Anthropology and the Politics of Indigeneity

Abstract

This article is essentially a critical reflection on the transnational concept of Indigeneity, drawing from my long-standing involvement as a scholar-activist with indigenous peoples in Malaysia. With its multiple interpretations, configurations, and local inflections, the concept of Indigeneity has attracted much debate and contestation. It has become a significant political strategy in the counter-hegemonic indigenous social movements against exploitative, oppressive and repressive regimes throughout the world. In some contexts, Indigeneity is complicated by its conflation with racialised identities. While there is an implicit understanding that Indigeneity and marginality are closely linked, this is not always the case for certain claimants of indigenous status. In this article, I address these issues in the context of Malaysia and India, focusing on some of the conundrums and contradictions associated with the transnational concept of Indigeneity. I also reflect on some of my experiences with indigenous peoples in Hawaii and Australia and at international conferences. The article concludes with the viewpoint that anthropology requires continued engagement in a politics of critical solidarity with indigenous peoples, one that focuses on enablement rather than endless deconstruction.

Keywords:

• Anthropology
• Indigeneity
• Activism
• Aborigines
• Adivasis

Notes

This paper was presented as a plenary session address at the joint conference of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES), the Australian Anthropological Society (AAS) and the Association of Social Anthropologists of Aotearoa/New Zealand (ASAANZ), hosted by the University of Western Australia, 5–8 July 2011. I wish to thank the organisers of the conference especially Greg Acciaioli, Catie Gressier, Nick Harney for inviting me to be one of the plenary speakers and for their marvellous hospitality during the conference. Greg Acciaioli’s very useful editorial suggestions have greatly improved my paper and I also wish to thank the two anonymous readers for their critical comments. Whatever errors that remain in my paper are due to my own recalcitrance. I am forever grateful to my Orang Asli and Adivasi friends. Special thanks to Bah Tony.

My reason for avoiding media attention was to evade the gaze of the state. In hindsight this proved to be a smart move because the main SAM activist was later arrested and detained under Malaysia’s draconian Internal Security Act (ISA). ISA allows the Malaysian authorities to detain political dissidents indefinitely without recourse to the normal judiciary process.