# Why Indigenous Peoples Are Distinctive

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Sue Podger, Why Indigenous Peoples Are Distinctive, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Why Indigenous Peoples Are Distinctive
> 
> Sue Podger
> 
> published in Bahá'í Studies in Australasia vol. 3
> 
> Rosebery: Association for Bahá'í Studies Australia, 1996
> 
> Indigenous peoples are also referred to by other names, 'first peoples', 'native
> peoples' and Aboriginal peoples. It seems to apply to people who have been affiliated in
> tribes, with distinctive cultures, a close relationship with nature, and whose ancestors
> were the original inhabitants of certain geographical areas.
> 
> The popular count of them at the present is 250 million, four percent of the world's
> population. They are to be found in Africa, the Americas, Asia Australasia and the
> Pacific, in Scandinavia and in the Arctic. There is a long list and it is a subject for
> exhaustive study.
> 
> The reason I have become interested in them is that so many of them are minorities who
> seem to have been swept aside, enduring great loss and suffering in the headlong assault
> of civilization. They are people who have been recipients of divine assistance, of wisdom,
> of knowledge of different kinds, and who have their own value systems. However so many
> have been pushed off their land by foreign invaders and colonialists. So many died in
> these intrusions. Their resources were plundered, their forests denuded and their cultures
> subjugated. Their voices were not heeded, and in this enlightened age they are still
> suffering, with high mortality rates and little education, and are finding themselves torn
> from their roots and made prey to the surrounding evils. Just a glimpse at the magnitude
> of the problem is gained from the realisation that since 1900, 270 Indian tribes of Brazil
> have completely disappeared.
> 
> This has happened to a great many, but not to all of them. For instance, there was
> never any great suffering for the indigenous people of Papua New Guinea, and they still
> possess their lands. Others have risen up in spite of unfavourable conditions, found good
> jobs, built sound families and have become successful. Also, one must not make the mistake
> of assuming they are all of one kind. They come in variations of all degrees, both
> physically, intellectually, spiritually and morally. Some are more perfect, some are less
> perfect — as all humans are.
> 
> Just as is the case with everyone else, there are aberrations in the pasts of
> indigenous peoples. In Australia for example, palaeo-botanist Mary White[1] explains how they made vast changes to the flora and fauna of the countryside through the practice of
> burning off the bushland. Many species were lost as a result of this custom. Chronicler of
> Aboriginal lore in the early part of the century, Daisy Bates[2] describes how she came across cannibalism and mothers who ate their own babies. Indigenous people need not be
> idolised out of all proportion, but like everyone else, they have legitimate needs and
> rights.
> 
> Now, in many parts of the world indigenous people are awakening to their plight, their
> voices are being raised, strident, as never before, asking for their own rights, for land
> or compensation, for a respected and recognised place.
> 
> For all its progress, the world is itself at this time in a state of turmoil, its
> peoples discovering their lives rocked by upheaval and anarchy, its physical environment
> under threat of damage from pollution and the mindless advance of technology. What does
> the world need, at this time?
> 
> In the welter of our new world, as we build new structures, as new marvels come to
> light, new associations come into being, and as we restore physical and spiritual health
> to the world, are these people still to be largely ignored, lost and forgotten? Is there
> nothing for them but to succumb, and join with western ways and technology in order to
> make themselves count? Or is there, perhaps, a mysterious and meaningful part which they
> can play/ Might there not be, springing from their links with the ancient past, some
> special contribution which they could make? After all, this is a time for a new religion
> to be built, a new way of life to take hold.
> 
> To fill in a background, let's look briefly then, at some things which they have in
> common, and which make them distinctive.
> 
> In the past indigenous people have all had land. To some of them it came as a surprise
> that individuals could exclusively possess land. It was their shared domain, for all to
> use and benefit from. Tribes had various rights in certain lands. In the beginning, with
> the arrival of the first settlers, the Australian Aborigines never dreamt that they could
> be dispossessed. They thought the settlers would come and go, or share the land as they
> themselves did.[3]
> 
> People living in lush jungles, even in harsh desert territories or ice covered lands,
> learned how to wisely manage the sources of their food supply. Often they were nomadic or
> semi-nomadic, so that they could adjust. They were intimately acquainted with many species
> of plant and animal life, and had garnered the knowledge of preceding generations. So, in
> spite of conditions which might have appeared taxing and strenuous, they could live on,
> relaxed and confident.
