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Kabila

Learn about the world's peoples

31 short lessons, from "what is a tribe?" to land rights and language revival. Start anywhere. Every lesson explains its own words.

Start here

What the words mean, how many peoples there are, and how to talk about them with care.

  1. What is a tribe?The word tribe is used every day, yet it has no single agreed meaning. By the end you will know what people usually mean by it, why some reject it, and what to say instead.5 min, with a visual explainer
  2. Indigenous, tribal, ethnic group, nation: what the words mean and who decidesFour words are often used as if they meant the same thing. You will learn how they differ, and why the right to name yourself sits at the centre of the answer.6 min
  3. Why peoples have two names: endonym and exonymMany peoples are known to the world by a name that outsiders gave them. You will learn the two kinds of name, why the difference matters, and how names are being corrected.5 min
  4. How many peoples there are and where they liveYou will get a sense of the scale: how many indigenous and tribal people there are, which regions they live in, and why every figure is an estimate.6 min
  5. How to read and write about peoples respectfullyWords shape how people are seen and treated. You will learn a short set of habits that make your reading sharper and your writing fair and accurate.5 min

How societies are built

Bands, clans, kinship, marriage, government and growing up.

  1. Bands, clans, tribes and confederaciesSocieties are built from smaller groups nested inside larger ones. You will learn the main building blocks, what each one does, and why the old ladder of social types should be handled with care.6 min, with a visual explainer
  2. Kinship and descentKinship is the map of who is related to whom, and it organises far more of life than most city dwellers expect. You will learn how descent is traced and why an uncle can matter as much as a father.6 min, with a visual explainer
  3. Marriage, family and belongingMarriage joins families and clans as well as two individuals. You will learn the main rules that govern who marries whom, what is exchanged, where a couple lives, and how a person comes to belong.6 min, with a visual explainer
  4. How peoples govern themselves: elders, chiefs, councils and customary lawEvery society has ways of making decisions and settling disputes. You will learn the main forms of leadership, how councils work, and what customary law is.7 min, with a visual explainer
  5. Growing up: age sets and initiationMany societies mark the passage from child to adult with a formal rite, and some organise the whole of life into age groups. You will learn what initiation does and how age sets work.5 min

Ways of living

How peoples make a living from forest, grassland, field, sea and ice.

  1. Hunter-gatherersFor most of human history everyone lived by hunting, fishing and gathering wild foods. You will learn how this way of life works, who practises it today, and what is often misunderstood about it.6 min, with a visual explainer
  2. Pastoralists and nomadsPastoralists live by herding animals across land that is too dry, cold or steep to farm. You will learn why they move, how the yearly cycle works, and what threatens it.6 min, with a visual explainer
  3. Shifting cultivators and farmersIndigenous farmers developed many of the crops and methods that feed the world. You will learn how shifting cultivation works, why it is often misjudged, and what other farming systems peoples have built.6 min, with a visual explainer
  4. Fishing and sea peoplesSome peoples live more on water than on land. You will meet sea nomads, river and lake fishers and ocean navigators, and learn how they know and govern the waters they depend on.5 min
  5. Life in the ArcticPeople have lived around the top of the world for thousands of years. You will meet the main Arctic peoples and learn how they live with cold, ice and long seasons of dark and light.6 min
  6. Forest peoples and biodiversityMuch of the world's remaining forest is home to indigenous and tribal peoples. You will learn how forest peoples live, why their lands are often in better condition than others, and what that means for conservation.6 min

Language and knowledge

Memory without writing, the world's languages, belief, art and knowledge of nature.

  1. Oral tradition and memoryMost peoples in history kept their knowledge without writing. You will learn how oral tradition works, how reliable it can be, and what tools help memory.5 min, with a visual explainer
  2. Language families, isolates and endangered languagesMost of the world's languages are spoken by small indigenous communities, and many are at risk. You will learn how languages are related, what an isolate is, and how a language becomes endangered.7 min, with a visual explainer
  3. Belief, ritual and sacred placesIndigenous religions are many and varied, but several themes recur. You will learn the key ideas, the terms scholars use for them, and why sacred places matter so much.6 min
  4. Art, craft, music and dressArt in indigenous societies is rarely decoration alone. You will learn what designs can mean, meet well-known traditions from each continent, and understand the debate over who may use them.6 min
  5. Traditional ecological knowledgePeoples who have lived in one place for many generations know it in great depth. You will learn what traditional ecological knowledge is, how it works with science, and who should benefit from it.6 min

Rights and law

From colonisation to self-determination: declarations, treaties, land, consent and recognition.

  1. A short history: from contact and colonisation to self-determinationThe position of indigenous peoples today makes sense only in the light of the past five centuries. You will follow the common arc from independence, through colonisation, to the modern movement for rights.7 min, with a visual explainer
  2. UNDRIP and ILO Convention 169Two international documents set out the rights of indigenous peoples. You will learn what each says, how they differ, and what force they have.6 min
  3. Land, treaties and titleLand is the foundation of almost every indigenous claim. You will learn how peoples hold land, what treaties and title are, and how a claim travels through the legal system.7 min, with a visual explainer
  4. Free, prior and informed consentFree, prior and informed consent is the principle that a people must agree before a project affects its land or life. You will learn what each word requires and how the principle works in practice.6 min, with a visual explainer
  5. Recognition around the worldEach country has its own way of deciding which peoples it recognises and what follows from that. You will tour six systems and learn what recognition gives and what it leaves out.8 min, with a visual explainer

Peoples today

Isolation, cities, climate, revival, and how to be a good visitor and ally.

  1. Uncontacted peoples and voluntary isolationA small number of peoples avoid all contact with the outside world. You will learn who they are, why they stay apart, and why the accepted policy is to leave them alone.6 min
  2. Cities, migration and identity nowA large share of indigenous people now live in towns and cities. You will learn why they moved, how identity is kept up far from the homeland, and how belonging is argued over.5 min
  3. Climate change on the front lineIndigenous peoples have done little to cause climate change, yet they are among the first to feel it. You will learn how it affects different regions and what communities are doing in response.6 min
  4. Language and cultural revivalAcross the world, communities are bringing back languages and customs that were suppressed. You will learn the methods that work and meet some of the best-known revivals.6 min, with a visual explainer
  5. How to visit, support and learn respectfullyInterest in indigenous peoples can help or harm, depending on how it is acted on. You will learn practical rules for visiting, buying, giving and continuing to learn.5 min

Prefer pictures?

14 ideas explained step by step.

All visual explainers
From band to nationHow a clan system fits togetherTracing descent: through the mother or the fatherHow a council of elders reaches a decisionThe hunter-gatherer year: a seasonal roundThe pastoral year: transhumanceShifting cultivation: the swidden cycleHow knowledge passes down by oral traditionHow a language becomes endangered and how it is revivedHow the world's languages group into familiesHow free, prior and informed consent worksHow a people gains official recognitionFrom first contact to self-determinationHow a land claim moves from claim to title

Seven peoples, once a week

Every Monday: seven peoples you may never have heard of, who they are and where they live.