, pollution and other activities damaging the Great Mother.
From birth the Kogi’s attune their priests, called Mamas, to the mystic world called Aluna. It is in this "spirit-realm" that the Mamas operate to help the Great Mother sustain the Earth. Through deep meditation and symbolic offerings, the Mamas believe they support the balance of harmony and creativity in the world. It is also in this realm that the essence of agriculture is nurtured: seeds are blessed in Aluna before being planted, to ensure they grow successfully.
The Kogi, along with the Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kankuamo--direct descendants of the Tayrona--are one of the few indigenous peoples in the western hemisphere to have almost no historical contact with outsiders due to their adopted survival strategy of isolation from the 'civilized' world.
Today, however, they are, like other Indigenous Peoples in Colombia, caught in the ongoing conflict between Colombia and Illegal armed groups like FARC and ELN.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Kogi People 
The Kuikuro today are the most populous Indigenous people of the upper Xingu region in Brazil. The constitute a Carib sub-group alongside other groups that speak dialect variants of the same language (Kalapalo, Matipu and Nahukuá) and make up the multi-lingual system known as upper Xingu, found in the southern part of the Indigenous Park of the Xingu.
The Carib peoples can be considered to be as important as the Aruak peoples (Waujá and Mehinako) in the history of the development of this system, although the Aruak are credited with being the original source. The Kuikuro are the original producers of the famous snail shell necklaces and belts that continue to play a key role in the traditional system of exchanges and payments in the upper Xingu.
You can learn more about the Kuikuro at socioambiental.org
The term Kwakiutl, historically applied to the entire Kwakwaka'wakw ethno-linguistic group of originally 28 peoples, comes from one of the Kwakwaka'wakw tribes, the Kwagu'l or Kwagyeulth, at Fort Rupert, with whom Franz Boas did most of his anthropological work and whose Indian Act Band government is the Kwakiutl First Nation. The term is now considered a misnomer by most of the peoples it is applied to, the correct term for whom is Kwakwaka'wakw, which means Kwak'wala-speaking-peoples, although some bands such as the Laich-kwil-tach at Campbell River still embrace it -they are known as the Southern Kwakiutl and the tribal council they are in is the Kwakiutl District Council (which includes the Kwakiutl First Nation). The Kwakiutls are known for potlatches. 
The K'ho Lach (Lat) are an indigenous people in the Lam Dong province of Vietnam's Central Highlands.
The Lenca are an indigenous people of southwestern Honduras and eastern El Salvador. They once spoke the Lenca language, which is now considered extinct. In Honduras, the Lenca are the largest indigenous group with an estimated population of 100,000. El Salvador's Lenca population is estimated at about 37,000.
The pre-Conquest Lenca had frequent contact with various Maya groups as well as other indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America. Lenca are often mistakenly identified as being related to the Maya peoples, because the Lenca language shared some similar features with major neighboring language families of Mesoamerica.
Lenca culture has undergone centuries of acculturation preceding the Spanish conquest. Like other indigenous groups of Central America, they represent one of the many stages of acculturation, with the changing of cultural relationships to the land. While there are ongoing political problems over indigenous land rights and identity, the Lenca have been able to retain many Pre-Columbian traditions. Although they have lost much of their native culture, including their indigenous language, the living Lenca preserve enough of their traditional ways to identify themselves as indigenous peoples.
The Lenca of El Salvador currently reside in the Eastern departments of Usulután, San Miguel, Morazán, and La Unión north and east of the Lempa River. In Honduras, Lenca populations and settlements are in the central department of La Paz, and the western departments of Lempira, Ocotepeque, Intibucá, Comayagua, Francisco Morazán, and Choluteca.
Excerpted from Wikipedia
The Lepcha or Róng people, also called Róngkup ("children of the Róng") and Mútuncí Róngkup Rumkup ("beloved children of the Róng and of God"), and Rongpa, are the Indigenous people of Sikkim, India. Many Lepcha are also found in western and southwestern Bhutan, Tibet, Darjeeling, the Ilam District of eastern Nepal, and in the hills of West Bengal.. Overall, there are between 30,000 and 50,000 Lepchas.
The Lepchas are divided into many clans (Lepcha: putsho), each of which reveres its own sacred lake and mountain peak (Lepcha: dâ and cú) from which the clan derives its name.
Excerpted from Wikipedia
The Lumad is a term being used to denote a group of indigenous peoples of the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (literally "indigenous peoples"), the autonym officially adopted by the delegates of the Lumad Mindanaw Peoples Federation (LMPF) founding assembly on 26 June 1986 at the Guadalupe Formation Center, Balindog, Kidapawan, Cotabato, Philippines. It is the self-ascription and collective identity of the non-Islamized indigenous peoples of Mindanao.
There are 18 Lumad ethnolinguistic groups namely, Atta, Bagobo, Banwaon, B’laan, Bukidnon, Dibabawon, Higaonon, Mamanwa, Mandaya, Manguwangan, Manobo, Mansaka, Subanon, Tagakaolo, Tasaday, Tboli, Teduray, and Ubo.
The Maasai (also Masai) are a semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the most well known Indigenous People in all of Africa, due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near wildlife areas in East Africa which are now considered game parks.
The Maasai speak Maa, which is a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family. The Maasai population has reported as numbering 840,000 in Kenya in the 2009 census, compared to 377,000 in 1989.
The Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have instituted programs to encourage the Maasai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, but the people have continued their age-old customs. Recently, Oxfam has claimed that the lifestyle of the Maasai should be embraced as a response to climate change because of their ability to farm in deserts and scrublands. Many Maasai tribes throughout Tanzania and Kenya welcome visits to their village to experience their culture, traditions, and lifestyle.
The Machiguenga (also Machigenga, Matsigenka, Matsigenga) are an indigenous people of the Amazon Basin jungle regions of southeastern Peru, east of Machu Picchu and close to the borders of Bolivia and Brazil. Their culture is based around the hunter-gatherer concept, and they cultivate swidden agricultural plots. The main crop grown is cassava, and their main protein is a small rodent called paca. During the dry season, they also use fishing to supplement their dietary protein.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Machiguenga Peoples
The Macuxi (Portuguese: Macuxi) are an ethnic group of southern Guyana and northern Brazil. There are approximately 15,000 Macushi speakers in Brazil and 9,000 in Guyana.
The Macushi see themselves as descendants of the sun's children, who created fire, as well as diseases, and they also believe they discovered Washacá – Tree of Life. The Macushi believe in the life principle – stkaton – and they believe it comes from the sun.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Macuxi Peoples
Manggarai are Indonesian people inhabiting western Flores, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, in Indonesia. Numbering approximately 500,000 in the late 20th century, the Manggarai speak a language in the Bima-Sumba subgroup of Indonesian languages.
The Manggarai were historically ruled alternately by the Bimanese of Sumbawa and the Makassarese of Celebes. Their own political system is based on clans, led by the chief of the Todo clan. Manggarai descent is patrilineal, and the fundamental settlement pattern is the village, which is composed of at least two clans. Each clan traditionally existed in relationship with two others; a group of three clans had complementary roles in providing and receiving marriage partners, but today marriage rules are more flexible. The Manggarai practice swidden agriculture, growing rice and corn (maize); permanent rice terraces became more common after 1960. They also grow coffee, onions, and mung beans for export and raise horses and water buffalo.
As a result of the Dutch influx in the 20th century, most of the Manggarai are Roman Catholic.
The Maori are the native or indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand (Aotearoa – The Long White Cloud). They arrived in New Zealand from eastern Polynesia in several waves at some time before 1300 CE. Over several centuries in isolation, the Maori developed a unique culture with their own language, a rich mythology, distinctive crafts and performing arts. They formed a tribal society based on East Polynesian social customs and organisation. Horticulture flourished using plants they introduced, and after about 1450 a prominent warrior culture emerged.
The arrival of Europeans to New Zealand starting from the 17th century brought enormous change to the Maori way of life. Maori people gradually adopted many aspects of Western society and culture. Initial relations between Maori and Europeans were largely amicable, and with the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 the two cultures coexisted as part of a new British colony. However, rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s. Social upheaval, decades of conflict and epidemics of disease took a devastating toll on the Maori population. But by the start of the 20th century the Maori population had begun to recover, and efforts were made to increase their standing in wider New Zealand society. A marked Maori cultural revival gathered pace in the 1960s and is continuing.
In 2010, there were an estimated 660,000 Maori in New Zealand, making up roughly 15% of the national population. They are the second-largest ethnic group in New Zealand, after European New Zealanders ("Pakeha"). In addition there are over 100,000 Maori living in Australia. The Maori language is spoken to some extent by about a quarter of all Maori, and 4% of the total population, although many New Zealanders regularly use Maori words and expressions in normal speech such as "Kia ora". Maori are active in all spheres of New Zealand culture and society, with independent representation in areas such as media, politics and sport.
The Maori face significant economic and social obstacles, with lower life expectancies and incomes compared with other New Zealand ethnic groups, in addition to higher levels of crime, health problems and educational under-achievement. Socioeconomic initiatives have been implemented aimed at closing the gap between Maori and other New Zealanders. Political redress for historical grievances is also ongoing.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Maori People
The Mapuche people are the original inhabitants of a vast territory in what is now Chile and Argentina. In Chile the Mapuche live mainly in the provinces of Bio-Bio, Arauco, Malleco, Cautin, Valdivia, Osorno, Llanquihue and Chiloe. As a result of population growth and hence overcrowding in indigenous reservations, the majority of Mapuche people now live in the large urban centres of Santiago, Concepción, Valparaíso, Temuco and Valdivia. In Argentina the Mapuche live in the provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Neuquén, Rio Negro and Chubut. The Mapuche population in Argentina has grown to around two hundred and fifty thousand. In the Chilean population census of 1992, carried out by the National Institute of Statistics, approximately one million people surveyed declared themselves to be Mapuche [1]
Historically the Mapuche, whose name means "Earth People", were known to the Spanish as the Araucanians (araucanos); However, this term is now mostly considered to be pejorative.[2]
In 1641, the Spanish signed the Treaty of Quillin which defined the Mapuche traditional territory. However, with the defeat of the Spanish in 1810, the original treaties of 1641 were abrogated. The new Republics of Chile and Argentina instigated their own treaties which led to the gradual takeover of the Mapuche territory.
Just 50 years later, between 1860-1885, the Chilean and Argentinian armies invaded the Mapuche territory in a massive dispossession recorded in Chile as the "Pacification of the Araucanian", and in Argentina as the "Campaign of the Desert". Around 100,000 Mapuche were massacred as a result of the joint military campaign. [3]
Despite the historical subjugation (which is, in several respects, ongoing) the Mapuche continue to speak their own language (Mapu-dugun), and practice their own customs and traditions.
However, the Mapuche are still under a considerable amount of pressure, especially in Chile, where the needs and rights of the indigenous peoples are continually ignored.
The Maya people constitute a diverse range of Indigenous Peoples in southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a convenient collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term embraces many distinct populations, societies, and ethnic groups, who each have their own particular traditions, cultures, and historical identity.
There are an estimated 7 million Maya living in this area at the start of the 21st century. Ethnic Maya of Guatemala, southern Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula, Belize, El Salvador, and western Honduras have managed to maintain substantial remnants of their ancient cultural heritage. Some are quite integrated into the majority hispanicized Mestizo cultures of the nations in which they reside, while others continue a more traditional culturally distinct life, often speaking one of the Maya languages as a primary language.
