What is the difference between a tribe, an ethnic group, an indigenous people and a nation?

An ethnic group is any people with a shared identity. A tribe is an ethnic group organised mainly through kinship. An indigenous people is one whose ties to a land predate colonisation or the modern state. A nation is a people who claim the right to govern themselves. One community can be all four.

'Ethnic group' is the broadest term. It means people who see themselves as sharing ancestry, language, history or culture. The Han Chinese, the Scots and the Santal are all ethnic groups, although they differ hugely in size and political position.

'Tribe' usually means a smaller ethnic group in which family and clan ties do much of the work that governments do elsewhere. It is also a legal category in countries such as India and the United States. Some peoples dislike the word because of its colonial history.

'Indigenous people' is about history and rights. It refers to peoples who lived in a place before others colonised it or before present borders were drawn, who remain distinct, and who identify themselves as indigenous. International law gives such peoples specific rights.

'Nation' stresses political standing. Many peoples in North America call themselves nations to make clear that they governed themselves long before the United States and Canada existed, and still do in part. The Navajo, for example, are an ethnic group, a federally recognised tribe, an indigenous people and a nation all at once.

Words used here

Sources

• United Nations: Indigenous Peoplesun.org
• Encyclopaedia Britannica: Ethnic groupbritannica.com
• Wikipedia: Indigenous peoplesen.wikipedia.org

Related questions

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