> 
> Their skills were many and over the different countries, covered a vast span of
> subjects. The people of the north western Amazon, in Columbia, for example, had a highly
> intellectual appreciation of the brain and its capacity. From experience and observation
> they knew that its various parts affected various abilities, and they distinguished
> between the right and left sides of the brain. Kayapo Indians, also of the Amazon knew how
> to cultivate wild plants of the jungle, side by side with their subsistence crops. Some
> species would attract certain kinds of game for them. And these gardens would be strung
> along their meandering paths, to be found at times of need. The Bushmen of southern Africa
> possessed an extraordinary knowledge of animal physiology, observed carefully in
> scientific detail.[4] The people of the Aleutian Islands off Alaska knew how to make kayaks
> of bone and skin, and of a design which would travel fast on the open ocean. Some people
> are now trying to resurrect and rediscover this design, to improve modern boat building.[5]
> The Polynesian people used amazing navigational skills to voyage over vast reaches of the
> Pacific. These are some examples of the knowledge of these people.
> 
> With the exploitation of forests, the confiscation of land, the pollution of rivers,
> and with the disappearance of tribes, their assimilation into different societies and ways
> of life, their attraction to cities, the disaffection of their young people, traditional
> knowledge is disappearing at a disturbing rate. Elders and wise men who possess that
> knowledge are dying out, unable to pass it on, and a vast storehouse of ancient knowledge
> will have vanished before the world is aware of it.
> 
> Indigenous peoples have their own languages. Many of these languages were never written
> down, but were handed down through song-cycles and rituals and verbal explanations. Time
> Magazine[6] reports that 3000 of the world's 6000 languages will not last because children
> no longer speak them. This also means that much cultural and traditional knowledge,
> explained in the vocabulary of these languages, will be lost. The knowledge of medicinal
> plants, for instance, is recorded in these languages.
> 
> The culture of many indigenous peoples fosters a special attitude towards food,
> possessions and things of this world. Amongst most of them, a system of reciprocity and
> sharing exists, and many do not collect goods or store them for the future. This system of
> sharing is indeed one of the most endearing aspects of indigenous cultures. From babyhood
> they are reared to have this understanding. An Aboriginal lullaby of the Euahlayi tribe,
> recorded by K.L. Parker[7] reveals this:
> 
> "Give to me, Baby
> 
> Give to her, Baby
> 
> Give to him, Baby
> 
> Give to one, Baby
> 
> Give to all, Baby."
> 
> At the backbone of the indigenous peoples, as their guide and source of wisdom, lies
> their myth and legend, their oral tradition, handed down from generation to generation.
> Through myths a dialogue between the human species and the Creative Power develops, and a
> special relationship with the rest of creation.
> 
> In his study of Australian Aboriginal songs and myths, Strehlow[8] says that the myths
> are easier to understand than the songs. It is the songs, he says, "that best reveal
> this intimate fusion of the world that can be perceived by the senses with this other
> world of the spirit." The Aboriginal songs, however, are generally very difficult to
> translate, and require extensive commentaries if their rich imagery and compressed
> phraseology is to be fully appreciated.' He said that many songs were poetry in their own
> right, and could not be adequately translated. The function of acting and dancing then,
> was to follow on and portray in detail descriptions of the personages in the songs and
> myths.
> 
> Collector and preserver of original Australian Aboriginal myths, Roland Robinson,[9]
> explains further that:
> 
> "the themes of aboriginal mythology all stem from, and serve to illustrate, the
> eternal source and meaning of the Spirit and of Life. It is the source of a pattern of
> social behaviour in harmony with the Earth-Mother that is as moral and law-giving as our
> own religious concepts."
> 
> From their mythical origins a wealth of beautiful art has flowed forth from indigenous
> peoples. This, at least is highly valued in the world today, for its originality, its
> earthiness and its compact blending of meaning. Whereas modern western art and the
> performing arts seem to have become more and more detached from their mythical origins,
> and hardly reflect the deep human values and spiritual conditions they once used to.