The largest populations of contemporary Maya inhabit Guatemala, Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador, as well as large segments of population within the Mexican states of Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, and Chiapas.
Excerpted from Wikipedia
The Mazahua are an indigenous people of Mexico, inhabiting the northwestern portion of the State of Mexico and northeastern area of Michoacán, with a presence also in the Federal District owing to recent migration. The largest concentration of Mazahua is found in the municipalities of San Felipe del Progreso and San José del Rincón, both in Mexico state (Estado de México), near Toluca. According to the 1990 Mexican census Mazahua speakers numbered 127,826; the Ethnologue counts some 350,000 Mazahua.
The word Mazahua is of Nahuatl origin meaning "the owners of deer", probably referring to the rich fauna of the mountainous region inhabited by the Mazahua. However they refer to themselves as Hñatho.
The Mazahua subsist mainly on the extensive agriculture of maize, squash and beans, and they also produce wool and wooden handicrafts.
Recently the Mazahua were affected adversely by the Cutzamala dam operation, which caused many Mazahua, mainly women, to take up arms and form civil rights movements to protect their land claims and human rights.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Mazahua PeoplesThe Miskito (Misquito, Misqito) live in an area that stretches along the Mosquito coast from Cape Camaron, Honduras to Rio Grande, Nicaragua. With a population of as many as 200,000 people they are a numerous indigenous group compared to many. The majority of the populus, some 180,000, speak Miskito, a Misumalpan language. Spanish and Creole English are also relatively widely spoken, mainly as second languages.
Historically, the Miskito operated a mixed subsistence economy of hunting, gathering, fishing and gardening. They were particularly known for their fishing skills.
Today the Miskito remain remain connected to their maritime roots, being heavily involved in the lobster export industry. Many other subsistence activities of the Miskito have now become similarly commercially focused; many men join migrant labour forces and women assume full responsibility for household economic decisions and ownership.
Miskito history is spattered with conflict and contact with both seemingly benevolent and openly aggressive foreigners. First contact was established with Northern European privateers, who's ships wrecking led to the mixing of some Miskito groups with the slaves who were freed by the wreckage and came to shore. Miskito groups who mixed with African ex-slaves became known as Miskitos Zambos. Later, a relationship of sorts was struck with the British resulting in an informal trade agreement which saw the Miskitos protected from the Spaniards through the establishment of a Miskito kingdom which became a British protectorate. Until 1894 a degree of autonomy was kept; but in this year the Miskito kingdom was assimilated into the state of Nicaragua. Resistance proved unsuccessful and by this time many Miskito had adopted Christianity and European names and dress.
In more recent times, the Miskito have fought against state intervention and unfair land expropriation. In the 1980's Miskito guerrilla bands formed. Popularly known as contras, they fought the left wing Sandinista Junta of Nicaragua which sought to dispossess and disempower the Miskito. They suffered massacres and many fled to neighbouring Honduras but their fight alongside others was ultimately successful. In 1992, with the Sandinista Junta defeated, security zones were created.
The Miskito are now striving for further autonomy, announcing the independence of The Community Nation Of Moskitia from Nicaragua in 2009. As yet there has been no formal global or Nicaraguan response to this declaration.
The Mi'kmaq (also spelled Micmac, Miigmaq, Mi’gmaq, Mìgmaq) are a First Nations people, indigenous to the northeastern region of New England, Canada's Atlantic Provinces, and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. The nation has a population of about 40,000 (plus 21,429 in the Qalipu First Nation), of whom nearly 11,000 speak the Míkmaq language.
The Mi'kmaq historically referred to themselves as Lnu, but used the term níkmaq (my kin) as a greeting. The French initially referred to the Míkmaq as Souriquois and later as Gaspesiens or (through English) "Mickmakis". The British originally referred to them as Tarrantines.
The Mi'kmaw territory was divided into seven traditional "districts". Each district had its own independent government and boundaries. The independent governments had a district chief and a council. The council members were band chiefs, elders, and other worthy community leaders. The district council was charged with performing all the duties of any independent and free government by enacting laws, justice, apportioning fishing and hunting grounds, making war, suing for peace, etc.
The Seven Mi'kmaq Districts are Kespukwitk, Sikepnékatik, Eskíkewaq, Unamákik, Piktuk aqq Epekwitk, Sikniktewaq, and Kespékewaq.
In addition to the district councils, there was also a Grand Council or Santé Mawiómi. The Grand Council was composed of "Keptinaq", or captains in English, who were the district chiefs. There were also Elders, the Putús (Wampum belt readers and historians, who also dealt with the treaties with the non-natives and other Native tribes), the women council, and the Grand Chief. The Grand Chief was a title given to one of the district chiefs, which was usually from the Mi'kmaq district of Unamáki or Cape Breton Island. This title was hereditary and usually went to the Grand Chief's eldest son. The Grand Council met on a little island on the Bras d'Or lake in Cape Breton called "Mniku", on a reserve today called Chapel Island or Potlotek. To this day, the Grand Council still meets at the Mniku to discuss current issues within the Mi'kmaq Nation.
The Mi'kmaq were members of the Wapnáki (Wabanaki Confederacy), an alliance with four other Algonquian-language nations: the Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Maliseet. The allied tribes ranged from present-day New England in the United States to the Maritime Provinces of Canada.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Mi'kmaq Peoples
The Mursi (or Murzu) are a pastoralist ethnic group that inhabits southwestern Ethiopia. They principally reside in the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region, close to the border with South Sudan. According to the 2007 national census, there are 7,500 Mursi, 448 of whom live in urban areas; of the total number, 92.25% live in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR).
Mursi from Dinka
Surrounded by mountains between the Omo River and its tributary the Mago, the home of the Mursi is one of the most isolated regions of the country. Their neighbors include the Aari, the Banna, the Bodi, the Kara, the Kwegu, the Me'en, the Nyangatom and the Suri. They are grouped together with the Me'en and Suri by the Ethiopian government under the name Surma.
The Mursi have declared their territory a community conservation area as of July, 2008 and have begun a community tourism project, http://www.mursicommunity.org/.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Mursi Peoples
The Muscogee (or Muskogee), also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Their language, Mvskoke, is a member of the Muscogee branch of the Muscogean language family.
The Muscogee were the first Native Americans to be "civilized" under George Washington's civilization plan. In the 19th century, the Muscogee were known as one of the "Five Civilized Tribes", because they had integrated numerous cultural and technological practices of their more recent European American neighbors. Influenced by their prophetic interpretations of an 1811 comet and earthquake, the Upper Towns of the Muscogee, supported by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh, began to resist European-American encroachment. Internal divisions with the Lower Towns led to the Red Stick War (Creek War, 1813-1814); begun as a civil war within the Muscogee Nation, it enmeshed them in the War of 1812 against the United States.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Muscogee Peoples
The term Naga (Burmese: Naka, Hindi: नागा) refers to a conglomeration of several tribes inhabiting the North Eastern part of India and north-western Burma. The tribes have similar cultures and traditions, and form the majority ethnic group in the Indian state of Nagaland. Some of the prominent Naga tribes are Angami, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Lotha, Pochury, Phom, Poumai, Rengma, Sangtam, Sema (Sumi), Mao (Memai) , Yimchunger, Zeliang(Zeme and Liangmai).
There are 16 officially recognized tribes in the Nagaland state of India. The other Naga tribes can be found in the contiguous adjoining states of Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and across the border in Burma. Some of these tribes are: Zeme, Liangmai, Mao (Memai), Nocte, Phom, Pochuri, Poumai Naga, Rongmei, Tangsa, Tutsa, and Wancho.
The Naga people traditionally are tribally organized, with a strong warrior tradition. Their villages are sited on hilltops and until the later part of the 19th century, they made frequent armed raids on the plains below. Although the tribes exhibit variation to a certain degree, considering the diversity in their languages and some traditional practices, they have many similarities in their cultures which set them apart from the neighboring occupants of the region. Almost all these tribes have a similar dress code, eating habit, customs, traditional laws etc. However, one trait that sets them apart from the other groups in the region is their Head Hunting Custom (Which was prevalent at one point of time in Nagaland and among Naga tribes in Myanmar) Though they no longer practice head hunting at present.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Naga people
The Páez people, also known as the Nasa, are an indigenous people in the department of Cauca, southwestern Colombia.
The term “páez” is the Spanish version of the word pats, “to the right [of the Cauca River]”. The system of encomienda established by the conquistadors during the colonization efforts undertaken upon the Americas in the 16th century created a Nasa labour force that rebelled against the Spanish domination and put up a fight of resistance that ultimately lead to an agreement with the Spanish Crown in the early 18th century. Through this agreement, the Nasa people got certain autonomy in their 'resguardos' (indigenous reservations) in exchange for their acceptance of colonial rule and Christianity. However, the few rights that they were allowed to exercise were reduced over time; and, as time passed, the reductions in freedoms and territory became more and more evident.
In recent decades, the Nasa have been caught up in the ongoing armed conflict between the Colombian army, the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and right-wing paramilitaries. In the 1980s some Nasa people briefly formed their own armed group, Quintin Lame, to fight back. However, when it became apparent that Quintin Lame was doing more harm than good, it was demobilised.
The Nasa then declared themselves 'actively neutral' and rejected all forms of violence; that neutrality--coupled with the Nasa's fierce independence-- attracted harassment, kidnappings, murders and massacres of entire communities. In 2001 The Nasa responded to this violence by organising the 'Indigenous Guard', a permanent, nonviolent, civil defence organisation. At present the Guard has about 6,000 active members charged with protecting communities by preventing the incursion of armed groups into the tribe's territorial reserves. 
The Naso or Teribe (also Tjër Di) are an indigenous people of Panama and Costa Rica. They primarily live in northwest Panama in the Bocas del Toro Province. There are roughly 3,500 people who belong to the Naso tribe. It is one of the few indigenous societies that continue to have a monarchy.
The Naso people have traditionally occupied the mountainous jungle regions of western Bocas del Toro where they continue to identify with the lands along the river that became known in the Spanish speaking world as the Teribe or Tjër Di in Naso. ‘Di’ means ‘water’ and 'Tjër' is their mythical “Grand-Mother” who was endowed by God with the secrets of botanical medicine (Instituto de Estudios de las Tradiciones Sagradas de Abia Yala 2001:68). Until as recently as three or four generations ago the Naso people led a remarkably autonomous existence. Dispersed among their clans and homesteads, and geographically isolated from most of the world, the Naso developed and nurtured their cultural self-sufficiency through the idiom and the institution of the family.
The tribe is governed by a king. The succession, according to tradition, would follow from the king to his brother, to the older son of the previous king. Since the 1980s, succession is based on the vote of the adult population. Typically, when there is a sense within the community that there is dissatisfaction with the current king (or sometimes queen, for instance queen Rufina), another member of the royal family may choose to stand for a public vote to see if they can replace the current king. In 2004 King Tito was deposed following his approval of a hydro electric scheme on the River Bonyic which traverses Naso territory. He was deposed in a civil uprising in the capital - Seiyik - and forced into exile. His uncle is now considered the King of Naso by the majority of the tribe, although this state of affairs is yet to be recognised by the Panamanian Government.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Naso Peoples More commonly known as the Navajo, the Dineh (Dine or Naabeehó) of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members.[1] The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the Four Corners area of the United States. The Navajo language is spoken throughout the region, although most Navajo speak English as well.
