Indigenous generally means “originating or occurring naturally in a particular place,” often used for the first peoples of a land and for plants or animals that are native to a region.

What “indigenous” means

  • For people , indigenous refers to groups who were the earliest known inhabitants of a land, living there long before colonization or large-scale migration by other groups.
  • These communities are sometimes called First Peoples, First Nations, Native or aboriginal peoples, though preferred terms vary by country and community.
  • For nature , indigenous can describe species of plants or animals that occur naturally in an area and were not introduced by humans from somewhere else.

In simple terms: an indigenous people or species is one that truly “belongs” to that place in a deep historical and cultural (or ecological) sense.

Indigenous peoples today

  • Many Indigenous Peoples assert distinct cultures, languages, laws and territories , and they seek recognition of their collective rights, including control over land and resources.
  • Institutions and style guides now emphasize using specific nation names (for example, Cree, Navajo, Sámi) instead of only the broad label “Indigenous,” because each people has its own identity and rights.
  • Modern human rights work focuses on ending discrimination, protecting land and self‑determination, and addressing historical harms such as dispossession and forced assimilation.

Language and respect

  • Many universities and organizations advise capitalizing Indigenous Peoples when referring to groups, similar to how we capitalize national or ethnic identities.
  • They also recommend avoiding outdated or potentially hurtful terms like “Indian” or overly generic phrases like “native” when talking about a specific person or community; it is better to say, for example, “a Cree person from Saddle Lake Cree Nation.”
  • Best practice is to use the name that people use for themselves and to be careful not to imply ownership, such as “Canada’s Indigenous people,” which can feel colonial.

Quick example

Imagine a country with a river valley where one nation has lived, farmed, told stories, and buried ancestors for thousands of years.

  • That nation is an Indigenous People of that valley.
  • The wild plants and animals that evolved there without being brought from outside are indigenous species of the valley.

TL;DR: Indigenous means “native to a place,” especially the original peoples of a land and, more broadly, species that occur there naturally, with the word today closely tied to rights, identity, and respect for specific communities and their histories.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.