> 
> Now let us go back in history and see how thought in the civilized world has developed.
> It is the world of thought which shapes the path of mankind, therefore that is where we
> must look for a place for the indigenous peoples.
> 
> The progress of mankind took a giant leap forward with the introduction of Christianity
> and Islam, and there was an efflorescence of many kinds of knowledge, culture and art.
> Morals and high standards were renewed. And the glory of man and his creation became
> reflected in beautiful paintings like Michelangelo's, in the Sistine Chapel of St Peters
> in Rome.
> 
> Discoveries in the field of science came with their own perspective. Through the
> religions, man had understood that he occupied the centre stage, and around him all things
> revolved. Then came discoveries of Copernicus and much later Darwin, describing the nature
> of the universe and evolution, and showing that man was part of a large and complex
> system, and perhaps was merely a small component within it.
> 
> In 1687, Newton set the pattern of a new world view with the principles and laws of
> physics which he had discovered. Danah Zohar,[10] author of The Quantum Self, graphically
> explains the change that occurred in the thinking of the western world:
> 
> "Things moved because they followed rules that were fixed and determined, cold
> silence pervaded the once teeming heavens. Human beings and their struggles, the whole of
> consciousness and life itself, were irrelevant to the workings of the vast universal
> machine."
> 
> The old Latin and Greek mythologies, biblical legends, were no longer of
> central importance. New champions of thought arose, and historian Arnold Toynbee[11] writes,
> 
> "The fields in which these champions of Modern Western achievements were
> victorious were physical science, technology, and philosophy."
> 
> The names of Einstein, Marx, Kant and many others come to mind, the people who brought
> into being powerful theories which influenced mankind and charted its course.
> 
> However many astonishing discoveries they made and marvels of nature and the universe
> they unravelled, scientists are still finding that reality itself is a puzzle, and there
> is no theory which seems to fit it all. Quantum mechanics made a notable advance and
> includes the observer in its scheme of explanation. It also generated a paradox
> contradicting the theory of relativity. The Chaos Theory describes perplexing patterns in
> randomness. Every discovery certainly tries to adhere to truth, and anything which does
> not conform to truth cannot endure the examination of science or command the respect of
> mankind in this time. As the scientist Paul Davies[12] has said, however, the search for a
> "Theory of Everything" has become "something of a holy grail" for
> physicists, but one that, like the grail, appears endlessly elusive.
> 
> Nowadays we have learned to worry about the unexpected consequences of the application
> of half understood scientific developments. Science itself is looking less complete, less
> reliable than it was. Some scientists have begun the process of reconciling their rigorous
> ways of thought with the ancient myths and principles.
> 
> Chemist James Lovelock[13] produced an interesting hypothesis, which took mankind round
> yet another bend. His theory was that the earth and its envelope of atmosphere is a living
> system, all the animate and inanimate parts of it linked together in a harmonious synergy.
> So he was able to give it a name, Gaia. It was like the discovery of a new beauty, a new
> perfection in creation, with the stamp of scientific recognition.
> 
> Paul Davies in his recent book The Mind of God,[14] carries this a step further and
> finds a meaningful place for the human species in creation. He writes,
> 
> "The apparent 'fine-tuning' of the laws of nature, necessary if conscious life is
> to evolve in the universe then carries the clear implication that God has designed the
> universe so as to permit such life and consciousness to emerge. It would mean that our own
> existence in the universe formed a central part of God's plan."
> 
> This is but a fleeting glimpse at the development of science. However, it is necessary
> to include it, as science plays an undeniable role in shaping the whole orientation and
> thinking of mankind. Even those of us who are not involved in this field are at a deep
> level influenced by these currents of thought, and our view of the cosmos and life on
> earth is affected by them.
> 
> With the advance of many astonishing and powerful technologies at this time, it is
> becoming clear to us as never before that our dear Gaia, our Mother Earth, is suffering
> from this so-called progress. Scientists the world over are acknowledging that there are
> real dangers to the environment, and marked signs of deterioration. Passionate exponent of
> impending environmental dangers, American vice-president Al Gore[15], says that this present
> generation may not leave a healthy earth for its children and grandchildren.