Visit the Navajo Nations official site by clicking HERE.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Navajo People
The Ngobe People (also spelled Ngäbe or Ngöbe) can be found primarily in the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca in the Western Panamanian provinces of Veraguas, Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro, as well as in the indigenous town of Conte, Costa Rica near the southern tip of the country.
The Ngobe traditionally referred to themselves as the Guaymí-- a term that simply means "people" in the Ngäbe language. The term is infrequently used today. More often, the Ngobe are referred to as Ngöbe Buglé---this is a union of the Ngobe (Ngöbe) and the Bokota (Buglé) Peoples who live together in the Ngöbe–Buglé Comarca (an indigenous province that signifies a high degree of administrative autonomy). Although both Indigenous Peoples are closely associated, the Ngäbe and Buglé are two separate linguistic/indigenous groups whose languages are mutually unintelligble.
Historically, Ngobe subsistence relied on crop raising, small-scale livestock production, hunting, and fishing; however, external pressures on the Ngobe's land has led to a significant decrease in local wildlife, which has forced many Ngobe to take part in a cash economy. As a direct result of this, the Ngobe-Bugle are considered to be the most impoverished of all indigenous Peoples in Panama.
Despite their past and present-day challenges, however, the Ngobe have largely maintained their customs, traditions and language. According to some estimates, there are 250,000 Ngäbere speakers.
The Nisga'a (pronounced nisqa), often formerly spelled Nishga and spelled in the Nisga’a language as Nisga’a, are an Indigenous nation or First Nation in Canada. They live in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. Their name comes from a combination of two Nisga’a words: Nisk’-"top lip" and Tl’ak’-"bottom lip". This term was used because K’alii-aksim Lisims (Nass River Valley) is so bountiful that many living creatures come to it to feed. The Nisga’a saw that every living creature used its Nisk’ and Tl’ak’ to eat, therefore... Nisga’a!
The Nisga’a people number about 6,000. In British Columbia, the Nisga’a Nation is represented by four Villages: Gitlakdamix (New Aiyansh), Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City), Laxgalts’ap (Greenville), Gingolx (Kincolith).
The government bodies of the Nisga'a include the Nisga'a Lisims Government, the government of the Nisga'a Nation, and the Nisga'a Village Governments, one for each of the four Nisga'a Villages. The Nisga'a Lisims Government is embodied in the Wilp Si'Ayuukhl Nisga'a and located in in the Nisga's Lisims Government Building in Gitlakdamix.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Nisga'a people
The Nyangatom (sometimes written Inyangatom, also known as Donyiro or Bumé) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting southwestern Ethiopia and southeastern South Sudan. Numerically small and bellicose, they tend herds in a particularly inhospitable part of the disputed Ilemi Triangle.
The Nyangatom are related to the Toposa, their only friendly neighbours, in the extreme southeast of South Sudan. Their language is one of the Eastern Nilotic languages, closely related to Karimojong, and Teso of Uganda, Toposa and Turkana; these languages together form the cluster of Teso-Turkana languages.
They are called by the pejorative exonym Bume meaning "the smelly ones" by their neighbours (all but one ethnic group in the region being their enemies) such as the Suri and Turkana in the Omo valley.
Since the 1990s they have been armed with automatic weapons from Ethiopia because of their dispute with the Turkana. They struggle to get water, as they have to dig wells, whereas other local ethnic groups just go to the rivers. Food is often scarce; the men herd animals, while doing this they must have guns (commonly used guns are AK-47s, smuggled in from the Sudan) ready at all time, to protect their cattle from violent raiders which can strike at any time. While herding their animals the men live on a staple of milk and blood taken from their cows (without harming them seriously). Upon killing an enemy they scar themselves repeatedly to stop the bad blood from magically killing them. They are blessed and have their names changed when they kill.[citation needed]
The Nyangatom were in danger of displacement and or denial of access to grazing and agricultural land, by African Parks Foundation, also known as African Parks Conservation, of the Netherlands.
The Nyangatom were coerced into signing documents they could not read by government park officials. The documents said the Suri agreed to give up their land without compensation. The documents are being used to legalize the boundaries of the Omo National Park, which African Parks has taken over. This process, when finished, will make the Nyangatom 'illegal squatters' on their own land. A similar fate is befalling the Mursi, Dizi and Surma, who also live within the park.
463 houses were burned down in Nechisar National Park on November 25, 2005, and people were evicted, after African Parks Foundation signed an agreement with the government to take it over.
The landloss threat ended in 2008 when African Parks Foundation withdrew from its lease of Omo and Nechisar National Parks in Ethiopia.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Nyangatom people
The Ogoni people are one of the many indigenous peoples in the region of southeast Nigeria. They share common oil related environmental problem with the Ijaw people of Niger Delta, but Ogonis are not listed in the list of people historically belonging to Niger Delta. They number about one point five million people and live in a 404-square-mile (1,050 km2) homeland which they also refer to as Ogoni, or Ogoniland.
The Ogoni rose to international attention after a massive public protest campaign against Shell Oil, led by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
The territory is located in Rivers State on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, east of the city of Port Harcourt. It extends across the Local Government Areas (LGAs) Khana, Gokana, Tai, and Eleme. Traditionally, Ogoniland is divided into the six kingdoms of Babbe, Eleme, Gokana, Ken-Khana, Nyo-Khana, and Tai.
The Ogoni speak the related, mutually intelligible languages of Khana, Gokana, Tai, Eleme and Ban Ogoi part of the linguistic diversity of the Niger Delta.
Like many peoples on the Guinea coast, the Ogoni have an internal political structure subject to community by community arrangement, including appointment of chiefs and community development bodies, some recognized by government and others not. They survived the period of the slave trade in relative isolation, and did not lose any of their members to enslavement. After Nigeria was colonized by the British in 1885, British soldiers arrived in Ogoni by 1901. Major resistance to their presence continued through 1914.
The Ogoni were integrated into a succession of economic systems at a pace that was extremely rapid and exacted a great toll from them. At the turn of the twentieth century, “the world to them did not extend beyond the next three or four villages,” but that soon changed. Ken Saro-Wiwa, the late president of MOSOP, described the transition this way: “if you then think that within the space of seventy years they were struck by the combined forces of modernity, colonialism, the money economy, indigenous colonialism and then the Nigerian Civil War, and that they had to adjust to these forces without adequate preparation or direction, you will appreciate the bafflement of the Ogoni people and the subsequent confusion engendered in the society.”
The Ogoni people have been victims of human right violations for many years. In 1993, following protests that were designed to stop contractors from laying a new pipeline for Shell, the Mobile Police Force men (MPF) raided the area to quell the unrest. In the chaos that followed, it has been alleged that 27 villages were raided, resulting in the death of 2,000 Ogoni people and displacement of 80,000.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Ogoni Peoples
Orang Asli (lit. "original people", "natural people" or "aboriginal people" in Malay), is a generic Malaysian term used for people indigenous to Peninsular Malaysia. Officially, there are 18 orang asli tribes.
Orang Asli kept to themselves until the first traders from India arrived in first millennium AD. Living in the interior they bartered inland products like resins, incense woods and feathers for salt, cloth and iron tools. The rise of the Malay sultanates, coinciding with trade in Orang Asli slaves, forced the group to retreat further inland to avoid contact with outsiders. The arrival of British colonists brought further inroads in the lives of Orang Asli. They were the target of Christian missionary and subjects of anthropological research.
Slave raids into Orang Asli settlements were quite common feature back in the 18th and 19th centuries. These slave-raiders were mainly local Malays and Bataks, who considered the Orang Asli as 'kafirs', 'non-humans', 'savages' and 'jungle-beasts.' The modus operandi was basically to swoop down a settlement and then kill off all the adult men. Women and children were captured alive as they are 'easier to tame.' The captives Orang Asli slaves were sold off or given to local rulers and chieftains to gain their favour. Slaves trade soon developed and even continued into the present century despite the official abolition of all forms of slavery in 1884. The derogatory term sakai was used to refer to the Orang Asli until the middle of the 20th century meant slave or dependent. Many of the elders Orang Asli still remember this period of their history, and they detest being called Sakai.
In 2000, the Orang Asli comprise only 0.5% of the total population in Malaysia. Their population is approximately 148,000.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Orang Asli
The Pa-Oh (also known as Taungthu and Black Karen) form an ethnic group in Burma, comprising approximately 600,000. The Pa-Oh form the second largest ethnic group in Shan State, and are classified as part of the "Shan National Race" by the government, although they are believed to be of Tibeto-Burman stock, and are ethnolinguistically related to the Karen. They populate Shan State, Kayin State, and Kayah State.
The Pa-Oh settled in the Thaton region of present-day Myanmar about 1000 B.C. Historically, the Pa-Oh wore colorful clothing, until King Anawratha defeated the Mon King Makuta, who had established his reign in Thaton. The Pa-Oh were enslaved, and forced to wear indigo-dyed clothing, to signify their status. However, there are regional variations of clothing among the Pa-Oh. Many have adopted Bamar clothing, while men may wear Shan baung-mi (long baggy pants). The majority of Pa-Oh are Buddhists, but a written language was created by Christian missionaries. The Pa-Oh predominantly engage in agriculture, cultivating leaves of the thanapet tree (Cordia dichotoma) and mustard leaves. The Pa-Oh have largely assimilated into Bamar society, adopting many Bamar traditions and wearing Bamar clothing.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Pa'O people/a>
Paiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.
The Northern and Southern Paiute both speak languages belonging to the Numic branch of the Uto-Aztecan family of Native American languages. Usage of the terms Paiute, Northern Paiute and Southern Paiute is most correct when referring to groups of people with similar language and culture. It does not imply a political connection or even an especially close genetic relationship. The Northern Paiute speak the Northern Paiute language, while the Southern Paiute speak the Ute-Southern Paiute language. These languages are not as closely related to each other as they are to other Numic languages.
The Bannock, Mono tribe, and Coso People, Timbisha and Kawaiisu peoples, who also speak Numic languages and live in adjacent areas, are sometimes referred to as Paiute. The Bannock speak a dialect of Northern Paiute, while the Mono Tribe and other three peoples speak separate Numic languages: Mono language is more closely related to Northern Paiute, as is Coso; Timbisha language is more closely related to Shoshoni, and Kawaiisu language is more closely related to Ute-Southern Paiute.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Paiute people/a>
Papuan is a cover term for the various indigenous peoples of New Guinea and neighboring islands, speakers of the so-called Papuan languages. There are well over one thousand indigenous languages throughout the island region.
Even though "New Guinea" has been divided into two separate jurisdictions--the independent nation of Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of West Papua--all Papuan People are related ethnically and culturally.
West Papua became the twenty-sixth province of Indonesia in 1969 after the so-called "Act of Free Choice", sponsored by the UN, saw the transfer of official administration from The Netherlands, the colonial power, to Indonesia. The province was in 1973 re-named Irian Jaya, "Victorious Irian", by the Indonesian President, General Soeharto. The indigenous movement rejects this name and identify themselves as West Papuan. Resistance to Indonesia had begun in 1962 when temporary authority was first given to Jakarta, and continues to the present.
