The ancestors of most Indigenous peoples were shamans and Elders who possessed more knowledge than the modern younger communities. They knew more primitive survival tactics and there is a push to bring Western science and Indigenous knowledge together.
This proves they possess knowledge more valuable than some scientists currently understand.
According to the UN, there are approximately 370 million indigenous peoples currently living across the world, representing about 5% of the global population. It's also estimated there are as many as 5,000 different indigenous cultures.
There are Indigenous tribes on continents across the world, that have lived freely in their homelands, preserving their traditional cultural values amongst the wild nature, as did their ancestors, with very little change for thousands of years.
Spiritualism
If a patient has been sick for a long time, a shaman may take a ritual approach by calling to the spirits for help to cure their sick loved ones. All of the family relatives of the sick person need to gather during the ritual performance.
When a shaman is called to heal a sick person, they often perform a ritual by calling to the spirit during a blood sacrifice of an animal, and smearing the blood across the forehead and the palm of the hand of the sick person.
Apo Noni Shaman put chicken blood on my palm (Calling their God to protect their visitor)
When the shaman has called out to the spirits, the spirits would then enter the shamans’ body, and heal them. They would ask the spirits for guidance and protection, as well as asking for rain and sun for their crops so they could get a good harvest.
Then at the time of harvest, they perform a thanksgiving ritual at the big trees, rocks, or caves, and the entire native tribe cook together, and perform the animal sacrifice ritual and offer the blood or foods to their Gods.
(Photo: Shaman Apo Noni) Sacrificing the chicken, and Smearing blood on my head
Around 370 million people from an identified 5000 different groups, in more than 70 countries identify themselves as Indigenous People, and according to survival international, there are also over 100 uncontacted tribes in the world
Indigenous people in the Philippines compose of about 10 percent of the total Philippine population and belonging to over 40 distinct ethnolinguistic groups, such as the Lumad of Mindanao, and various non-Muslim tribal people found in virtually every province of Mindanao, numbering around 2.1 million people.
Photo: Wiki
Christianity has become a religion to a lot of indigenous people across the Americas, and South-East Asia, especially the native tribes in the Philippines, with many missionaries travelling all over the world. As well as introducing religion such as Christianity, in modern times they help to provide basic education, and supply some basic medications, books, and clothing to those in need.
Nice feeling if someone loves you like a family ( Everybody's happy)
Issues Indigenous People Face
Throughout time, many indigenous people have also been killed and driven away from their lands which have been taken away from them by colonizers. As there are many improvements in the way of life around the world today, it does not always apply to indigenous people, as in many cases their way of life has gotten dramatically worse.
Photo: ©MK Everybody are happy in the night telling their story
They are facing the increasing negative impacts of economic globalization on their natural environment and their well-being. There are many health and disease issues, along with evident effects of climate change, environmental, and economic issues, which have partly been caused by contribution of the outside world.
Photo:©MK Carrying gun to protect themselves
Land exploitation
Centuries ago indigenous people lived in most of the earth’s ecosystems, but today they have the legal right to use only about 6% of the planet’s land. Most indigenous people have never claimed private ownership, and legal title of land, often just living within their territories with a collective right to use that land.
This is why governments and corporations make claim to the land as they do not consider them legal owners. Although the international convention ILO 169 and UNDRIP recognize the collective right of indigenous peoples to their ancestral territories, only very few countries respect this, especially when there is a commercial interest in the natural resources on indigenous territories.
Photo: ©MK Preparing for cooking
This is why in recent times, major impacts on the indigenous environments have been caused by their lands being exploited for deforestation, or mining for natural resources by colonized governments and corporations, who rely upon massive extraction of natural resources for export to generate currency, businesses, and consumer products worldwide.
Photo:©MK Hand crafts ready to sell
Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues stated, the majority of the world’s remaining natural resources such as minerals, freshwater, and potential energy sources are located within indigenous territories. Much of these resources are often being taken without their informed consent. These people forced from their lands are often provided very little or nothing in exchange for what was their home.
Photo: ©MK Brotherhood gathering
Fortunately, for the indigenous people that have more recently been forced out of their land, have become increasingly successful at national and international courts in claiming their land titles. However land already taken often becomes degraded and polluted, with little or no biodiversity left, which the people solely depend on.
Photo: ©MK Picking fruits
Discrimination Discrimination has become an issue for indigenous people by dominant groups of colonizers in the country they live because of cultural differences, languages, religion, physical appearances, and lack of education, or knowledge of the outside world.
Photo Fiona Watson/Survival
The majority of indigenous people are often excluded form society, not given the right to vote for leaders, or political issues of their homeland, or access to any public services. If they want to access these privileges, they are forced to assimilate to the dominant culture that has colonized their lands, with everything being provided in the colonizers languages, and cultural values. This has a negative impact on the survival of the indigenous language, culture and traditions, which are seen as backward by the dominant culture. All indigenous tribes worldwide are facing all these similar problems.
Photo: © PAN - Asia Pacific Tribes on their way Evacuating
Some indigenous people today are well educated professionals, with the latest generations’ main goals being able to go to school so they can have a good future in the outside world. It appears to be the main reason why they really want to pursue their education, so that if they become professionals, no one can bully them anymore.
