indigenous

«indigenous» in Mova's school dictionary: the first people known to live in a place, and their… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (indigenous)

meaning for a pupil

1) Indigenous people are the first people known to live in a place, and their descendants, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia, Māori in New Zealand, First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada, and Native Americans in the USA. tree →

2) (science) An indigenous plant or animal is one that grows or lives naturally in a place, rather than being brought there by people: «the kangaroo is indigenous to Australia». tree →

3) An indigenous idea, custom or story is one that began in a particular place rather than being brought there from somewhere else. tree →

sense in the lessons

In history, geography and citizenship lessons pupils learn about indigenous cultures, languages and land, how colonists took land and treated indigenous peoples unfairly, and how countries now try to respect and listen to them (for example, an «Acknowledgement of Country» in Australian schools). In science lessons, «indigenous species» is contrasted with «invasive species» brought from elsewhere.

examples

• Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. tree →
• Our school begins assemblies by thanking the indigenous people of the land. tree →
• Kangaroos are indigenous to Australia. tree →
• Many indigenous languages are being taught again to children. tree →
• First Nations, Inuit and Métis are indigenous peoples of Canada. tree →
• Rabbits are not indigenous to Australia; they were brought by settlers. tree →
• We read indigenous stories about how the land was made. tree →
• The existence of the tale in India renders it likely enough that it is not indigenous to the British Isles, but an Oriental importation. tree →

note

Adjective only; the noun is «indigenous people» or «indigenous peoples» (when meaning many different groups). Often written with a capital: «Indigenous Australians». Say «in-DIJ-uh-nus». Use the names the peoples use for themselves; avoid old words like «natives» used as a noun, which can be hurtful. Synonym in science: «native».

In the corpora

• The Potosí mine was worked under the Spanish mita forced-labour system, in which many Indigenous Andean workers died.
• The Spanish forced Indigenous people to mine the silver mountain of Potosí in Bolivia, and many thousands died there.
• European colonisers forced Indigenous people to mine silver in Peru and Bolivia, and enslaved Africans to dig gold in Brazil.
• Indigenous populations fell in many places after contact but are growing again; about 1 in 6 New Zealanders is Māori.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «indigenous» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.