> 
> Al Gore sees the problem as not so much our effect on the environment as our
> relationship with the environment. It is obvious that something is wrong with the way we
> are living, thinking and acting. It is not some distant volcano about to tip the balance,
> it is what we are actually doing that is causing these effects. Gore[16] writes: "...the real solution will be found in reinventing and finally healing the
> relationship between civilisation and the earth." He adds, "the key changes will
> involve new ways of thinking about the relationship itself." What are we actually
> seeing or not seeing, and how do we relate to the world around us?
> 
> World society is not in a healthy state either. Every news bulletin confirms its
> perilous condition. Gore quotes Philosopher Ivan Illich,[17] "What has changed is that our common sense has begun searching for a language to speak about the shadow of our future shows."
> 
> To the Bahá'ís it is clear that the Bahá'í Faith supplies the direction to follow
> in the healing of the planet and its peoples. It also supplies the answers to scientists,
> and explains that science and religion are the two necessary paths to a true balance. The
> question we are asking is, do the indigenous people have a special role in bringing about
> this necessary change in mankind's relationship to reality?
> 
> The roots of indigenous people have brought them into close association with the lands
> where they live. They have been as careful as scientists in their observations of the
> paths and patterns of ecology surrounding them. Their knowledge is often detailed and
> sound, though adapted to perception and imagination, as anthropologist Levi-Strauss[18]
> states. The Desana of Colombia,[19] for instance, refer to the energy flow from the sun and
> its support of the organisms in nature (a network of energy pathways), as a
> "current" or "a circle or flow of creative and transformative feminine
> power".
> 
> However, instead of viewing each phenomenon as an isolated feature, or as an abstract
> set of patterns, or the mere operation of natural laws and rules, most indigenous people
> see all things, themselves included, as though arranged in a web of interconnections, and
> they have felt a deep attraction and relationship with all the forms of life. Not only has
> there been a respect for Mother Earth as a sacred entity, but also a sense of
> responsibility for the welfare of her creatures.
> 
> This is not merely the result of necessity and the struggle for survival, but is a
> deeply embedded attitude, or manner of being, passed down from generation to generation
> from the reservoir of wisdom contained in myths and legend and sacred instruction. In
> their book The Wisdom of the Elders,[20] Knudtson and Suzuki write, "We might at least
> explore the nature-wisdom of traditions that refuse to separate human knowledge about
> nature from human obligations to maintain nature's balances."
> 
> Toynbee[21] writes, "...human love needs to be extended to include all components of
> the biosphere, inanimate as well as animate".
> 
> It is here that we need to glance more closely at the background of myths supporting
> indigenous people. In his book The Power of Myth[22] Joseph Campbell, a world authority on
> myths and belief, states,
> 
> "People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think
> that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of
> being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have
> resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the
> rapture of being alive. That's what it's all finally about, and that's what these clues
> (myths) help us to find within ourselves."
> 
> He further explains, "Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of the human
> life." From these myths he says comes "information of a deep, rich,
> life-vivifying sort".
> 
> On the ecological plane, ethnobotanist Darryl Posey[23] writes that Native "myth has
> not seriously been studied as a transmitter of encoded ecological knowledge".
> 
> Through their myths and oral traditions indigenous peoples, in particular their elders,
> their wise men, their healers, shamans, medicine men, came to develop a view of life that
> was not simply confined to their own surroundings and necessities, but rather was a cosmic
> perspective of life as a whole. "The Native Mind", write Knudston and Suzuki,
> "yearns to envelop the totality of the world and brings a totality of mental
> capacities, beyond cool reason, to the task." The expression and salutation of Native
> American Indians "All my relations", conveys their reverential and all inclusive
> attitude towards Mother Earth and her inhabitants.
> 
> Does this conform with Gore's advice that we adopt a long-range global perspective?
> That we develop a new relationship with the creation, a new language? Could this be more,
> could it be the healing balm, the missing holy grail which perhaps these indigenous
> scientists have glimpsed all along. And now it is embodied once again in the Writings of
> Bahá'u'lláh, and especially in His teaching of the oneness of mankind, and the unity of
> mankind as being the first step in the solution of mankind's problems. One of the aspects
> of the unity of mankind is that it involves bringing the indigenous peoples into full
> co-operation and participation, in restoring to them their rightful and respected place,
> amongst the rest of mankind
> 
> David Suzuki[24] exhorts us, "we must recreate for ourselves a sense of place within
> the biosphere that is steeped in humility and reverence for all other life". It is
> here, as equals and partners in the repair of this planet and its life, that indigenous
> people have the potential to make an utterly distinctive and essential contribution. They
> will assist mankind to develop an overall change of mind.
