The indigenous peoples of Africa are those peoples from the African region whose way of life, attachment or claims to particular lands, and social and political standing in relation to other more dominant groups have resulted in their substantial marginalisation within modern African states. This marginalisation, combined with the desire to recognise and protect both their collective and human rights, and to maintain the continuity of their individual cultures has led many of these peoples to seek identification as indigenous peoples, in the contemporary global sense of the term. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Subsistence means living in a permanently fragile equilibrium between alimentary needs and the means for satisfying them. ... The term collective rights refers to rights which are held and exercised by all the people collectively, or by specific subsets of the people. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Culture (Culture from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning to cultivate,) generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... The term indigenous people has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. ...

In the post-colonial period, the concept of specific indigenous peoples within the African continent has gained wider acceptance, although not without controversy. The highly-diverse and numerous ethnic groups which comprise most modern, independent African states contain within them various peoples whose situation, cultures and pastoralist or hunter-gatherer lifestyles are generally marginalised and set apart from the dominant political and economic structures of the nation. Since the late 20th century these peoples have increasingly sought recognition of their rights as distinct indigenous peoples, in both national and international contexts. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Pastoralism is a form of farming, such as agriculture and horticulture. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ...

Although the vast majority of African peoples can be considered to be "indigenous" in the sense that they have originated from that continent and nowhere else, in practice identity as an "indigenous people" as per the term's modern application is more restrictive, and certainly not every African ethnic group claims identification under these terms. Groups and communities who do claim this recognition are those who by a variety of historical and environmental circumstances have been placed outside of the dominant state systems, and whose traditional practices and land claims often come into conflict with the objectives and policies promulgated by governments, companies and surrounding dominant societies.

Given the extensive and complicated history of human migration within Africa, being the "first peoples in a land" is not a necessary pre-condition for acceptance as an indigenous people. Rather, indigenous identity relates more to a set of characteristics and practices than priority of arrival. For example, several populations of nomadic peoples such as the Tuareg of the Sahara and Sahel regions now inhabit areas in which they arrived comparatively recently; their claim to indigenous status (endorsed by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights) is based on their marginalisation as nomadic peoples in states and territories dominated by sedentary agricultural peoples. Net migration rates for 2006: positive (blue), negative (orange) and stable (green). ... Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ... For other senses of this name, see Tuareg (disambiguation). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) is an supranational body tasked with promoting and protecting human rights throughout the African continent. ...

The Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC) is one of the main trans-national network organizations recognised as a representative of African indigenous peoples in dialogues with governments and bodies such as the UN. IPACC identifies several key characteristics associated with indigenous claims in Africa:

• political and economic marginalisation rooted in colonialism;
• de facto discrimination based often on the dominance of agricultural peoples in the State system (e.g. lack of access to education and health care by hunters and herders);
• the particularities of culture, identity, economy and territoriality that link hunting and herding peoples to their home environments in deserts and forests (e.g. nomadism, diet, knowledge systems);
• some indigenous peoples, such as the San and Pygmy peoples are physically distinct, which makes them subject to specific forms of discrimination.

With respect to concerns expressed that identifying some groups and not others as indigenous is in itself discriminatory, IPACC states that it: The Bushmen, San, Basarwa, !Kung or Khwe are indigenous people of the Kalahari Desert, which spans areas of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Angola. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article is about discrimination in the social science context. ...

• "...recognises that all Africans should enjoy equal rights and respect. All of Africa’s diversity is to be valued. Particular communities, due to historical and environmental circumstances, have found themselves outside the state-system and underrepresented in governance...This is not to deny other Africans their status; it is to emphasise that affirmative recognition is necessary for hunter-gatherers and herding peoples to ensure their survival."

At an African inter-governmental level, the examination of indigenous rights and concerns is pursued by a sub-commission established under the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), sponsored by the African Union (AU) (successor body to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)). In late 2003 the 53 signatory states of the ACHPR adopted the Report of the African Commission's Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities and its recommendations. This report says in part (p. 62): The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) is an supranational body tasked with promoting and protecting human rights throughout the African continent. ... Anthem Let Us All Unite and Celebrate Together [1] Administrative Centre Largest city Cairo, Egypt Working languages Arabic English French Portuguese Spanish(Eq. ... The Organization of African Unity (OAU) or Organisation de lUnité Africaine (OUA) was established on May 25, 1963. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• ...certain marginalized groups are discriminated in particular ways because of their particular culture, mode of production and marginalized position within the state[; a] form of discrimination that other groups within the state do not suffer from. The call of these marginalized groups to protection of their rights is a legitimate call to alleviate this particular form of discrimination.

The adoption of this report at least notionally subscribed the signatories to the concepts and aims of furthering the identity and rights of African indigenous peoples. The extent to which individual states are mobilising to put these recommendations into practice varies enormously, however, and most indigenous groups continue to agitate for improvements in the areas of land rights, use of natural resources, protection of environment and culture, political recognition and freedom from discrimination.

See also

• Category:Indigenous peoples of Africa
• List of indigenous peoples

Main article: indigenous peoples This is a selected list of the worlds indigenous peoples. ...

External links

• Indigenous Knowledge in Africa - UNEP Study
• Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC)

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