Indigenous Peoples of the World

The Maricopa or Piipaash, are a Native American tribe, who live in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Gila River Indian Community along with the Pima, a tribe with whom the Maricopa have long held a positive relationship. The Maricopa, mostly Xalychidom Piipaash, at the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community are concentrated in Lehi,[3] while the Maricopa at the Gila River Indian Community are concentrated in Maricopa Colony. The Maricopa were a former Yuma River group, living along the banks of the Colorado River. Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Maricopa Peoples

Maricopa

The Matipu are an ethnic group close to extinction in Brazil which has a population estimated at about 127 individuals in 2010, they had a population of 40 in the 1995 census. They speak the Matipu language of the Carib family and are mainly of animist faith. They live in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, in the Xingu National Park. They are mostly fishermen, hunters and farmers of cassava and maize. They are related to the Matipu-Nahukua group, with whom they both share a common a language despite the fact that they are ethnically different. Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Matipu Peoples

Matipu

The Matsés or Mayoruna are an indigenous tribe of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. The tribe's ancestral lands are currently threatened by illegal logging practices and poaching. These homelands are located between the Javari and Galvez rivers. The Matsés have guarded their lands from both other indigenous tribes and outsider colonials. The approximately 3,200 Matsés people speak the Matsés language which belongs to the Panoan language family. In the last thirty years, they have become a largely settled people living mostly in permanent forest settlements. However, they still rely on hunting and gathering for most of their subsistence. Their main source of income comes from selling peccary hides and meat. Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Matsés Peoples

Matses

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

Maya

The Maya Chortis are descendants of the people who inhabited the capital of the ancient Maya empire of Copán in Honduras, who now live in the departments of Copán and Ocotepeque. Maya Chorti are said to number about 3,500 people; however, the Consejo Nacional Indígena Maya Chortí de Honduras (CONIMCHH) suggests, according to its membership, that the number is closer to 10,000. Chorti in Honduras have moved away from tradition due to mainstream influences. Unlike the Maya in Guatemala, the Maya Chortis no longer wear traditional clothing and have taken on other aspects of mainstream culture. Over the past decade, Maya Chorti leaders have been advocating for a resurgence of traditional indigenous values. Since 2002 CONIMCHH has also been working to revive the language by offering Chorti language classes in several villages. Text by Minority Rights International

Maya-Chortis

The Mayagna (also known as Sumu or Sumo) are a people who live on the eastern coasts of Nicaragua and Honduras, an area commonly known as the Mosquito Coast. Their preferred autonym is Mayagna, as the name "Sumo" is a deragatory name historically used by the Miskito people. Their language belongs to the Misumalpan language family. Their culture is more similar to that of the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia than the Mesoamerican cultures to their north. The Mayagna inhabited much of the Mosquito Coast in the 16th century. Since then, they have become more marginalized following the emergence of the Miskito as a regional power. Today, most people speak Mayagna at home but can also speak Miskito in order to interact with the communities around them. In 2001 the Mayagna of the small community of Awas Tingni (then 1100 people) won an important ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, established in 1979 by agreement among the signatories of the Organization of American States (OAS). The ruling established that indigenous peoples had rights to the land where they had traditionally lived and had tenure. Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Mayangna Peoples

Mayagna

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 Peoples

Mazahuas

The Mehinako, Mehinaku, Mehináku, or Meinacos are members of an indigenous group located in the region around the headwaters of the Xingu River in Brazil. They speak an Arawakan language[1] and currently reside in area around the Tuatuari and Kurisevo rivers. They have a population of 259 (in 2010). In 1884, when the first German explorers arrived at the Xingu River headwaters and began to document the tribes living there, the Mehinako had two villages and a camping site used only during the dry season. Many anthropologists believe that, at the time, the population of the region may have been more than four times what it is today, and that the villages were likely much larger. The Mehinako have no provision for privacy in their social arrangements, and live with a striking degree of transparency. Huts that house families of ten or twelve people have no internal walls, and are situated around an open area that is in constant view. On the rare occasions when members of the group are out of sight, their activities can be inferred by their curious fellow villagers, who are able to recognize (and draw from memory) each other's footprints. Gregor sums up the situation by writing: "Each individual's whereabouts and activities are generally known to his relatives and often to the community as a whole. A Mehinaku has little chance of staying out of the public eye for any length of time." Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Mehinako Peoples

