Who are considered as ‘indigenous people’ in India ?

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Q. Who are considered as ‘indigenous people’ in India ?

CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2019Subjective· 1mImportance★★★★★

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Concept understanding — Indigenous Rights Recognition

Indigenous Rights Recognition — A First Look

Imagine you live in a house your family has lived in for generations. You have your own way of running things, your own rules, your own festivals, your own language. One day, someone new arrives, builds a bigger house next door, and declares that your house is now part of their property. They tell you that your rules don't count anymore, that your language can't be spoken in school, and that the land you've always used for hunting or gathering now belongs to them.

That feeling of injustice — that something fundamental has been taken from you without your consent — is the heart of why Indigenous Rights Recognition exists.

The Intuition: Why "Recognition" Matters

Indigenous peoples are the original inhabitants of lands that were later colonised. For centuries, many countries simply ignored their existence, treated them as obstacles to be removed, or actively tried to erase their cultures. Laws were passed that took their land, broke their treaties, and banned their ceremonies.

The core intuition behind Indigenous Rights Recognition is simple: these peoples never gave up their rights. They didn't vanish, they didn't consent to being ruled, and their connection to their land and culture didn't disappear just because a colonial government said so.

Recognition is not about giving them new rights. It's about acknowledging that these rights already existed — and that the state has a duty to respect them.

The Precise Statement

Indigenous Rights Recognition is the legal and political principle that a state formally acknowledges the distinct status, collective rights, and self-governing authority of Indigenous peoples within its borders. This includes, at minimum:

Land rights: Recognition that Indigenous peoples have traditional territories they never ceded, and that these lands cannot be taken without free, prior, and informed consent.
Cultural rights: The right to practice, preserve, and transmit their languages, religions, and customs without interference.
Self-determination: The right to govern their own affairs — to make laws, manage resources, and maintain their own institutions — within the framework of the state.
Treaty rights: Where historical treaties exist, recognition means honouring them as binding agreements, not as scraps of paper that can be ignored.

Important

Recognition is not assimilation. It does not mean "we accept you as part of our nation." It means "we accept that you are a distinct nation within our country, with rights that predate our constitution."

How It Works in Practice

A country that adopts Indigenous Rights Recognition typically does so through:

Constitutional or legislative change — for example, Canada's Constitution Act, 1982 recognises "existing aboriginal and treaty rights."
Land claims settlements — where governments negotiate with Indigenous groups to return or compensate for traditional lands. …

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In India, the term ‘indigenous people’ is not officially used in the Constitution; instead, the recognised category is ‘Scheduled Tribes’ (STs), who are communities with distinct cultures, geographical isolation, and historical disadvantage.

The idea of ‘indigenous people’ carries a specific global meaning — groups who were living in a region before colonisation or conquest, and who maintain distinct social, cultural, and economic traditions. In India, however, the term is politically and legally complex. The Indian Constitution does not use the phrase ‘indigenous people’ at all. Instead, it identifies certain communities as Scheduled Tribes (STs) under Article 342. These are the groups that correspond most closely to what the world calls indigenous peoples.

Why the difference? India’s history of migration and settlement is ancient and layered. Unlike settler-colonial nations such as Australia or the United States, where a clear line can be drawn between colonisers and pre-colonial inhabitants, India’s population movements have been continuous for millennia. Deciding who is ‘original’ is nearly impossible. So the Constitution chose a practical, administrative definition: communities that are tribal in character, often living in remote forests or hills, with distinct languages, customs, and a low level of integration into mainstream society.

Note

The term ‘Adivasi’ (meaning ‘original inhabitant’) is widely used in social and political discourse, but it has no official constitutional status. It is a self-identifying label embraced by many tribal groups.