Over the twenty six years that Indonesia has held official control of West Papua, the indigenous population has endured one of the twentieth century's most repressive and unjust systems of colonial occupation. An on-going war has been fought against a popularly supported indigenous movement opposed to Jakarta's rule, and against members of the civilian population who stand in the way of Indonesian "development".
Under the Indonesian government's Transmigration program, the indigenous West Papuans are being reduced to a minority population due to an annual influx of over 10,000 families of sponsored migrants from Java and Sulawesi and an unknown number of "spontaneous" migrants. The widespread appropriation of land for new settlements, forestry concessions, mining projects and farming has led to numerous large-scale conflicts between the Indonesian military and dispossessed tribespeople, particularly in the late 1970s, 1984, and again in 1990-92 and 1994-95.
Indonesia does not regard the West Papuan people (or other communities) as indigenous and subordinates adat (traditional) law to the national interest. This denies a fundamental feature of West Papuan life and identity, viz relationship with the land, leaves the West Papuan people fundamentally defenceless in the face of development and transmigration policies, and absolves Indonesia of any obligations under international instruments and mechanisms.
Papua New Guinea was also established in the 1960s, when Australia moved toward establishing self-government and a House of Assembly and building institutions to train an "educated elite" to serve the country.
Before European settlement, there were no towns in New Guinea. Rather, there were thousands of villages and hamlets connected by narrow paths, customs, and networks of marriage and trade partners.
The Pataxó are a native tribe in Bahia, Brazil with a population of about 2,790 individuals. 
The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei. They are one of the last such peoples remaining. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of the Penan, mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in the Limbang district. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.
The Penan number around 16,000; of which only approximately 200 still live a nomadic lifestyle. The Penan can be broken down into two loosely related geographical groups known as either Eastern Penan or Western Penan, the Eastern Penan residing around the Miri, Baram, Limbang and Tutoh regions and the Western Penan in and around Belaga district.
They can be considered as a native group or 'tribe' in their own right, with a language distinct from other neighbouring native groups such as the Kenyah, Kayan, Murut or Kelabit. However, in government censuses they are more broadly classified as Orang Ulu which translates as 'Upriver People' and which contains distinct neighbouring groups such as those above. Even more broadly they are included in the term 'Dayak', which includes all of Sarawak's indigenous people.
Description adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Penan People.
The Pitjantjatjara are an Indigenous Peoples located in the Central Australian desert. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible.
The name 'Pitjantjatjara' derives from the word pitjantja, a form of the verb 'go' which, combined with the comitative suffix -tjara means something like ' pitjantja-having' (i.e. the variety that uses the word pitjantja for 'go').
The Pitjantjatjara refer to themselves as Anangu (people). Pitjantjatjara country is mostly in the north-west of South Australia, extending across the border into the Northern Territory to just south of Lake Amadeus, and west a short distance into Western Australia. The land is an inseparable and important part of their identity, and every part of it is rich with stories and meaning to Anangu.
They have, for the most part, given up their nomadic hunting and gathering lifestyle but have retained their language and much of their culture in spite of increasing influences from the broader Australian community.
Today there are still about 4,000 Anangu living scattered in small communities and outstations across their traditional lands, forming one of the most successful joint land arrangements in Australia with Aboriginal Traditional Owners.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Pitjantjatjara people
The Pomo are an indigenous peoples of California. The historic Pomo territory in northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small group, the Northeastern Pomo of the Stonyford vicinity of Colusa County, was separated from the core Pomo area by lands inhabited by Yuki and Wintuan speakers. Numerous Pomo tribes have been federally recognized.
The name Pomo originally meant "those who live at red earth hole" and was once the name of a village in southern Potter Valley near the present-day community of Pomo.
In 1800 there were estimated to be 10,000 to 18,000 Pomo in total among 70 tribes speaking seven Pomo languages. The way of life of the Pomo changed with the arrival of Russians at Fort Ross (1812 to 1841) on the Pacific coastline, and Spanish missionaries and European-American colonists coming in from the south and east.
In 1851, the Popmo population had fell to an estimated 3,500 and 5,000 people; and in 1880, 1450. The 1910 Census reported 777 Pomo, but that is probably low. Anthropologist Alfred L. Kroeber estimated 1,200 in the same year. In 1990, the census showed 4,900.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Pomo people
The Puyuma, also known as the Peinan or Beinan tribe, are one of several tribal peoples in Taiwan. The tribe is generally divided into the Chihpen and Nanwang groups, both resident in Taitung County on the east coast of Taiwan.
In the year 2000 the Puyuma numbered 9,606. This was approximately 2.4% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them the sixth-largest tribal group. The Puyuma speak their tribal language as well as Mandarin and Taiwanese. The Puyuma language, however, is dying.
The name "Puyuma" means "unity" or "concord," and was originally the autonym of the speakers of the Nanwang dialect (Teng 2008). Zeitoun and Cauquelin (2006) also note that the word Puyuma can be analyzed as pu'-uma, which means "to send to the field."
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Puyuma peoples
The Q'eqchi' (also Kekchi and K'ekchi) are one of the Maya peoples in Guatemala and Belize, whose indigenous language is also called Q'eqchi'.
Before the beginning in the 1520s of the Spanish conquest of Guatemala, Q'eqchi' settlements were concentrated in what are now the departments of Alta Verapaz and Baja Verapaz. Over the course of the succeeding centuries a series of land displacements, resettlements, persecutions and migrations resulted in a wider dispersal of Q'eqchi' communities, into other regions of Guatemala (Izabal, Petén, El Quiché), southern Belize (Toledo District), and smaller numbers in El Salvador, Honduras and southern Mexico (Chiapas, Campeche). While most notably present in northern Alta Verapaz and southern Petén, contemporary Q'eqchi' language-speakers are the most widely spread geographically of all Guatemalan Mayan groups.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Q'eqchi' Peoples
Quechuas (also Runakuna, Kichwas, and Ingas) is the collective term for several indigenous ethnic groups in South America who speak a Quechua language (Southern Quechua mainly), belonging to several ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Argentina.
The Quechuas of Ecuador call themselves as well as their language Kichwa - Kichwas or Quichuas. In Colombia, the Kichwa-speaking group calls themselves the Ingas. Other Quechua speakers call themselves Runakuna (“People”; in Junín and parts of Ancash, Peru: Nunakuna; singular: Runa or Nuna).
The speakers of Quechua, who total some 9-14 million people in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and Argentina, have so far only slightly developed a common sense of identity. The various Quechua dialects are in some cases so different that no mutual understanding is possible. Quechua was not only spoken by the Incas, but in some cases also by long-term enemies of the Inca Empire. These include the Huanca (Wanka is a Quechua dialect spoken today in the Huancayo area) and the Chanka (the Chanca dialect of Ayaqcucho) of Peru, and the Kañari (Cañar) in Ecuador. Quechua was spoken by some of these peoples, for example, the Wanka, before the Incas of Cusco, while other peoples, especially in Bolivia but also in Ecuador, adopted Quechua only in Inca times or afterward.
However, despite their ethnic diversity and linguistic distinctions, the various Quechua ethnic groups have numerous cultural characteristics in common. They also share many of these with the Aymara, or other indigenous peoples of the central Andes.
Description adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Quechua People
The Rapa Nui or Rapanui are the native Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, in the Pacific Ocean. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the Rapa Nui people make up 60% of Easter Island's population, with some living also in mainland Chile. They speak Spanish and Rapa Nui language. At the 2002 census there were 3,304 island inhabitants—almost all living in the village of Hanga Roa on the sheltered west coast.
As of 2011, Rapa Nui's main source of income derived from tourism, which focuses on the giant sculptures called Moai. Some fruits are grown for local use.
Rapa Nui activist have been fighting for their right to self-determination and possession of the island. Recent protests by the indigenous Rapa Nui on Easter Island against Chilean rule has led to violence against the Rapa Nui by the Chilean army.
The Rarámuri or Tarahumara are an Indigenous people of northwestern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability. In their language, the term rarámuri refers specifically to the males, females are referred to as mukí (individually) and as omugí or igómale (collectively).
Originally inhabitants of much of the state of Chihuahua, the Rarámuri retreated to the high sierras and canyons such as the Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre Occidental on the arrival of Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century. The area of the Sierra Madre Occidental which they now inhabit is often called the Sierra Tarahumara because of their presence.
Current estimates put the population of the Rarámuri in 2006 at between 50,000 and 70,000 people. Most still practice a traditional lifestyle, inhabiting natural shelters such as caves or cliff overhangs, as well as small cabins of wood or stone. Staple crops are corn and beans; however, many of the Rarámuri still practice transhumance, raising cattle, sheep, and goats. Almost all Rarámuri migrate in some form or another in the course of the year.
The Tarahumara language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family. Although it is in decline under pressure from Spanish, it is still widely spoken.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Tarahumara peoples
The Rendille are a Cushitic speaking ethnic group inhabiting the Kaisut Desert, which is in the North Eastern part of Kenya. They also inhibit the south eastern and southern regions of Mt. Marsbit in the Marsabit Central District .They are often referred to as "the holders of the stick of God".
They are nomadic pastoralists who roam with their camels, goats and most recently cattle across about 16,000 square kilometers of Northern Kenya. Women, children, and older men live in semi-permanent villages that are moved only a few times a year and rarely more than a few kilometers.
The Rendille believe that they belong in the desert not by mistake but because its their "promised land". In their popular morning prayers they pray "your people Wakh (God) cannot climb mountains, cross seas but remain in this promised land in which You have looked after our fore fathers, us and our children's children....".the Rendilles are confined to the desert because their most treasured livestock, the camel, cannot survive in cold mountainous and clay soil environment.
The Rohingya are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group of in Arakan State, western Burma. The Rohingya population is mostly concentrated to the cities of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Akyab, Rathedaung and Kyauktaw.
The current Junta ruling Burma relies heavily on Burmese nationalism and Theravada Buddhism to bolster its rule, it heavily discriminates against minorities like the Rohingya, Chinese people like the Kokang people, and Panthay (Chinese Muslims).
Successive Burmese governments have provoked riots against ethnic minorities like the Rohingya and Chinese. The Burmese state and Burmese Buddhist monks reportedly encouraged violence against the Rohingya.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Rohingya peoples
The Rukai are one of Taiwan's Indigenous peoples. They speak the Rukai language and live in the mountains of southern Taiwan. As of the year 2000, the Rukai numbered 12,084 — making up 3% of Taiwan's total indigenous population and, as such, the fifth-largest indigenous group. The Rukai were also called Tsarisen, which means "people living in the mountain".
The Rukai People honor the Clouded Leopard and the hundred pacer, which they believe to be the spirit of their ancestor.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Rukai people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost and the Nordic countries’ only officially indigenous people. Sami ancestral lands span an area of approximately 388,350 km2 (150,000 sq. mi), which is approximately the size of Sweden in the Nordic countries. Their traditional languages are the Sami languages and are classified as a branch of the Uralic language family. The Sami languages are endangered.
Traditionally, the Sami have pursued a variety of livelihoods, including coastal fishing, fur trapping and sheep herding. Their best known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding, with which about 10% of the Sami are connected and 2,800 actively involved on a full-time basis. For traditional, environmental, cultural and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved only for Sami people in certain regions of the Nordic countries.
