Indigenous groups still marginalised in Kenya

Even though the concept of indigeneity has been accepted in international law, it remains controversial in many places, including Africa. That’s because the term indigenous peoples has a complicated political economy. In Kenya, for example, the Maasai have cornered the claim internationally as an indigenous people. The Ogiek, a Kalenjin language group, also claim indigeneity. The definition is most stark in white-dominated settler societies such as the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. It is, however, murkier in marginalised post-colonial states which are themselves victims of a scandalous, hegemonist, and racist international legal order and state system. While I wholly support the normative concept of indigeneity, I believe it needs interrogation. The African theatre is a great crucible for the debate.

First, let me laud the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We know that many indigenous peoples in the Americas have been subjected to genocide. Their lands were forcibly taken by European settlers and colonists. This historical fact complicates the current anti-immigrant rants by US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump whose ancestors were German. In that sense, Mr Trump himself isn’t far removed from the immigrant experience. Native Americans, the indigenes in the United States, might have a word or two to describe him. But I digress. My point is that the UN Declaration is a progressive document that provides international legitimacy to the claims of indigenous peoples against oppressive, exploitative, and emasculating cultures and states.