> 
> Notes
> 
> 1. Mary E. White, The Greening of Gondwana (Reed Books, Sydney, 1986) at 45, 47; see
> also, Mary E. White, The Bulletin. (Dec. 29, 1992 - Jan. 5, 1993)
> 
> 2. Daisy Bates, The Passing of the Aborigines (Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1947)
> at 159, 172.
> 
> 3 Henry Reynolds, The Other Side of the Frontier (Penguin Books, Victoria, 1990) at
> 64-6.5.
> 
> 4. Peter Knudston & David Suzuki, Wisdom of the Elders (Allen & Unwin Pty Ltd,
> Sydney, 1992).
> 
> 5. Time Magazine (September 23, 1991) at 60.
> 
> 6. ibid., at 58-59.
> 
> 7. Quoted in Reynolds, above, note 3.
> 
> 8. T.G.H. Strehlow, Forward to The Feathered Serpent, Edwards & Shaw, Sydney, 1956.
> 
> 9. Roland Robinson, ibid at XIV
> 
> 10. Danah Zoharm, The Quantum Self (Flamingo, 1991).
> 
> 11. Arnold Toynbee, Mankind and Mother Earth (Granada Publishing, 1978).
> 
> 12. Paul Davies, The Mind of God, Penguin Books, Victoria, 1992 at 21, 165.
> 
> 13. James Lovelock, The Ages of Gaia, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988.
> 
> 14. Paul Davies, above, note 12.
> 
> 15. Senator Al Gore, Earth in the Balance, Plume, New York, 1993.
> 
> 16. Gore, ibid at 35.
> 
> 17. Ivan Illich, quoted in Gore, ibid., at 47.
> 
> 18. Claude Levi-Strauss in Knudston & Suzuki, above, note 4, at 9. See further, The
> Savage Mind (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1966) at 14.
> 
> 19. Knudston & Suzuki, ibid., at 60.
> 
> 20. Knudston & Suzuki, ibid., at 65.
> 
> 21. Arnold Toynbee, above, note 11, at 594.
> 
> 22. Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (Transworld Publishers, 1989) at 4, 5.
> 
> 23. Darryl A. Posey, "Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and Development of the
> Amazon", in The Dilemma of Amazonian Development, edited by Emilio F. Moran,
> (Westview Press, 1983) at 234 - 235.
> 
> 24. Knudston & Suzuki, above, note 4, at XXIV
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views7819 views since posted 2011-10-21; last edit 2025-01-30 09:06 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../podger_indigenous_peoples_distinctive
> Language
> English
> Permission
> fair use
> Share
> 
> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/2772
> Citation: ris/2772
> 
> select Collection:
> Archives
> Articles
> Articles-unpublished
> Audio
> Bibliographies
> BIC
> Biographies
> Books
> Chronologies
> Compilations
> Compilations-NSA
> Compilations-personal
> Documents
> East-asia
> Encyclopedia
> Essays
> Etc
> Excerpts
> Fiction
> Glossaries
> Guardian
> Histories
> Introductory
> Letters
> Maps
> Music
> Newspapers
> NSA-documents
> NSA-letters
> Personal
> Pilgrims
> Poetry
> Presentations
> Resources
> Reviews
> Scripts
> Software
> Statistics
> Study
> Talks
> Theses
> Transcripts
> Translations
> UHJ-documents
> UHJ-letters
> Video
> Visual
> Writings
> 
> home
> 
> sitemap
> 
> series
> 
> chronology
> 
> search:
> author
> 
> title
> 
> date
> 
> tags
> 
> adv. search
> languages
> 
> inventory
> 
> bibliography
> 
> abbreviations
> 
> links
> 
> about
> 
> contact
> 
> RSS
> 
> new
>
> — *Why Indigenous Peoples Are Distinctive (Used by permission of the curator)*