The Sámi are often known in other languages by the exonyms "Lap", "Lapp", or "Laplanders", but many Sami regard these as pejorative terms.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Saami people
The Saisiyat ("true people"), also spelled Saisiat are an indigenous people of Taiwan, part of the larger Taiwanese aborigine ethnic group. In the year 2000 the Saisiyat numbered 5,311. This was approximately 1.3% of Taiwan's total indigenous population, making them one of the smallest aboriginal groups in that country. The Saisiyat inhabit western Taiwan, overlapping the border between Hsinchu County and Miaoli County. They are divided into the Northern Branch (Wufong in the mountainous Hsinchu area) and the Southern Branch (Nanya and Shitan in the highlands of Miaoli), each with its own dialect. Their language is also known as Saisiyat.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Saisiyat people
The Samburu are a pastoral nomadic tribe of over 150,000 people living in an arid, remote area of Northern Kenya. The name they use for themselves is Lokop or Loikop, a term which may have a variety of meanings which Samburu themselves do not agree on. Many assert that it refers to them as "owners of the land" ("lo" refers to ownership, "nkop" is land) though others present a very different interpretation of the term. The Samburu are cousins of well-known Southern Kenyan tribe Maasai and share the common language of Maa, though there are significant differences in dialect.
Traditionally the Samburu economy was purely pastoralist, striving to survive off the products of their herds of cows, goats, and for some, camels. However, the combination of a significant growth in population over the past 60 years and a decline in their cattle holdings as a result of climate change and theft (and confiscation), has forced them to seek other supplemental forms of livelihood. Some have attempted to grow crops, while many young men have migrated for at least short periods to cities to seek wage work. Many work in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, as watchmen, while it is also popular to go to Kenya's coastal resorts where some work; others sell spears and beaded ornaments.
The Santal (also spelled as Santhal; formerly spelt as Sontal), are the largest tribal community in India, who live mainly in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam. There is also a significant Santal minority in neighboring Bangladesh, and a small population in Nepal.
On 30 June 1855, two great Santal rebel leaders, Sidhu Murmu and his brother Kanhu, mobilized ten thousand Santals and declared a rebellion against British colonists. The Santals initially gained some success but soon the British found out a new way to tackle these rebels. Instead, they forced them to come out of the forest. In a conclusive battle which followed, the British, equipped with modern firearms and war elephants, stationed themselves at the foot of the hill. When the battle began the British officer ordered his troops to fire without loading bullets. The Santals, who did not suspect this trap set by the British war strategy, charged with full potential. This step proved to be disastrous for them: as soon as they neared the foot of the hill, the British army attacked with full power and this time they were using bullets. Thereafter, attacking every village of the Santals, they made sure that the last drop of revolutionary spirit was annihilated. Although the revolution was brutally suppressed, it marked a great change in the colonial rule and policy. The day is still celebrated among the Santal community with great respect and spirit for the thousands of the Santal martyrs who sacrificed their lives along with their two celebrated leaders to win freedom from the rule of the Jamindars and the British operatives.
The Santal's overall population today is estimate at 6,050,000 people.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Santal people
The Secoya people (also known as Angotero, Encabellao) are an indigenous ethnic group living in the Ecuadorian Amazon or The Oriente region of Ecuador (est. population 297 (1987 Vickers)), and in Peru (est. population 144 (1982 SIL)). They speak the Secoya language, part of the Western Tucanoan group. They share territory along the Shushufindi, Aguarico, and Cuyabeno river with the Siona people, with whom they are sometimes considered a single population.
The Siona people are organized politically through the Secoya Indigenous Organization of Ecuador. They have been involved in a conflict with Occidental Petroleum over oil drilling in Block 15 of Ecuador.
The Shuar people are an indigenous people of Ecuador and Peru. They are members of the Jivaroan peoples, who are Amazonian tribes living at the headwaters of the Marañón River.
Shuar, in the Shuar language, means "people." The people who speak the Shuar language live in tropical rainforest between the upper mountains of the Andes, and the tropical rainforests and savannas of the Amazonian lowlands, in Ecuador extending to Peru. Shuar live in various places — thus, the muraiya (hill) shuar are people who live in the foothills of the Andes; the achu (swamp-palm) shuar (or Achuar) are people who live in the wetter lowlands east of the Andes (Ecuador and Peru).
When Shuar first made contact with Spaniards in the 16th century, they entered into peaceful trade relations. They violently resisted taxation, however, and drove Spaniards away in 1599. Colonization and missionization in the 20th century however have led Shuar to reorganize themselves into nucleated settlements called centros. Centros initially facilitated evangelization by Catholic missionaries but also became a means to defend Shuar land claims against those of non-indigenous settlers. In 1964 representatives of Shuar centros formed a political Federation to represent their interests to the state, non-governmental organizations, and transnational corporations. In 1969 the Federation signed an accord with the Ecuadorian government in which the Federation assumed administrative jurisdiction over the Shuar reserve. The Federation assumed the duties of educating children, administering civil registration and land-tenure, and promoting cattle-production and other programs meant to further incorporate Shuar into the market economy. Since that time the Federation has splintered into several groups, including a separate Achuar Federation, although the various groups maintain cordial relations.
Thanks to the work of the Federation Shuar identity is very strong; nevertheless, most Shuar also identify strongly to the Ecuadorian nation-state and have entered Ecuadorian electoral politics.
Since the discovery of oil in the upper Amazon, the Shuar and Peruvian groups like the Achuar have been forced to defend their lands from the collective threat of oil extraction
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Shuar Peoples
The Siona people (also known as Sioni, Pioje, or Pioche-Sioni) are an indigenous ethnic group living in the Ecuadorian Amazon or Oriente (est. population 250 in Ecuador (2000 Juncosa)), and in Colombia (est. population 300 in Colombia (1982 SIL)). They share territory along the Shushufindi, Aguarico, and Cuyabeno river with the Secoya people, with whom they are sometimes considered a single population.
The Siona language is a Tucanoan language.
The Siona people are organized politically through the National Organization of Seona Indigenous People of Ecuador (ONISE), whose president as of July 1996 was William Criollo.
According to Richard Evan Schultes, Where The Gods Reign, p.27, the "Siona are one of the western Tukanoan groups and live in the Comissaria del Putamayo in the region of Mocoa." I lived in this area in the summer of 1961 with members of the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Our home was on the Ecuador side of the Putamayo River and the Siona lived on both sides of the river.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Siona people
The Siraya are an indigenous people of Taiwan. The Siraya settled flat coastal plains in the southwest part of the island and corresponding sections of the east coast; the area is identified today with Tainan City and Taitung County. At least five subtribes make up the group: Mattauw, Soelangh, Baccloangh, Sinckan, and Taivoan.
The Siraya are one of Taiwan's Pingpu peoples—that is, occupants of flat coastal regions rather than mountain areas. Like other indigenous peoples of Taiwan they are ethnically and linguistically Austronesian. The name "Taiwan" originated from the Siraya language. The Austronesian language family to which Sirayan belongs includes most of the languages spoken in the western Pacific, including Polynesian, Indonesian, Filipino and Malaysian.
After the port in the Siraya area of Taiwan was annexed in 1683 by Qing Dynasty China, a process of gradual acculturation led to the Siraya language falling out of use.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Siraya peoples
The Skidegate Band Council, also known as the Skidegate First Nation, is a band government of the Haida people, one of two of the Haida Tribal Society aka the Council of the Haida Nation. Its offices are located in Skidegate, British Columbia.
The Squamish (also known by their name for themselves, Skwxwú7mesh, are an indigenous people of southwestern British Columbia, Canada, who are one of the Coast Salishan language-group peoples. They speak the Squamish language (in Squamish: Skwxwú7mesh snichim, snichim meaning "language"), which is a part of the Coast Salish linguistic grouping. When translated, Skwxwú7mesh renders into the people of the sacred water, referencing what they believe is the water in their territory and its spiritual healing properties.
The Subanen are native to the Zamboanga Peninsula in the western part of the large southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
They were originally found along the river banks or "suba" but now reside primarily in the mountains because of continuous invasions of Muslim groups as well as migrations of Cebuano speakers in the coastal areas of the Zamboanga Peninsula.
The groups that traditionally remained animist call themselves "Subanen", or "Subanon" in the area closer to Zamboanga City. Other groups who are linguistically members of the Subanen language subgroup but adopted Islam call themselves "Kolibugan" in western areas and Kalibugan in the central area. Although claims are often made that the Kolibugan/Kalibugan are ethnically mixed with Sama, Badjaw, Tausug, or Maguindanaon, there is no evidence supporting this, and linguistically, the languages of the Islamic members of the Subanen subgroup are virtually identical with the language of the neighboring non-Islamic group, except that the Islamic groups have a larger amount of Arabic vocabulary that refers to aspects of life that deal with religious concepts.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Subanen peoples
The Sukuma are the largest ethnic group in Tanzania, with an estimated 5.5 million members representing about 16 percent of the country's total population. Sukuma means "north" and refers to "people of the north". The Sukuma refer to themselves as Basukuma (plural) and Nsukuma (singular).
The Sukuma live in northwestern Tanzania on or near the southern shores of Lake Victoria, and the territory has been divided into nine administrative districts of the Mwanza and Shinyanga Region. The northern area of their residence is in the famous Serengeti Plain. Sukuma families have migrated southward, into the Rukwa area, encroaching on the territory of the Pimbwe. These Sukuma have settled outside Pimbwe villages.
The Sukuma area is mostly a flat scrubless savannah plain between 3000 and 4000 ft. elevation. Twenty to forty inches of rain fall from November to March. High temperatures range from 79 to 90 while lows at night seldom drop below the upper 50's. Population is very spread out among small farm plots and sparse vegetation.
Relationships between the Sukuma and their non-Nyamwezi neighbors, the Tatoga, were generally good and they did not regard each other as enemies. They needed one another. The Tatoga needed the grain of the Sukuma while the Sukuma needed the cattle and the highly regarded rainmaking diviners of the Tatoga. (Rainmaking experts of the Tatoga were considered the very best at this important and highly specialized activity. The Masaai, however, in contrast to the Tatoga, were considered enemies. The Tatoga-Sukuma relationship was centered on cultural and economic exchange, while the Sukuma-Massai connection was centered in fear and hatred, for cattle were the only thing the Massai wanted from the Sukuma
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Sukuma peoples
Suri or Shuri is the name of a sedentary pastoral people and their language. The Suri People inhabit the Bench Maji Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR) in Ethiopia as well as parts of neighboring South Sudan. Some are also found west of Mizan Teferi. Population: 20,622 (1998 est.).
The name 'Suri' is sometimes used interchangeably with 'Surma'; however, that is not entirely correct. Surma refers to a panethnicity that includes Suri as well as the closely related, but distinct, Mursi and Me'en Peoples.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Suri peoples
The Suruí, also called the Suruí-Paíter, are an indigenous people who live in the Rondônia region of Brazil.
First prolonged contact with the modern world came in the late 1960s, the Brazilian government laid the 2,000-mile Trans-Amazon Highway through Rondônia. The tribe was decimated by disease - nearly 90 percent died within a few years.
