Let’s put something to bed: no, most “white people,”* you are not indigenous. The term “indigenous” in modern usage refers to groups that are the original inhabitants of a region and have experienced historical marginalization, displacement, or oppression, often due to colonization by external powers. These populations possess distinct cultural, linguistic, and social traditions that set them apart from the dominant societies that now govern their ancestral lands. Where I live in Colombia, it is interesting in that most people have a considerable amount of both Spanish/Portuguese and native tribes in their heritage. The indigenous are, in some cases, little contact that most people have a considerab indigenous are in some cases little contacted tribes. It is fascinating.
But, back to this question comes up over and over again in Neo-shamanism particularly. le amount of both Spanish/Portuguese and native tribes in their heritage. TheIt is not about native tradition; it is about what has happened along the way, from victimhood to resilience.
Caucasians, particularly Europeans, are generally not referred to as indigenous because they constitute the majority populations in their native countries and have not undergone the systemic displacement or marginalization within their own territories that indigenous peoples have faced elsewhere. Instead, European nations have historically been the agents of colonization, expanding into other continents and impacting the indigenous populations of those regions.
While Europeans are native to Europe, the context differs from the modern usage of “indigenous.” The term encompasses not just being from a place originally but also involves a history of colonization, loss of sovereignty, and cultural suppression by an invading or dominating force. In Europe, the majority populations have largely maintained control over their lands, governance, and cultural practices and have not been marginalized in the same ways indigenous groups have been in other regions.
There are exceptions within Europe, such as the Sámi people in Scandinavia or the Māori in New Zealand (though the Māori are Polynesian, not European), who are considered indigenous due to their unique cultural identities and experiences of marginalization. However, the broader Caucasian populations do not fit this definition because they have not been subjected to colonization and displacement in their own homelands by external majorities.
Therefore, Caucasians, particularly Europeans, aren’t referred to as indigenous in modern terminology because the term encapsulates both a historical presence in a region and the experience of marginalization or displacement by a colonizing majority—conditions that do not typically apply to them within their native countries. So, while you can’t claim “indigenousness,” you can at least note this kind of behavior has never been at your expense in your native lands. In other words, Europe is still Europe, and, aside from the Moors for a while there, your Celtic and Norse ancestors and now distant relatives are still living where you are native.
NOTE: This came after discussing the arrival dates of people to islands, notably Iceland and Jamaica. The Tiano arrived there as the first colonizers, and then immigrants from the Amazon basin became what would one day be the indigenous population when the Spanish arrived. Meanwhile, Iceland was settled by the Norse a bit over 1,000 years ago, and there are no officially declared indigenous people of Iceland–just original inhabitants who still are in charge. In Norway, where a lot of those settlers came from, the Sami are the indigenous in the Arctic Circle. Having worked with native traditions both in South America and Northern Europe, I sometimes see the term Indigenous, which I find is a politically loaded and biased word as it infers victim.
* – As far as most white people, what I mean here are others like myself that have 100% or close to that DNA from Europe and for whatever reason have ever wondered where they are indigenous. I did one of those and was kind of taken back to see that all of my DNA, according to them, is from just a few nations and they all touch the north Atlantic (Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Denmark). I really had no idea. What is even more interesting is, though this is not in the cards at this point in my life, my wife is part Portuguese, local native tribes, and, while everyone is Catholic, there is Jewish also in her past that Portugal recognizes. If we were to have a child, again not happening, that creation would have blood from Iceland to the Middle East, Northern and Southern Europe to the Amazon basin. If we had met when we were younger, perhaps …..