There are over 476 million indigenous peoples living in 90 countries across the world, accounting for 6.2 per cent of the global population. Although numerous indigenous peoples worldwide are self-governing and some have been successful in establishing autonomy in varying forms, many indigenous peoples still come under the ultimate authority of central governments who exercise control over their lands, territories and resources. Despite these restrictions and challenges, indigenous peoples have demonstrated extraordinary examples of good governance, ranging from the Haudenosaunee to the existing Sámi parliaments in Finland, Sweden, and Norway (UN, 2021).
However, a centuries-old marginalisation and a systemic discrimination expose the vulnerabilities of indigenous peoples to the serious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The least amount of attention and resources have been dedicated to the indigenous people's health, as opposed to the majority.
Indigenous peoples' political and economic marginalisation has a direct impact on their health. They are part of an increasing number of groups that are socially excluded from mainstream society and health services. The result is that a disproportionate number of indigenous people die before the age of 50 years compared with their non-indigenous counterparts. More than 86% of indigenous peoples globally work in the informal economy, compared to 66% for their non-indigenous counterparts. Indigenous peoples are nearly three times as likely to be living in extreme poverty compared to their non-indigenous counterparts. Globally, 47% of all indigenous peoples in employment have no education, compared to 17% of their non-indigenous counterparts. This gap is even wider for women (UN, 2021).
They are survivors in their own ancestral lands, making them susceptible to substandard conditions. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated many existing inequalities, disproportionately affecting populations all over the world that were already suffering from poverty, illness, discrimination, institutional instability or financial insecurity. From the perspective of indigenous peoples, the contrast is even starker. In many of our societies, the social contract, at the very least, needs some revision (UN, 2021).
There is an urgent need to strengthen recognition of indigenous peoples' customary governance systems and practices. They should be included in any initiative aimed at promoting good health through self-governance, strengthened scientific capacity and community development. The United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples should be implemented as a matter of urgency. Indigenous peoples are the holders of a vast diversity of unique cultures, traditions, languages and knowledge systems. They have a special relationship with their lands and hold diverse concepts of development based on their own world-views and priorities, but Indigenous peoples' spiritual, cultural and political relationships with their ancestral lands, territories and resources have been drastically disrupted by environmental degradation, military occupation, social exclusion and dispossession of their fundamental rights.
Despite the perception of these communities as ‘primitive’, science, art and music (which are central to western civilisation) are key features of all indigenous cultures around the world, and have been for millennia. These cultures have over centuries understood their impacts on the environment through observation of the world around them, passed down through generations. It is our western-centric understandings of what science is, and what knowledge is, that has precluded these communities in engaging in academic knowledge production.
The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) in Copenhagen also called upon world leaders to create a global funding mechanism for Indigenous Peoples—much like the Global Fund to Combat HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The program would start with a $100 million contribution from Norway and South Africa, on behalf of the G-8 nations. The global indigenous people's movement is also developing the "Global Indigenous Peoples’ Decade for Action (2011-2020)" to focus on achieving the declaration’s objectives and securing effective implementation of its standards. The campaign will run alongside a wide range of other social movements, including movements for climate justice, women’s rights, peace, food sovereignty and more.
International development led by aid agencies has historically overlooked indigenous knowledge and approaches to development. But with the financial crisis and the current climate, a growing number of agencies are beginning to see beyond western-centric development approaches and are seeking to engage with local knowledge systems.
BSWN have recently started a joint initiative with the University of Bristol, the Research Action Coalition for Race Equality (RACE), the aim of which is to connect research and data to community-led approaches in ways that recognise, value and respond to communities’ lived-experiences and diverse forms of knowledge and expertise, through partnership, collaboration and co-production between academics, community groups and policymakers. By placing the principles of co-production at our core, we put ideas of empowerment into practice by working with communities and offering greater control over the research process.
Recognising the value of existing indigenous knowledge is at the heart of the strategy for building trust, peace and development. While such approaches to knowledge production may never outgrow more western-centric ideas around scientific knowledge, these approaches would be enriched by more interaction with indigenous people - people who often hold the answers to sustainability, community resilience and development more broadly. Particularly at a time when rural to urban migration is increasing and (arguably) weakening community structures.