Mehinako

The Meeteis or Meiteis are the majority ethnic group of Manipur, India, and because of this are sometimes referred to as Manipuris. Generally speaking, Meitei is an endonym and Manipuri is an exonym. The Meitei people are made up of seven clans, who trace their written history back to 33 AD. Meiteis occupy only 10% of the total geographical areas of the present day Manipur State. It is situated in the far Eastern part of India, bordering Myanmar in the East and South-East. The majority of the people of Manipur are the “Meiteis” who mainly inhabit in the plains which is roughly only about 10 % of the total geographical areas (2238 km2) whereas the Nagas and Kukis dominate the hilly areas which form the rest 90 % of the land (20089 km2) .The valley people were ruled by their Meitei kings but their ruled never extended beyond the Valley and the Hill areas remains under various chieftain of the Tribes. Meitei is also written as Meetei. The Meitei society has shared with the Nagas and Kukis, the other two dominant communities settled mainly in the hills. The seven clans of the Meiteis ruled in different principalities, mainly in the valley. The Meitei feudal kingdom started in 33 AD when King Pakhangba of the Ningthouja Dynasty united all the seven clans and ascended the throne. The term Meitei now refers to five social groups now - the Meitei marup (believe in only Meitei culture and God), Meitei Christians, Meitei goura Chaytonya (believe in both Meitei and Hindu gods), the "Meitei" Brahmins[citation needed] (locally called Shreehatti original Bhamons) and the Meitei Muslims (called Miah Meitei or Pangal). All of them has Meiteilon as their mother-tongue. Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Meitei Peoples

Meitei

The Métis (Michif) are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with formal recognition equal to that of the Inuit and First Nations. Mothers were often Cree, Ojibway, Algonquin, Saulteaux, Menominee, Mi'kmaq or Maliseet. At one time there was an important distinction between French Métis born of francophone voyageur fathers, and the Anglo Métis or Countryborn descended from Scottish fathers. Today these two cultures have essentially coalesced into one Métis tradition. Other former names—many of which are now considered to be offensive—include Bois-Brûlés, Mixed-bloods, Half-breeds, Bungi, Black Scots and Jackatars. The Métis homeland includes regions scattered across Canada, as well as parts of the northern United States (specifically Montana, North Dakota, and northwest Minnesota). Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Metis Peoples

Metis

Metlakatla First Nation is a band government based at Metlakatla on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada, to the north of the city of Prince Rupert. They are a member of the Tsimshian First Nations treaty council.

Metlakatla

The Mirrar are an Aboriginal Australian indigenous people who’s traditional home lies in the countries Northern Territory. Specifically the Mirrar inhabit areas of the Kakuda national park, Jabiluka billabong country and parts of Mount Brockman. The Mirrar have claimed nearly all of their traditional lands under the 1976 Aboriginal Land Rights Act with the exception of the excised site of Jabiluka town and the surrounding area. Though the successfully claimed land is considered Mirrar territory this people do not maintain strict boundaries with relation to other aboriginal groups. Three aboriginal languages are spoken amongst the Mirrar with Gundjehimi the most widely practiced of these. English is also spoken and the Mirrar display, as many indigenous peoples do, a great aptitude for linguistics. The group has a small population of only twenty six adult members. Traditionally the Mirrar practice hunting and gathering but also use environmental controls in the form of monitored burnings which encourage germination and also act to prevent uncontrollable wild fires. Their connection to their land is further strengthened by the important practice of maintaining Mirrar sacred sites. The Mirrar report that European Anthropologists have traced this groups connection to their country back to at least forty thousand years ago. Calling themselves “custodians since time immemorial” they were amongst the first groups of Aborigines to receive rights to their traditional lands under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. Despite this they have been constantly threatened, legislated against and coerced by government authorities and mining groups. Against the wishes of traditional Mirrar owners and despite a mining veto provision in the land rights act ways have been found to make mining concessions on Mirrar land which lies a-top extensive uranium deposits. The Ranger Uranium mine was established just in time to avoid the veto provision and the Mirrar are powerless to rid themselves of it as a result, they have however fought hard to prevent another mine such as this one. Such a venture has been threatening the Mirrar for sometime in the form of plans for a Jabiluka mine. Though plans were buried in 1983 by Bob Hawke they were re-established in the nineties to devastating effect. Despite Mirrar opposition mining company North Limited began construction on the site prompting UNESCO to declare itself ‘gravely concerned about the serious impacts on the living cultural values of Kakadu National Park posed by the proposal’. After desecrating Boyweg Almudj sacred site with toxic waste North Limited were forced to walk away. It is now thought the Jabiluka mine will never go ahead. This is a major victory for the Mirrar and Aboriginal land rights which have been historically manipulated to vast degrees, allowing exploitation such as that suffered by the Mirrar. Today the Mirrar people continue to care for their sacred sites, practice their traditional customs and are involved in concerted efforts to teach young Mirrar in these lifeways to achieve cultural survival and continuity. They are resolved to face down any future challenges to the title they rightly hold with the same tenacity that ensured Mirrar Senior Traditional Owner Yvonne Margarula was awarded the Friends of the Earth International Environment award in 1998.

Mirarr

The 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.