The Surui have recently made headlines as one of the first indigenous people of South America to use high-tech tools (in particular Google Earth) to police their territory. In cooperation with Google Earth Outreach, they can request more detailed satellite photos when they spot suspicious areas. If loggers or miners are detected, they refer the case to the authorities who have them removed. Satellite pictures show that this is highly effective as the Suruí territory is the only intact remaining piece of rainforest in the area.
The Surui have recently launched a forest carbon project as part of their 50-year tribal management plan. A recent legal opinion by Baker & McKenzie determined that the Surui own the carbon rights to the territory, setting a precedent for future indigenous-led carbon projects in Brazil.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Suruí peoples
The Swahili are a Bantu Peoples found in East Africa, mainly in the coastal regions and the islands of Kenya, Tanzania and north Mozambique. According to JoshuaProject, the Swahili number in at around 1,328,000. The name Swahili is derived from the Arabic word Sawahil, meaning "coastal dwellers", and they speak the Swahili language. Only a small fraction of those who use Swahili are first language speakers and even fewer are ethnic Swahilis.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Swahili people
The Tayrona or Tairona were, historically. a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia. The Tairona formed one of the two principal linguistic groups of the Chibcha family, the other being the Muisca.
Today, the Tairona are much better known as the Kogi, Wiwa, Arhuacos and Cancuamo peoples
Tapayuna are an indigenous people of Brazil, which has a population estimated at 160 individuals ( 2010 ). They speak the Tapayuna language, which is sometimes considered to be a part of the language Suyá.
They live in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso in the Xingu Indigenous Park, near the Culuene river.
Photo Credit: Aldeia Kawêretxikô (TI Capoto-Jarina). Foto: Beatriz de Almeida Matos, 2010. 
Taturu is the name of a wideely-dispersed indigenous population located in the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania. They are often reffered to as the Datooga (sometimes spelled Tatooga).
The best-known and most numerous sub-tribe of the Datooga peoples are the Barabaig, who reside chiefly in a part of the northern volcanic highlands dominated by Mount Hanang (3,418 metres). The Barabaig were forcibly evicted from the Basotu Plains in the 1990s to make room for a large-scale wheat-growing project of the Canadian and Tanzanian governments.
Other Taturu peoples include: Bajuta, Gisamjanga, Tsimajeega, Rootigaanga, Buraadiiga and Bianjiida.
The Tuareg (also Twareg or Touareg, Berber: Imuhagh, besides regional ethnyms) are a Berber nomadic pastoralist people. They are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa.
They call themselves variously Kel Tamasheq or Kel Tamajaq ("Speakers of Tamasheq"), Imuhagh, Imazaghan or Imashaghen ("the Free people"), or Kel Tagelmust, i.e., "People of the Veil". These terms can also refer to Berbers in general.
There are approximately 1.2 million Tauregs located throughout Mali, Algeria, Niger, Libya and Burkina Faso.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Tuareg Peoples
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is now occupied by the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan. The Khampas of Tibet are originally from Mongolia.
Tibetans speak the Tibetan language, which belongs to the Sino-Tibetan languages and has many mutually unintelligible dialects. The traditional, or mythological, explanation of the Tibetan people's origin is that they are the descendants of the monkey Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa and rock ogress Ma Drag Sinmo. Most Tibetans practice Tibetan Buddhism, though some observe the indigenous Bön and others are Muslims.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Tibetan Peoples
The Tlingit (also spelled Tlinkit) are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast of America. Their name for themselves is Lingít, meaning "People of the Tides". The Russian name Koloshi (from an Alutiiq term for the labret) or the related German name Koulischen may be encountered in older historical literature, such as Shelikhov's 1796 map of Russian America.
The Tlingit are a matrilineal society that developed a complex hunter-gatherer culture in the temperate rainforest of the southeast Alaska coast and the Alexander Archipelago. An inland subgroup, known as the Inland Tlingit, inhabits the far northwestern part of the province of British Columbia and the southern Yukon Territory in Canada.
Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Tlingit Peoples
The Tohono O'odham have lived in the Sonora desert for thousands years. In fact, their ancestral name literally means "Desert People." However, the Tohono O'odham were previously known as the Papago, a colonial name that was applied to them by uneducated conquistadors. In 1986, they voted to formally restore their true name.
Historically, the O'odham inhabited an enormous area of land in the southwest, extending South to Sonora, Mexico, north to Central Arizona (just north of Phoenix, Arizona), west to the Gulf of California, and east to the San Pedro River. This land base was known as the Papagueria and it had been home to the O'odham for thousands of years.
From the early 18th Century through to the present, the O'odham land was occupied by foreign governments. With the independence of Republic of Mexico, O'odham fell under Mexican rule. Then, in 1853, through the Gadsden Purchase or Treaty of La Mesilla, O'odham land was divided almost in half, between the United States of America and Mexico.
According to the terms of the Gadsden Purchase, the United States agreed to honor all land rights of the area held by Mexican citizens, which included the O'odham, and O'odham would have the same constitutional rights as any other United States citizen. However, the demand for land for settlement escalated with the development of mining and the transcontinental railroad. That demand resulted in the loss of O'odham land on both sides of the border.
Following the Plan de Iguala, O'odham lands in Mexico continued to decrease at a rapid rate. In 1927, reserves of lands for indigenous peoples, were established by Mexico. Today, approximately nine O'odham communities in Mexico lie proximate to the southern edge of the Tohono O'odham Nation, a number of which are separated only by the United States/Mexico border.
On the U.S. side of the border, the Gadsden Purchase had little effect on the O'odham initially because they were not informed that a purchase of their land had been made, and the new border between the United States and Mexico was not strictly enforced. In recent years, however, the border has come to affect the O'odham in many ways, because immigration laws prevent the O'odham from crossing it freely. In fact, the U.S.-Mexico border has become "an artificial barrier to the freedom of the Tohono O'odham. . . to traverse their lands, impairing their ability to collect foods and materials needed to sustain their culture and to visit family members and traditional sacred sites." O'odham members must produce passports and border identification cards to enter into the United States.
On countless occasions, the U.S. Border Patrol has detained and deported members of the Tohono O'odham Nation who were simply traveling through their own traditional lands, practicing migratory traditions essential to their religion, economy and culture. Similarly, on many occasions U.S. Customs have prevented Tohono O'odham from transporting raw materials and goods essential for their spirituality, economy and traditional culture. Border officials are also reported to have confiscated cultural and religious items, such as feathers of common birds, pine leaves or sweet grass.
The division of O'odham lands has resulted in an artificial division of O'odham society. O'odham bands are now broken up into 4 federally recognized tribes: the Tohono O'odham Nation, the Gila River Indian Community, the Ak-Chin Indian Community and the Salt River (Pima Maricopa) Indian community. Each band is now politically and geographically distinct and separate. The remaining band, the Hia-C'ed O'odham, are not federally recognized, but reside throughout southwestern Arizona. All of the groups still speak the O'odham language, which derives from the Uto-Aztecan language group, although each group has varying dialects.
The Tiriyó (also known as Trio) usually call themselves tarëno, etymologically 'people from here, local people'. They are approximately 2,000 (in 2005) and live in several major villages and a number of minor villages in the border zone between Brazil and Suriname. They speak the Tiriyó language, a member of the Cariban language family.
The Triqui are a group of indigenous people that live mostly in the state of Oaxaca in the country of Mexico. They live in a mountainous area that is separated in three main regions: the high region of San Andrés de Chicahuaxtla, the middle region of San Martín Itunyoso and the bottom region of Copala . The area where they live is known as the Mixteca, the South Central part of Mexico. In all three regions a variant of Triqui is spoken and it is an Oto-Manguean language. There are approximately 15,000 speakers of Triqui in Copala; 6,000 in San Andrés Chicahuaxtla; 2,000 in San Martín Itunyoso.
On January 21, 2007, in San Juan Copala, the Triqui indigenous peoples declared their autonomy from the state government. Their announcement came after community leaders deliberated for two months among themselves to elect a president, a vice president, a mayor, a secretary, and six people who make up the Council of Elders.
The Triqui peoples in Oaxaca had an official "free municipality" status in 1826. For over one hundred years, they enjoyed their autonomy and peaceful existence until in 1948, the PRI siezed power, and have held it ever since. An alternative party of Triqui was formed called Unified Independent Movement for the Triqui Liberation, or MULT in its spanish initials. MULT was a true representation of the Triqui for a number of years until they joined hands with the PRI.
Since declaring their autonomy, the Mexican government has maintained a policy of disrespect and destruction of the Triqui of San Juan Copala, with the help of two political-paramilitary organizations: the UBISORT-PRI and the MULT-PUP.
Ultimately, that policy forced the Triqui to abandon San Juan Copala in September 2010, after being forced to endure months of sexual assaults, assassinations, and an utter lack of access to food, water, medical services and international aid.
The Triqui, however, have not given up their dream to live on their ancestral land as free people.
The Tsáchila people of Ecuador live in the county of Santo Domingo in the province of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas. They speak the Tsafiki or Tsáchila language of the Barbacoan language family.
The spaniards called them "Colorado" (meaning colored red) because they used to cover their entire bodies in the red juices of the achiote seeds, for prevention against Smallpox, but the Spaniards thought that their skin was indeed their true color
The Tule are one of several Indigenous Peoples in Colombia who are at risk of extinction. There are fewer more than 1,200 left today in the reservations Caimán Nuevo in Antioquia and Arquía in north-western Colombia.
A matriarchal society, The Tule have faced considerable hardship in recent years due to the abundance of minerals, timber, and other 'natural resources' on their territory, which sits on the border with Panama. These riches have attracted the attention of criminal and illegal armed groups over the past decade.
Many Tule have sought refuge in Panama or elsewhere in Choco; however, a determined few, believing that they would not survive if they parted from their ancestral lands, have decided to stay.
The Tupinambá are believed to be first Indigenous population to have made contact with the Europeans on the Bahia coast. They are also consider to be one of the first to become extinct, though that was never the case. As of 2004, their population was about 3000 people.
The Tupinamba are among several different tribes that speak Tupian languages. Other tribes include the Tupiniquim, Potiguara, Tabajara, Caetés, Temiminó, Tamoios and Guaraní.
During the late 19th century, the government of Brazil stripped the Tupinamba of their indigenous rights, due to the limited views that various agencies had about who was or was not indigenous. Fortunately, the 1988 Constitution created an opening that presented the Tupinamba with a chance to restore what was taken from them.
13 years later, the Tupinambá were officially recognized as indigenous by FUNAI.
The Tupiniquim (Tupinikim) Peoples are located today on three reservations (reservas indígenas in Portuguese) in the municipality of Aracruz in northern Espírito Santo state, southeastern Brazil. As of 1997 their population was 1,386. They are speakers of Portuguese and no longer speak their traditional language which was a member of the Tupi–Guarani family.
Historically, the Tupiniquim inhabited a large tract of coast from about 200 km south of Salvador down to São Mateus river. This is north of the present day Aracruz reservations and extended for about 600 km. Present day Reservations have been inhabited by the Tupiniquim since the founding of Santa Cruz and Nova Almeida (then Reis Magos), both of which had a large Amerindian majority in their populations during their first 200 years or so. The name of the three reservations they now inhabit are Caieiras Velhas, Pau-Brasil, and Comboios. This community lives in an area covered with rainforests.
