International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2023: List of Indigenous Peoples around Asia

World Indigenous Day or International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2023: International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples globally acknowledges and applauds the contribution of indigenous communities on cultural, social, and economic levels. The day aims to showcase the customs, traditions and sustainable practices of the community. Also, it emphasizes the eradication of challenges faced by these communities to help them with a better life, with this year’s theme, “Indigenous Youth as Agents of Change for Self-determination." The three main objectives of this year observation are:

• Climate Action and the Green Transition
• Mobilizing for Justice
• Intergenerational connections

According to UN Organisation, “Violations of the rights of the world's Indigenous Peoples have become a persistent problem, sometimes because of a historical burden from their colonization backgrounds and others because of the contrast with a constantly changing society.” So, the day demands for self-determination, Indigenous youth are working as agents of change at the forefront of some of the most pressing crises facing humanity today.

There are 476 million indigenous people...

🔹 living in 90 countries
🔹 representing 5,000 cultures
🔹 speaking the majority of the 🌎's 7,000 languages

On Wednesday’s #IndigenousDay, see what the UN is doing to promote & protect their rights: https://t.co/bEhqDhl0Aj pic.twitter.com/xHvypnTUjz

— United Nations (@UN) August 9, 2023

As per UN reports, “There are an estimated 476 million indigenous peoples in the world living across 90 countries. They make up less than 5 per cent of the world's population but account for 15 per cent of the poorest. They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures."

This article will help you know about the popular tribal communities of Asia, majorly Indian Subcontinent:

Indian subcontinent

Adivasis

The term Adivasi refers to tribal communities in whole found throughout the Indian subcontinent. The word is taken from the Sanskrit language by political activists to give tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming indigenous heritage around 1930.

Dravidian peoples

The Dravidian peoples, often known as Dravidian-speakers or Dravidians, are a linguistic and cultural group that largely inhabits Southern Asia and speaks any of the Dravidian languages. 

• Badaga: Tamil Nadu, South India
• Gond: Gondwana Land, Central India
• Irula: Tamil Nadu, South India
• Kisan: Indigenous peoples of Odisha, East India
• Kodava: Kodagu, Karnataka, South India
• Kota (Kothar/Kov): Tamil Nadu, South India
• Kuruba: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, South India
• Tamil: Tamil Nadu, South India and Sri Lanka
• Toda: Tamil Nadu, South India
• South Dravidian peoples
• Giraavaru: Maldives

Indo-European peoples

According to linguistic reconstruction, the Indo-Europeans were an improbable prehistoric people of Eurasia that spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the origin of the Indo-European languages.

Iranian peoples

• Pashtuns: southern Afghanistan and Northwest Pakistan
• Baloch: southeastern Iran and southwest Pakistan

Indo-Aryan peoples

Indo-Aryan peoples are a group of Indo-European peoples who speak Indo-Aryan languages in India. Aryans were the Indo-Iranian-speaking pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia to South Asia and brought the Proto-Indo-Aryan language with them. 

• Dard: Dardistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan
• Kalasha of Chitral (Kaĺaśa): Ancient pre-Muslim polytheistic pagan ethnic minority in Chitral District, Northern Pakistan
• Shina: Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan
• Kashmiri Hindus: India
• Pothwari: Rawalpindi, Pakistan
• Seraiki: Multan, Pakistan
• Punjabi: Lahore, Pakistan, Amristar & Delhi, India
• Sindhi: Sindh, Pakistan, India
• Bengali: Bangladesh, India
• Gujarati: India Sindh, Pakistan
• Banjara: Rajasthan
• Bhil people: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh
• Jaunsari people: Uttarakhand
• Dogras: Jammu
• Tharu: Nepal, East India
• Warli

Sino-Tibetan-speaking peoples

The Sino-Tibetan language family comprises early literary languages including Chinese, Tibetan, and Burmese, as well as over 400 current languages spoken in China, India, Burma, and Nepal. It is one of the world's most diverse language families, with 1.4 billion speakers.

Bodish peoples

• Ladakhi: Ladakh, North India
• Konyak peoples
• Indigenous Assamese people
• Tripuri (Borok): Tripura, North-East India
• Konyak peoples
• Nocte: Tirap, Arunachal Pradesh, North-East India

Kukish peoples

• Karbi: Karbi Anglong, Assam, North-East-India
• Mizo (Mizo hnam): Mizoram, North-East India
• Naga: Nagaland, North-East India

Raji-Raute peoples

• Raute: Nepal, North India
• Digaro peoples
• Mishmi: Arunachal Pradesh, North-East India

Jumma people

• Chakma: Bangladesh, Arunachal Pradesh - North-East India
• Indigenous peoples of Sikkim: India

Sino-Tibetan-speaking peoples

• Bodish peoples
• Bhutia (Denzongpa)
• Lepcha 
• Meitei: Manipur, North-East India
• Burusho: Hunza and Chitral districts, Gilgit-Baltistan, Northern Pakistan

Sino-Tibetan-speaking peoples

• Lolo-Burmese peoples
• Burmish peoples
• Marma: Bangladesh
• Meitei people: Manipur and neighbouring states of India, Bangladesh, Myanmar
• Vedda (Wanniyala-Aetto): Sri Lanka
• Sinhalese: Sri Lanka
• Dhivehi: Maldives

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Negrito

The term Negrito refers to a variety of ethnic groups who live in remote areas of Southeast Asia and the Andaman Islands.

• Great Andamanese: Great Andaman, Strait Island, Andaman Is.
• Jangil (Rutland Jarawa): now extinct, formerly of Rutland Island, Andamans
• Jarawa: South Andaman and Middle Andaman
• Onge (Önge): Little Andaman, Andaman Islands
• Sentinelese: North Sentinel Island, Andaman Islands

Austroasiatic peoples

• Nicobarese people (Holchu): Nicobar Islands, India
• Shompen people (Kalay-Keyet): Nicobar Islands, India

This International Day of Indigenous Peoples 2023, themed "Indigenous youth as agents of change for self-determination," reaffirms the role that Indigenous youth must play in decision-making while also recognising their dedicated efforts in climate action, the pursuit of justice for their people, and the establishment of an intergenerational connection that preserves their culture, traditions, and contributions.

Source: United Nations Organisation