The official criteria for identifying a community as a Scheduled Tribe are:

Indications of primitive traits — such as a pre-agricultural level of technology or a hunting-gathering economy.
Distinctive culture — including language, rituals, and social organisation that differ from the surrounding population.
Geographical isolation — typically living in hill tracts, forests, or other remote areas.
Shyness of contact with the larger community.
Backwardness — in education, health, and economic development.

These criteria were applied during the colonial period and refined after independence. The President of India, in consultation with the Governor of a state, specifies which communities are Scheduled Tribes for that state. A community listed as an ST in one state may not be listed in another, because the degree of isolation and distinctiveness varies regionally. …

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Same / Similar Concept — real previous-year questions on the same or a closely similar concept, not this exact question.

CBSE 2024Set 59/2/11 markMCQ
$Q. People who flee their homes but remain within national borders are called ___________. (A) fugitives (B) migrants (C) internally displaced people (D) indigenous people$
›Reveal solutionSolution
People who flee their homes but remain within their own country are called internally displaced persons (IDPs) — they are not the same as refugees, who cross an international border.

The key distinction here is about movement across borders. When people are forced to leave their homes due to conflict, violence, natural disasters, or human rights violations, their legal status depends on whether they cross an international boundary.

If they flee to another country, they become refugees — a term with a specific legal definition under international law. But if they stay inside their own country, even though they have been displaced from their homes, they are called internally displaced persons, or IDPs.

Note

The term "internally displaced" is not a legal status like "refugee" — there is no single international treaty that grants IDPs specific rights, though they are protected by general human rights and humanitarian law.

Now look at the options given:

(A) Fugitives — This word refers to someone who is running away from the law, usually to avoid arrest or prosecution. It has a criminal connotation and does not describe people fleeing general danger or disaster.

(B) Migrants — A migrant is someone who moves from one place to another, often for economic reasons or to improve their living conditions. The move may be voluntary, and the term does not necessarily imply forced displacement or staying within national borders. …
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CBSE 2019Set 59/4/11 mark
$Q. Who are considered as ‘indigenous people’ in India ?$
›Reveal solutionSolution
In India, the term ‘indigenous people’ is not officially used in the Constitution; instead, the recognised category is ‘Scheduled Tribes’ (STs), who are communities with distinct cultures, geographical isolation, and historical disadvantage.

The idea of ‘indigenous people’ carries a specific global meaning — groups who were living in a region before colonisation or conquest, and who maintain distinct social, cultural, and economic traditions. In India, however, the term is politically and legally complex. The Indian Constitution does not use the phrase ‘indigenous people’ at all. Instead, it identifies certain communities as Scheduled Tribes (STs) under Article 342. These are the groups that correspond most closely to what the world calls indigenous peoples.

Why the difference? India’s history of migration and settlement is ancient and layered. Unlike settler-colonial nations such as Australia or the United States, where a clear line can be drawn between colonisers and pre-colonial inhabitants, India’s population movements have been continuous for millennia. Deciding who is ‘original’ is nearly impossible. So the Constitution chose a practical, administrative definition: communities that are tribal in character, often living in remote forests or hills, with distinct languages, customs, and a low level of integration into mainstream society.

Note

The term ‘Adivasi’ (meaning ‘original inhabitant’) is widely used in social and political discourse, but it has no official constitutional status. It is a self-identifying label embraced by many tribal groups.

The official criteria for identifying a community as a Scheduled Tribe are:

Indications of primitive traits — such as a pre-agricultural level of technology or a hunting-gathering economy.

Distinctive culture — including language, rituals, and social organisation that differ from the surrounding population.

Geographical isolation — typically living in hill tracts, forests, or other remote areas.

Shyness of contact with the larger community.

Backwardness — in education, health, and economic development.

These criteria were applied during the colonial period and refined after independence. The President of India, in consultation with the Governor of a state, specifies which communities are Scheduled Tribes for that state. A community listed as an ST in one state may not be listed in another, because the degree of isolation and distinctiveness varies regionally. …
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Q.Who are considered as ‘indigenous people’ in India ?

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