The Tupiniquim have an ongoing land dispute with Aracruz Cellulose. In the 1990s, due to the devastation caused by this corporation, few of their previous 40 or so villages remained.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Tupiniquim peoples
The Turkana Peoples are located in the Turkana District in northwest Kenya, a dry and hot region bordering Lake Turkana in the east, Uganda to the west, and Sudan and Ethiopia to the north. They refer to their land as Turkan.
According to the 2009 Kenyan census, the Turkana number close to one million, or 2.5% of Kenyan population, which makes them the third largest Indigenous population in Kenya, after the Kalenjin and the Luo.
The Turkana are a monotheistic people. They believe in one God, known as Akuj. Akuj is the creator of the universe and to Akuj do all things belong. The Turkana call upon Akuj in times of great need. Akuj is invoked through prayers and chants and through animal sacrifices. The Turkana believe that Akuj is the source of all power and that no challenge is impossible when Akuj intervenes.
There was a relative long period of peace among indigenous communities around Turkana until the onset of European colonization of Africa. Sporadic conflicts involved Turkana fights against Arab , swahili and Abyssinian slave raiders and ivory traders. European colonization brought a new dimension to conflict with Turkana putting up a lasting resistance to a complex enemy, the British. The Turkana put up and maintained active resistance to British colonial advances leading to a passive presence of colonial administration. By the outbreak of WW I , few parts of Turkana had been put under colonial administration.
From WW I through to end of WW II, Turkana actively participated in the wars as allies of Britain against invading Italia. Turkana was used as the launching pad for the war against invading Italian forces leading to the liberation of Abyssinia.
After WW II, the British led disarmament and pacification campaigns in Turkana, leading to massive disruptions and dispossession of Turkana pastoralists. The colonial administration practiced a policy of deliberate segregation of Turkana people by categorizing Turkana Province as a closed district. This led to marginalization and underdevelopment in the lead up to Kenya's independence.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Turkana peoples
The Tuxá are an indigenous peoples found in the Northeastern states of Pernambuco and Bahia, Brazil. Currently displaced, the Tuxá historically occupied a number of islands on the San Francisco River. They were forced to abandon their traditional lands after the construction of a hydroelectric dam which ultimately flooded out the area.
The Tuxá have a strong tradition in agriculture, however, since the dam, they have been unable to acquire adequate land for cultivation.
The Tuxá's population today is estimated at 3,956 people.
The Tzeltal people are located in the highlands or Los Altos region of the Mexican state of Chiapas. They are one of many Mayan ethnic groups and they speak a language which belongs to the Tzeltalan subgroup of Mayan languages. Most Tzeltals live in communities in about twenty municipalities, under a Mexican system called “usos y costumbres” (usage and customs) which seeks to respect traditional indigenous authority and politics. Women are often seen wearing traditional huipils and black skirts, but men generally do not wear traditional attire. Tzeltal religion syncretically integrates traits from Catholic and native belief systems. Shamanism and traditional medicine is still practiced. Many make a living through agriculture and/or handcrafts, mostly textiles; and many also work for wages to meet family needs.
The Tzeltal call themselves Winik atel, which means "Working Men" in their language, or as the “batzil’op” or “those of the original word” referring to the Mayan oral tradition. They are largest indigenous ethnicity with 278,577 people aged five years of age or more in the state of Chiapas who speak the language according to the 2000 census and an estimated 500,000 total, representing 34.41% of the total indigenous population of Chiapas.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Tzeltal peoples
The Vhavenda people are located on the North and West of Makhado in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The region they inhabit borders Zimbabwe and it is where the Shashe and Vhembe rivers meet. The word Vhavenda and Venda are used interchangeably when referring to the Vhavenda people, however the word Vhavenda better describes the people, whilst Venda refers more to the language.
The Vhavenda are one of many tribal groups within South Africa, and despite their language being recognised as one of the eleven official languages of South Africa, their main aim is to establish their traditional leaders as the local authorities of their territory with legitimate jurisdiction. To date their chiefs and leaders do have influence amongst their people, but since their re-integration into South Africa, and loss of homeland status in 1994, they are now governed by the State law of South African government. The division of South Africa into nine provinces in 1994 saw the Vhavenda incorporated into what was first known as the Northern Transvaal, then later the Northern Province, and today is known as the Limpopo Province.
The history of the Vhavenda began with their migration from central Africa southwards to South Africa where by the 9th century they had established the Mapungubwe Kingdom. Studies reveal King Shiriyadenga to have been the first king of those people from Mapungubwe and the Venda, who subsequently united to form the Vhavgona/Vhavenda.
From the 18th century, the presence of other peoples, specifically Europeans, directly threatened the traditional and ancestral legacy of the Vhavenda people. Much of their land was seized through a series of violent confrontations, and transformed into land for farming.
By 1979 the Vhavenda homeland opted for political independence within the framework of apartheid laws, this decision created the Republic of Venda, a Republic only recognised by the South African government and other homelands (Bantustans) but not as equals. Because their land was designated a homeland, they were mostly unaffected by the political and social changes imposed by the apartheid government and were thus able to live their lives very much undisturbed, however they remained isolated.
Despite the formal end to discriminatory practices towards non-whites in South Africa after apartheid, the Vhavenda continue to experience a new form of discrimination. Sacred sites of Vhavenda remain unprotected. The holy forests are exploited by the government without any form of consultation with Vhavenda indigenous people; the 20th century construction of a copper mine in Musina is a poignant example.
The Vhavenda culture is a hybrid of different cultures, with their closest affiliation being the Shona people of Zimbabwe, but also to the Lemba, Lobedu and North Sotho. Other major influences are by the Tsonga, Lobedu, Zulu, Swazi and others.
The Venda's overall population is estimated at 720,000 people
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
The Wapixana (or Wapishana, Wapisiana, Wapitxana, Vapidiana) are an indigenous people found in the Roraima area of southern Guyana and northern Brazil.
In 1984, the Brazilian National Foundation estimated that there were only 2,995 Wapishana in twenty Brazilian villages. There are no estimates of the number of Wapishana who live outside villages. According to a 1981 survey in Guyana, there were approximately 5,000 Wapishana in Southern Rupununi, southern area of Guyana bordering Brazil. In 1997 the Wapishana population was estimated to be between 10,000 and 11,000 people. According to Funasa’s data for 2008, the Wapishana population totals around 7,000 individuals. For Guyana, the most recent estimate is about 6,000 people. In Brazil, Wapishana villages contain an average population of 150 inhabitants, while on the other hand the number of inhabitants is higher for villages in Guyana, which average around 500 inhabitants.
Since the earliest days of European contact with the Wapishana, the political situation in Brazil has been different from the one in Guyana. According to Henfry, the Brazilian state of Roraima includes 23 Wapishana villages, which actually all include large non-Wapishana and mixed-race populations. The ancestors of these people were the first of Roraima’s indigenous population to encounter European explorers, who gained access to the area from time to time throughout the 18th century. A slight government interference before the mid-20th century left effective political control in the hands of cattle ranchers. By the 1970’s it was reported that 60% of Brazil’s Wapishana and Atorai were integrated, speaking Portuguese as their first language, and the rest were mostly bilingual and in permanent contact with the state.
The main difference between the Brazilian and Guyanese Wapishana is their rights to land. In Guyana, Amerindian villages are state elected administrative units but there is nothing relating to the reservation system and villages are in remote areas. Although the situation of Guyanese Wapishana is better than most part of the Brazilian population of Wapishana, it is still far from perfect. Entirely, Amerindians are the least privileged group of Guyanese society. Among their problems are health and education, unfortunately the Rupununi region is one of those Amerindian populations that are particularly suffering from these problems, according to a study demonstrated by the ARU.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Wapixana Peoples 
The Wayuu are known as the people of the sun, sand, and wind. They are located in the arid Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayúu language is part of the Arawak family and is called Wayuunaiki.
The Wayuu had never been subjugated by the Spanish. The two groups were in a more or less permanent state of war. There had been rebellions in 1701 (when they destroyed a Capuchin mission), 1727 (when more than 2,000 Indians attacked the Spanish), 1741, 1757, 1761 and 1768. In 1718 Governor Soto de Herrera called them "barbarians, horse thieves, worthy of death, without God, without law and without a king."
In more recent times, the Wayúu have faced tremendous discrimination and exclusion, particularly in Colombia. For instance,
Wayúu (Guajiro) lands on the border with Venezuela have been granted to mining interests without regard for the Wayuu. The Colombian constitution recognizes the right of the indigenous to manage the resources found on their territories, however, the government allows private concessions to extract salt on Wayúu land; while the Wayúu themselves have been denied the right to do the same.
The Wayuu are also caught in the ongoing war between the Colombian army, FARC and right-wing paramilitaries, placing the Wayuu in an extremely vulnerable position. Many Wayuu have been forced to relocate to Venezuela to escape the violence and ethnic harassment.
According to a 1997 census in Colombia, the Wayuu population numbered approximately 144,003 - representing 20% of Colombia's total Amerindian population and 48% of the population of the Department of La Guajira. The Wayuu occupy a total area of 4,171 square miles (10,800 km2) within approximately 10 Indian reservations, 8 of which are located south of the Department (including a very important one called Carraipia).
In Venezuela, the population is estimated at some 293,777 individuals, according to the 2001 census, with some 60,000 living in the city of Maracaibo. This makes the Wayuu the largest indigenous group in Venezuela, representing 57.5% of the Amerindian population.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Wayuu Peoples
The Winnemem Wintu ("middle river people" or "middle water people") are a traditional people originally located along the lower McCloud River, above the Shasta Dam near Redding, California.
Since 1945, portions of the lower McCloud River have been flooded by Shasta Lake. The Winnemem Wintu are currently in a protracted fight with State of California and the federal Bureau of Reclamation over the proposed raising of the height of Shasta Dam to secure more water for California cities and agriculture; the Winnemem Wintu argue that the proposed higher lake level would flood many Winnemem Wintu sacred sites. From September 12 to 16, 2004, one faction of Winnemem Wintu held a "war dance" as a protest. They claim it was the first war dance held since 1876.
Currently, the Winnemem Wintu are not a federally recognized tribe, although they are working toward federal recognition. Some Winnemem Wintu feel that it is by government error rather than termination that the Bureau of Indian Affairs does not recognize them. And some Wintu representatives, of Winnemem heritage, have been relayed by Interior Officials that it was "Bureaucratic Oversight" that resulted in the entire Wintu being omitted from the list of federally recognised tribes as early as the 1940s.
The Winnemem Wintu are also divided politically into several groups, with members participating in at least three organized groups attempting to obtain federal recognition. In addition, there are several Winnemem Wintu descendents who decline to participate in these groups for various reasons.
The Winnemem healer, Florence Jones (Puilulimet) (1907–2003), was portrayed in a nationally broadcast PBS documentary, In the Light of Reverence, in 2001, as she successfully led her community's fight to stop construction of a new ski resort on sacred Mount Shasta.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Winnemem Wintu 
Originally recognized as Yami, the Tao are the Indigenous inhabitants of Irala (Orchard Island) south of Taiwan. The word "Tao" (pronounced Ta-o) means "person" or "people" in both the Tao language and Philippine languages. The Tao people are traditionally good at making balangays (native canoes), which is a symbol of their tribe.
