Essentially, the present concept of indigenous peoples, one that is linked to the global indigenous peoples’ movement and emancipatory efforts to support groups seen to be disadvantaged and historically colonized, is being introduced to different places in mainland Southeast Asia with varying effects, depending on the circumstances. This leads to the development of hybrid policies and practices, and sometimes confused and contradictory positions, thus opening up a fascinating field for study. While the concept of indigenous peoples is increasingly gaining recognition in Asia, it is also certainly true that it remains a highly contested idea, one that is likely to develop and transform in different and potentially surprising ways in the coming years.
Ian G. Baird (PhD, British Columbia) is Associate Professor of Geography and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before coming to UW-Madison in 2010, he spent most of the previous twenty-five years living in Southeast Asia and working for NGOs. He has considerable experience conducting research in both lowland and upland mainland Southeast Asia, especially Laos, Thailand, and northeastern Cambodia. He works in particular with ethnic Lao, Thai, Hmong, and Brao peoples. He has been conducting research regarding indigeneity in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand for many years. He edited special sections for peer-reviewed journals focused on “Indigeneity and Natural Resources in Cambodia” for Asia Pacific Viewpoint in 2013, and on “Indigeneity in Southeast Asia” for Asian Ethnicity in 2016.
Notes
An earlier version of this chapter was presented at “Futures in Indigeneity: Spatiality, Identity Politics and Belonging,” a workshop at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, 6–8 November 2013. I would like to thank Dr Nasir Uddin for allowing me to participate, and the Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin-Madison for supporting part of the travel costs to attend the workshop. Micah Morton, Matthew McDaniel, Richard Hackman, and various others in Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos assisted in providing data.
1. Interview with an anonymous Central Intelligence Agency officer who worked in Laos in 1975, 20 August 2013.
2. For the last twelve years, in May, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has organized ten-day sessions in New York, where members of many self-declaring indigenous peoples, including those not necessarily recognized by national governments, address indigenous issues.
3. See http://www.cwhp.net/Indigenous.html (accessed 24 January 2015).
4. Government of Cambodia 2001. Land Law. NS/RKM/0801/14. Phnom Penh; Government of Cambodia 2002. Law on Forestry. NS/RKM/0802/016. Phnom Penh.
5. There has been considerable interest among the indigenous movement in Asia to develop communal land rights for indigenous peoples (see, e.g., Colchester 2004).
6. See http://www.akha.org/upload/documents/2008thaigovresponsehoohyoh.pdf (accessed 24 January 2015).
7. Matthew McDaniel, personal communication, 30 October 2013.
8. The so-called “Chao Lay” have other names for themselves in their own languages, for example Moken.
9. Fifth Annual “Festival of Indigenous Peoples in Thailand,” 7–9 August 2011 [2554], Chiang Mai.
10. The IKAP network includes partners in Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and southwestern China. CMLN originally involved partners in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
11. See http://www.adb.org/site/safeguards/indigenous-peoples (accessed 24 January 2015).
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Colchester,