A Portrait of First Peoples

NOTE: Texts and quotations by Julian Burger and the indigenous peoples are from The Gaia Atlas of First Peoples: A Future for the Indigenous World, edited by Julian Burger with campaigning groups and native peoples worldwide (London: Gaia Books Ltd., 1990). Some of what follows was written by representatives of indigeous peoples; some was provided by non-indigenous people.

First peoples see existence as a living blend of spirits, nature, and people. All are one, inseparable and interdependent—a holistic vision shared with mystics throughout the ages. The word for religion does not exist in many cultures, as it is so closely integrated into life itself. For many indigenous peoples spirits permeate matter—they animate it. This led the early anthropologists to refer to such beliefs as "animist."

Myths that explain the origins of the world remind people of their place in the universe and of their connection with the past. Some are humorously ironic, others complex and esoteric. Some, notably Aboriginal Dreamtime, speak of the creation of the hills, rocks, hollows, and rivers formed by powerful ancestral spirits in the distant past. Others describe a dramatic split between the gods and humankind or the severance of the heavens and the Earth—as in the sudden separation of the Sky Father and Earth mother in Maori legend. Others tell the story of how the Earth was peopled, as in the sacred book of the Maya of Central America. Myths invest life with meaning. The rich symbolic associations found in the oral traditions of many indigenous cultures bring the sacred into everyday life—through a pipe, a feather, a rattle, a color even—and help individuals to keep in touch with both themselves and the spirit world.

Indigenous peoples are strikingly diverse in their culture, religion, and social and economic organization. Yet, today as in the past, they are prey to stereotyping by the outside world. By some they are idealized as the embodiment of spiritual values; by others they are denigrated as an obstacle impeding economic progress. But they are neither: they are people who cherish their own distinct cultures, are the victims of past and present-day colonialism, and are determined to survive. Some live according to their traditions, some receive welfare, others work in factories, offices, or the professions. As well as their diversity, there are some shared values and experiences among indigenous cultures.… By understanding how they organize their societies, the wider society may learn to recognize that they are not at some primitive stage of development, but are thoughtful and skillful partners of the natural world, who can help all people to reflect on the way humanity treats the environment and our fellow creatures.

The First Peoples in the Fourth World: Terms Julian Burger explains (in The Gaia Atlas of First Peoples) that there is no universally agreed name fro the peoples he describes as "first peoples":     "… because their ancestors were the original inhabitants of the lands, since colonized by foreigners. Many territories continue to be so invaded. The book also calls them indigenous, a term widely accepted by the peoples themselves, and now adopted by the United Nations." (p. 16)     "'Fourth World' is a term used by the World Council of Indigenous Peoples to distinguish the way of life of indigenous peoples from those of the First (highly industrialized), Second (Socialist bloc), and Third (developing) Worlds. The First, Second, and Third Worlds believe that 'the land belongs to the people'; the Fourth World believes that 'the people belong to the land.'" (p. 18)