Of indigenous people and their health

Abstract

‘Indigenous’ is the politically correct version of the word ‘native’, used by the white man in reference to the peoples he ‘discovered’ upon exploring and subsequently colonizing the globe. The word native had, until the middle of the 20th century, the connotation of primitive and uncivilized people, recognizable by virtue of skin pigmentation. The replacement word, indigenous, came into use during the independence movement and has acquired several new connotations. The indigenous have suffered and continue to suffer injustice, they are disadvantaged, ‘challenged’, and must be helped to attain the ‘civilized’ status of Western man, as measured by means constructed by Western man—such as the human development index, the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) rates, and ultimately, life expectancy at birth. Indigenous people should attain equity in all the ‘civilized’ achievements.