International Day of the world’s Indigenous peoples

August 9^th of every year is declared as International day of the world’s Indigenous peoples to preserve the rights of Indigenous people. It was pronounced in December 1994 by the General Assembly of the United Nations as the representation of the first working day of UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. It is a day to celebrate their diversity and recognize their contribution in protecting the environment and natural habitat.

Indigenous People in India

Indigenous are the native people, who natural inhabitants of a region. Even during the colonization, they have preserved their originality in terms of their culture, tradition, dress manner and language. They are culturally distinct group who are true to their origin.

These people are inhabitants in 70 countries. In India they are termed as Adivasis and Tribal people and there is estimation that there are 200 million people present. There are many ancient tribes like ‘Jat’ whose origin can be dated back to 4^th century B.C. Some other prominent groups are:

Threat and Rights

They are in minority and have a constant threat for their natural resources and land on which their culture is depends on. They have firm resolution to preserve and pass their ancestors culture and land to their future generation. These people are denied of their existence & deprived of their basic rights, so a policy was passed not only for their basic rights but also for protecting their integrity of their traditions, lands, language and their natural heritage. We at Himalai are trying to spread the awareness of Rights  and Protection of Indigenous people on this occasion.