In an apartment is it understood that you are occupying space which you use and upon ending a contract, vacate. If you move around various locations, how do you develop 'roots'? You may have assigned a town, city or location on the globe as your roots. Getting involved in a community surely earns you the right to develop roots. But, what connection, if known, do you really come from. Your parents had roots, where you may have been born are roots, where you have lived the longest may be your roots, perhaps where you are now are your roots. How do you identify those roots? I have known many that have moved every year in their lives. Even if they never have returned to where they were born they most often use their birthplace as their roots, and then are quick to point out other places where they have identity, longest lived place, school age city, college state. But we also connect with a place as it resembles most about ourselves, or what we would like to associate with coming from, our 'roots'.
Learning about my past has confused me. I do not identify with my family history, the different country where I was born, where I have lived but places I have visited. Short periods of time, vacations, adventures and other ethnic family histories which I know are not associated with 'roots' or heritage.
The term indigenous peoples can be used to describe any ethnic group of people who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest known historical connection, alongside immigrants which have populated the region and which are greater in number. However, several widely accepted formulations, which define the term indigenous peoples in stricter terms, have been put forward by prominent and internationally recognized organizations, such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. Indigenous peoples in this article is used in such a narrower sense.
Other related terms for indigenous peoples include aborigines, native peoples, first peoples, first nations, Amerigine, and autochthonous (this last term having a derivation from Greek, meaning "sprung from the earth").
Having written this, being born of Indonesian parents that did not want to associate themselves with their birthplace, but of their fathers of the Netherlands, or what they liked to say European and becoming American Citizens in the 1960's. Even I, born in the Netherlands liked to camouflage what ever someone wanted to label me. Hopi, Navajo, Mexican all was acceptable for my color and face shape for being in California. What a melting pot that was! Never did anyone to this day say European or the Netherlands, I didn't fit the description of the history of Europe. Why is it that people need the association of a persons heritage or find it a necessity to 'guess' the heritage of the person they are speaking to? Somehow I failed to fit every persons guess and description of what they saw me as. More often it was upsetting to not to guess correctly by whites then of non whites. And then I filled out applications of race with...white, non latino nor hispanic, why is this required?
Test yourself next time walking in the store, mall or post office. Pick the person that doesn't appear American, Texan and try not to suddenly guess before asking them for directions to a bathroom. Where you straining to hear a hint of an accent?