Miskito

The Miwok (Miwuk, Mi-wuk, Mewuk) are an indigenous group comprised of four linguistically related peoples. All speak Miwokan languages in the Utiam family, in this tongue the name Miwok translates as ‘the people’. The Miwok population stands at approximately 3,500, a number which represents the sum of dispersed groups of people inhabiting four main areas, Bays, Sierras and Plains, Coast and Lakes. Eleven Miwok tribes are federally recognised whilst others such as the Eldorado Miwok remain unacknowledged. All Miwok groups are native to Northern California. Pre-contact, and for some time after it, the Miwok are thought to have lived in small un-centralized bands. They predominantly operated a hunter gatherer subsistence lifestyle but are also known to have domesticated dogs and practiced the small scale cultivation of Black Oak acorns, a natural product which was held in high regard. The Miwok were known for their encyclopaedic plant knowledge and identification skills. They discovered numerous uses for plants which could be utilized as medicinal, nutritional and combative aids. For example the so-called ‘soap root’ was used not only as a cleaning aid but also in fishing as the Miwok discovered that if diffused into water it stupified fish making them easy to catch. The Miwok managed to foster generally peaceful relations with Spanish and Mexican settlers unlike other groups who seem to have largely ignored their existence, perhaps not considering them a threat. Later in their history, around 1812, Russian fur traders arrived on Miwok soil and the same peaceful relations could not be established. The Russians threatened Miwok livelihoods, hunting on their lands with little respect for the Miwok peoples’ reliance on this eco-system for both food and economic income. This led to violent clashes which contributed to a rising mortality rate as the Miwok were simultaneously ravaged by foreign diseases. The lot of the Miwok did not improve when the Russians left. In 1848 the USA claimed California and soon after the much romanticized Gold rush began. With it came land grabs, disruputive mine digging, and more disease. The Miwok and other Native American groups were viewed as pests and shot on sight, though they fought back their resistance lasted only a year before being moved onto the small reservations, known as rancheiras, where they still live to this day. Today the Miwok peoples ardently keep their traditional culture alive on the rancheiras through continued attention to cultural practices such as dance, song, games and crafts. Though they now often participate in a cash economy Miwok groups have reinvested heavily in their communities, strengthening their hold over their own physical and cultural well being. One example of this reinvestment is the building of new community housing on Tuolumne Rancheira using profit from the Miwok owned casino.

Miwok

The Mixtec (or Mixteca) are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples inhabiting the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla in a region known as La Mixteca. The Mixtecan languages form an important branch of the Otomanguean language family. The term Mixtec (Mixteco in Spanish) comes from the Nahuatl word mixtecah, "cloud people" . The area in which Mixtec is spoken is known as the Mixteca. The Mixtecs call themselves ne'ivi davi; they call their region Ñuu Savi, Ñuu Djau, Ñuu Davi, etc., depending on the local variant of their language; they call their language sa'an davi, da'an davi or tu'un savi. The Mixtec area, both historically and currently, corresponds roughly to the western half of the state of Oaxaca, with some Mixtec communities extending into the neighboring state of Puebla to the north-west and also the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec people and their homelands are often subdivided into three geographic areas: The Mixteca Alta or Highland Mixtec living in the mountains in, around, and to the west of the Valley of Oaxaca; the Mixteca Baja or Lowland Mixtec living to the north and west of these highlands, and the Mixteca de la Costa or Coastal Mixtec living in the southern plains and the coast of the Pacific Ocean. For most of Mixtec history the Mixteca Alta was the dominant political force, with the capitals of the Mixtec nation located in the central highlands. The valley of Oaxaca itself was often a disputed border region, sometimes dominated by the Mixtec and sometimes by their neighbors to the east, the Zapotec. Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Mixtec Peoples

Mixteca

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

Mi’kmaq

The Mocoví are an indigenous tribe of the Gran Chaco. They live in Chaco Province and Santa Fe Province of Argentina.

Mocovi

The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma (Myanmar), living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand. The Mon culture is credited as a major source of influence on the dominant Burmese culture.

Mon

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Berber, Black African and Arab descent from Northern Africa, who came to conquer, occupy and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed other religions. They called the territory Al Andalus, comprising most of what is now Spain and Portugal. " Moors" are not a distinct or self-defined people. Medieval and early modern Europeans applied the name primarily to Berbers, but also at various times to Arabs, Muslim Iberians and West Africans from Mali and Niger who had been absorbed into the Almoravid dynasty.

Moor

The Munda are tribal (Adivasi) people of the Chota Nagpur Plateau region. They are found across Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Assam states of India, and into parts of Bangladesh. Their language is Mundari, which belongs to the Munda subgroup of the Austro-Asiatic language family. There are estimated to be two million Munda people. The term Munda designates the name of the leader of the tribal community. The munda call themselves "Hodoko" which means "Human Beings". Text adapted from Wikipedia's article on the Munda Peoples

Munda

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

Mursi