The contribution of Indigenous People to globalisation despite our exclusion in the same

From the eye of globalization, Indigenous Peoples have been and are still deemed as backward, underdeveloped and “unempowered”. This is because of our preferred nature of living communally in territories not as much “connected” to the rest of the world as others. Throughout the decades of aspirations for the world to be a global village, Indigenous Peoples have faced many forms of violence and discrimination. This includes the continuous loss of our lands and resources apparently to contribute to the global course while leaving us behind. Meanwhile, Indigenous Peoples have been demeaned, ridiculed for being backward, holding on to traditional economic activities (pastoralism and hunter-gatherer) and traditional knowledge systems.

In our communality, common governance of our lands, resources including the water, trees, and wild animals on our lands, we have taken care of what the world would consider the “world’s richest biodiversity”.  The globalisation process through its many aspects has, on the other hand, led to the scarcity and speedy extinction of species on the planet. Even with this realization, Indigenous Peoples wonder why these processes are still on course and why the minimal recognition of human and earth connectedness lived by Indigenous Peoples? With examples from Kenya; including the Ogiek people of Mau, Sengwer of Cherang’any Hills, the Maasai to the Ekuri of Nigeria and other peoples across Africa, I will be delivering a keynote speech on Indigenous Peoples and globalisation on 20 June 2022.