Indigenous People's Experience

Around the world there are indigenous people -  tribal people who are defined by familial descent and/or ethnic origin. organized by family, lineage, or clan.  Most tribes are also organized as  political entities, within which people share a common language and culture. Some tribes are spread across large territories, and individual members may never meet or know all of the others. Some are small groups, confined to a limited territory, sometimes a single small island, within which everyone knows everyone else very well. What unites societies of such diverse scales as being “tribal” is their own internal sense of “being a single people,” but are not generally recognized as a legally defined nation-state. Unfortunately, throughout most of written history the terms tribe and primitive were usually linked; however, in recent years it has been recognized that tribal culture, language and history is every bit as complex and rich as any other culture.  The term primitive is to be avoided as it carries with it judgment of the moral or technological development of a people.

One tribal group that embodies this complexity are the Ainu of northern Japan.  Ainu are racially different from the Japanese and have a different language and a culture and religion based on close ties with the environment.  Their history is an oral one.  Sadly, much of the culture, history, and language has been lost, however recently there has been a renewal in interest and pride amongst the Ainu in their own culture.











Using the reference encyclopedia on culture and information on the Internet, create a poster on 11" x 16" paper on an indigenous people from any country in the world.  Cover the following topics:

• location
• culture
• language
• history
• interaction with colonial powers

Include at least one visual, i.e. photograph, drawing, chart, map, etc.