Indigeneity in Asia

What does "Indigeneity" mean in Asia? For many in these communities, an Indigenous identity can represent a way to strengthen community identities, encourage language and cultural flourishing, highlight their ancestral relationships to land and water, and push back against large states’ attempts to minoritise them. What are the benefits and challenges of using the term in Asia? What does the grassroots enthusiasm for the term “Indigenous” and top-down restraints on its use mean for our understanding of Indigeneity more broadly? And how could recognising Asian Indigenous groups shape diplomacy and aid programs? 

Speakers: 

• Professor Sheryl Lightfoot, Political Science and First Nations and Indigenous Studies, University of British Colombia
• Dr Tashi Dekyid Monet, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia
• Dr Urmee Chakma, Lecturer, Humanities and Pedagogy Education, La Trobe University
• James Blackwell, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University 
• Dr Ruth Gamble, Senior Lecturer, History, La Trobe University (chair)

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