Indigenous Health
There are many diseases and health issues among indigenous communities across the world; this includes malaria, tuberculosis, cancer, HIV, aids, hepatitis, as well as malnutrition. Unfortunately most do not have access to healthcare and treatment, with most ending in fatality.
Photo: Alden March - Negreto tribes 1899 Philippines
Often when someone has gotten a sickness or health issue, they find a medicinal use from the herbs and plants growing nearby to treat them, which may be mixed and cooked or brewed for the patient to take, depending on their issue, as they do not have cures for everything. There are more than 100 pharmaceutical companies currently funding projects to study indigenous plant knowledge and specific plants used by shamans for medicinal purposes. This proves that these treatments may provide some beneficial use in treatment.
Highlander pupils get helps from thier teachers in Upi
Photo: ©MK Fresh Tawa Tawa leaves
Mosquitoes are considered one of the most dangerous insects on the planet because of their ability to spread deadly diseases and viruses. Its widely reported that they kill more than million people per a year just through the transmission of malaria. People are also sickened and killed by other mosquito-borne diseases and viruses. Due to global warming, it has been dramatically increasing worldwide.
Photo Courtesy GMA
I believe that the shaman are good for using natures resources for medicinal uses, better than the pharmaceuticals who include may chemicals and sell to make profit.
Poverty
Indigenous people make up about one third of the world’s 900 million extremely poor rural people. It is evident that indigenous people suffer higher rates of poverty, due to lack of work, or trade with the outside communities. The lack of money and support from government means indigenous people are unable to afford health treatment, food, water, causing malnutrition, good education, as well as clothing.
Photo: ©MK Medicinal uses
The people that are forced to move elsewhere, due to land grabbing, usually end up without any compensation. The loss of land, pollution of their environment and exclusion from social and medical provisions have made indigenous people are among the poorest people in the world. They are lagging behind on the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and get little support from national governments to improve their situation.
Photo: Domain Tribe Evacuation
Many indigenous people forced from land with nowhere else to go, often end up moving to urban areas in order to find work. However, due to discrimination and lack of education, they often get little possibilities for getting proper jobs, which leaves them among the poorest in the city. The often poor conditions in which indigenous peoples live and cultural changes have also caused many social problems, such as drugs and alcohol abuse, and violence.
Climate change
According to IFAD, Traditional indigenous lands and territories contain around 80% of Earth’s biodiversity, so indigenous peoples can play a crucial role in managing natural resources.
Photo: ©MK
Indigenous people have not, or only to a very limited extent contributed to the causes of the present climate changes, and are increasingly confronted with its negative consequences. A well noted situation of the effect are the Inuit people, who are direct victims of the melting polar ice and permafrost in the Arctic region. While at the same time, indigenous peoples of the Himalayas face a change in the flora and fauna on which they depend for their daily lives. Indigenous peoples living in desert areas, also suffer increasing droughts. In tropical rainforests the reduction of rainfall and an increased chance of forest fires can be a serious threat for the numerous indigenous peoples and wild life in these areas. Indigenous peoples living in coastal areas or on islands are being threatened by the rising sea level, and in temperate ecosystems the weather is getting more and more unpredictable, dry periods for instance becoming too short to dry the fish and seaweed.
Photo: Joy Fausto organics
Even though indigenous peoples are among the first victims of climate change, they are usually the last thought about, and some already developed strategies to adapt to climate change, are hardly have voiced in policies to combat climate change.
Conclusion
History today reveals to the world, the past lives of ancestors, where they originated, their cultural traditions, and way of life. But to those indigenous tribes still in existence across the world today, have always preserved knowledge based on their ancestors and don't rely on historians or scientists to research their ancestry, because their history has been passed down from ancestors, generation to generation.
Before colonization
After so many years of foreign colonization, indigenous people have become more and more exposed to the outside world. Many have adapted to the new cultures, religions, languages, education, and modern technology, brought to their land, which has in some cases improved their standard of living, however, making it a lot worse for a large number of them who have been displaced.
Photo: © Dario Novellino
It is evident that many people who go to urban communities often feel unwanted and discriminated against, being treated unfairly, they should be able to integrate into modern society without facing discrimination or lower class treatment, as they are the true native owners of the land they live in, and deserve the rights.
Photo: Cbc radio Amazonia tribe
The main causes of indigenous peoples land grabbing is done because of those in power, allowing or being involved in the mining, and logging of the land
Photo: yurileveratto1 (Amazon Tribe)
They help create the main source of inhumane treatment towards indigenous people, and the environment, when they should be the ones doing the protecting.
(Phto: Public Domain) T'boli Tribe
If there is good news as about the Philippines, it is that the current political climate does appear more receptive to, or at least more tolerant of, those seeking to act on these relatively congenial circumstances to improve the human rights conditions of indigenous Filipinos.
Batak Tribe
There are many different tribes of manobo and various dialects. If you want to know more about these cultures please visit Manobo Blog http://manobogroup.blogspot.com/
Photo: © Fiona Watson/Survival 2010 ( Brazil Tribe)
Photo: ©mk mt.apo jungle
"Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat Money."