In the year 2000 the Yami numbered 3,872. This was approximately 1% of Taiwan's total indigenous population.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Yami people
The Yanomami, also spelled Ya̧nomamö or Yanomama, are a group of approximately 20,000 indigenous people who live in some 200–250 villages in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Venezuela and Brazil.
In the mid-1970s, garimpeiros (small independent gold-diggers) started to enter the Yanomami country. Where these garimpeiros settled, they killed members of the Yanomami tribe in conflict over land. In addition, mining techniques by the garempeiros led to environmental degradation. In 1990, more than 40,000 garimpeiros had entered the Yanomami land. In 1992, the president of Brazil Collor de Mello accepted the opening of a Yanomami Park founded by Brazilian anthropologists and Survival International, a project that started in the early 1970s. Non-Yanomami people continue to enter the land. The Brazilian and Venezuelan governments do not have adequate enforcement programs to prevent the entry of outsiders into this land.
Ethical controversy has arisen about Yanomami blood taken for study by scientists such as Napoleon Chagnon and his associate James Neel. Although Yanomami religious tradition prohibits the keeping of any bodily matter after the death of that person, the donors were not warned that blood samples would be kept indefinitely for experimentation. Several prominent Yanomami delegations have sent letters to the scientists who are studying them, demanding the return of their blood samples. These samples are currently being taken out of storage for shipping to the Amazon as soon as the scientists can figure out whom to deliver them to and how to prevent any potential health risks for doing so.
Members of the American Anthropological Association debated the dispute that has divided their discipline, voting 846 to 338 to rescind a 2002 report on allegations of misconduct by scholars' studying the Yanomami people. The dispute has raged since Patrick Tierney published Darkness in El Dorado in 2000. The book charged that anthropologists had repeatedly caused harm—and in some cases, death—to members of the Yanomami people whom they had studied in the 1960s. In 2010 Brazilian director José Padilha revisited the Darkness in El Dorado controversy in his documentary Secrets of the Tribe.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Yanomami people
Hailing mainly from the settlement of Borroloola in the Northern Territory, the Yanyuwa are an Australian Aboriginal group whose traditional territory lies on the coastal plain between the Barkly Table lands the Gulf of Carpentaria. Traditionally, the Yanyuwa speak a language also known as Yanyuwa. A member of the Pama-Nyungen family this language is now critically endangered with only 5-15 speakers estimated to be left. Though the Yanyuwa also speak Mara and Garrwa, efforts are under way to save the Yanyuwa language itself through a collaboration between the people and anthropologist John Bradley.
The Yanyuwa have a vibrant spiritual culture and would traditionally use Kujka, dreaming stories, to aid them in their subsistence activities. The Yanyuwa subsistence economy traditionally revolves around hunting and gathering activities on their terrestrial territory and fishing in the Barramundi rich rivers intersecting it. This is how the Yanyuwa have provided for themselves before the relatively recent split into different ‘Times’.
First came the pre-Macassan times, time immemorial on the continent after the world’s creation in the Dream Time. After this came the Macassan times which brought contact with the sea faring Macassan trepangers from the Celebes who came to fish and trade on the Australian coast. Relations between these fishermen and various coastal dwelling aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory were famously peaceful. Their visits are documented in the rock art of the region and it is thought that it is from the Macassans that the Yanyuwa learnt how to make both dug out canoes and stone lined wells.
Next were the wild times before the first concerted contact with white settlers. Initial contact with explorers was friendly enough and trade relations were amicable. This changed as Borroloola became an important drover station in the heart of Yanyuwa territory. Some moved to the town to try and benefit from it’s wealth but found themselves abused by police, ex-convicts and white settlers a-like and exploited as wage labourers. Those who had not suffered this fate in the towns were challenged in other areas of their territory by encroaching ranching operations. Cattle fouled water supplies and ate vegetable matter vital to the Yanyuwa diet whilst the ranchers themselves often used violence against the Yanyuwa. Many refused to give up their land for some time but were forced, eventually, to concede.
After their traditional lifestyle had been faced down came the cattle times during which a considerable number of Yanyuwa ran their own cattle stations, free to pursue their ceremonial obligations and maintain a degree of autonomy. This did not however prevent the future injustices of the police and welfare times during which the Yanyuwa suffered racial and religious persecution, enforced assimilation and settlement encouraged by the state pre 1973.
The Aboriginal Land Rights Act of 1976 ushered in what is known to the Yanyuwa as the land rights times in which they won title to some of their traditional territory in 1986 and 1989. Despite this positive chronological transition the Yanyuwa still suffer from injustice and lack of political representation today in the tourist times, so called due to the great influx of holiday makers visiting the Northern Territory. This has been both troublesome and confusing for the Yanyuwa as visitors often take spots used by Yanyuwa for fishing and camping and a culture clash is evident due to the under-developed nature of consultative tourism in the region. Yet this has been perhaps the least of the Yanyuwa’s worries as they have fought against mining concessions and expansion as well as the discriminatory Northern Territory Emergency Response in recent years.
The Yaqui or Yoeme are a Native American Nation who originally lived in the valley of the Río Yaqui in the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Many Yaqui still live in their original homeland, but some live in Arizona as a result of wars between the Yaqui and the Mexican government. The Yaqui call themselves Yoreme, the Yaqui word for person (yoemem or yo'emem meaning "people"). Their language is one of 30 in the Uto-Aztecan family. The Yaqui call their homeland Hiakim, from which some say the name "Yaqui" is derived. They may also describe themselves as Hiaki Nation or Pascua Hiaki, meaning "The Easter People", as most had converted to Catholicism under Jesuit influence in colonial Mexico. Many folk etymologies account for how the Yoeme came to be known as the "Yaqui".
The Yaqui conception of the world is considerably different from that of their European-Mexican and European-American neighbors. For example, the world (in Yaqui, anía) is composed of five separate worlds: the desert wilderness world, the mystical world, the flower world, the dream world, and the night world. Much Yaqui ritual is centered upon perfecting these worlds and eliminating the harm that has been done to them, especially by people. Many Yaqui have combined such ideas with their practice of Catholicism, and believe that the existence of the world depends on their annual performance of the Lenten and Easter rituals.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Yaqui people
The Yawalapiti are an indigenous Peoples in the Amazon Basin of Brazil. The name is also spelled Laualapiti in Portuguese. They have a population of 237 (2010), up from a low of 25 in 1954. The Yawalapiti live in the Upper Xingu region along with Kiabi, Yudja and Suya, whose customs and traditions are quite similar despite the fact that they all speak different languages. 
The Yukpa are an indigenous community located in the Sierra de Perija , on both sides of the border between Colombia and Venezuela. The former territory of the Yukpa stretched from the valley of the Cesar River to Lake Maracaibo; however, the soils of the land were reduced by the practice of industrial mining, resulting in wisespread malnutrition among the Yukpa during the twentieth century.
The majority of the Yukpa, who number nearly 10,000, live in Venezuela although some communities are still located in the mountains across the border in Colombia.
The Yupik or, in the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Yup'ik (plural Yupiit), are a group of indigenous peoples of western, southwestern, and southcentral Alaska and the Russian Far East. They include the Central Alaskan Yup'ik people of the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, the Kuskokwim River, and coastal Bristol Bay in Alaska; the Alutiiq (or Suqpiaq) of the Alaska Peninsula and coastal and island areas of southcentral Alaska; and the Siberian Yupik of the Russian Far East and St. Lawrence Island in western Alaska. They are Eskimo and are related to the Inuit.
The traditional way of life of the Yup'ik was semi-nomadic, following the seasonal variations in their environment. Hunting, primarily sea mammals, and fishing were subsistence activities. They also developed trade, initially with neighboring groups, and then with the Russians by the end of the nineteenth century. They believed that all living creatures go through a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, leading them to give newborns the name of a recently deceased member of their community, and to practice rituals in which parts of animals that were killed for food were returned to the ocean so that they could be reborn. They practiced shamanism, recognizing that there are both benign and evil spirits; shamans being able to communicate with them. Since contact with the outside world was relatively recent for the Yup'ik, they were able to retain many of their traditional ways of life. Communities are still located along the water, and many families still harvest the traditional subsistence resources, especially salmon and seal.
However, during the twentieth century when Western schools and Christian churches were built, the Yup'ik stopped telling their stories and offering their traditional words of wisdom. Their children were educated in Western languages and ways, and Christian churches taught their children religion; as the last shamans died no-one took their place. As the twenty-first century dawned, however, Yup’ik elders recognized that their lifestyle was almost lost. The elders chose to start sharing their wise words, believing that they have continued relevance and power to change lives. These words of wisdom are now available not only to educate Yup’ik young people and thus continue their culture, but are also offered to all for the benefit of human society around the world.
The Yupik's overall population today is estimated at 24,000 people.
Adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Yupik Peoples
The Zapotecs (Zoogocho Zapotec :Didxažoŋ) are an indigenous people of Mexico. The population is concentrated in the southern state of Oaxaca, but Zapotec communities exist in neighboring states as well. The present-day population is estimated at approximately 800,000 to 1,000,000 persons, many of whom are monolingual in one of the native Zapotec languages and dialects. In pre-Columbian times the Zapotec civilization was one of the highly developed cultures of Mesoamerica, which among other things included a system of writing. Many people of Zapotec ancestry have emigrated to the United States over several decades, and they maintain their own social organizations in the Los Angeles and Central Valley areas of California.
The name Zapotec is an exonym coming from Nahuatl tzapotēcah (singular tzapotēcatl), which means "inhabitants of the place of sapote." The Zapotecs call themselves Be'ena'a, which means "The People."
Though the Zapotecs are now largely Catholics, some of their ancient beliefs and practices, such as the burial of the dead with valuables, still survive. The first missionaries among the Zapotecs were Bartolomé de Olmeda, a Mercedarian, and Juan Díaz, a secular priest, who was killed by the natives in Quechula near Tepeaca for having "overthrown their idols".
The Zuni or A:shiwi (as the Zuni refer to themselves, in their own language) are one of the Pueblo peoples, most of whom live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico, United States.
According to the 2000 Census, there were approximately 7,790 people in the zip code of the Zuni reservation, with 7619 living in either the statistical areas of Zuni or Blackrock. Tribal estimates for the entire reservation run from 10,000 to 12,000. with over 80% being Native Americans, with 43.0% of the population below the poverty line as defined by the U.S. income standards.
The Zuni, like other Pueblo peoples, are believed to be the descendants of the Ancient Pueblo Peoples who lived in the deserts of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and southern Colorado for centuries. Archaeological evidence shows they have lived in their present location for about 1300 years. However, before the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Zuni lived in six different villages. After the revolt, until 1692, they took refuge in a defensible position atop Dowa Yalanne, a steep mesa 5 km (3.1miles) southeast of the present Pueblo of Zuni; "Dowa" means "corn", and "yalanne" means "mountain." After the establishment of peace and the return of the Spanish, the Zuni relocated to their present location, only briefly returning to the mesa top in 1703.
In 1539, a Spanish exploratory party guided by the Moorish slave Estevanico arrived, though the villagers eventually killed him. This was Spain's first contact with any of the Pueblo peoples.
Zuni traditionally speak the Zuni language, a unique language (also called an "isolate") which is unrelated to any other Native American language. The Zuni continue to practice their traditional religion with its regular ceremonies and dances and an independent and unique belief system.
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