Indigenous
Definition
Indigenous refers to peoples who are native to particular lands and whose acculturation experiences are shaped by histories of colonization, dispossession, and forced assimilation rather than voluntary intercultural contact. The world's 476 million Indigenous Peoples make up 6.2% of the global population, yet they have been largely overlooked by acculturation scientists in favor of research with immigrants and international students, a gap that impedes both theory development and applied benefit. Much of the intercultural contact occurring globally takes place on Native lands, where Indigenous communities remain socially, politically, and economically disadvantaged and carry poorer health outcomes than non-Native peoples. Acculturation science has treated Indigenous Peoples primarily as ethnocultural minorities rather than recognizing their distinct sociopolitical status, an oversight that mainstream frameworks of multiculturalism have perpetuated. Calls to indigenize acculturation research seek to correct this by centering Indigenous epistemologies, rights, and cultural identities within both the methodology and subject matter of the field.
Sources: Ward et al. (2025)
Related Terms
- acculturation (2 shared articles)
- multiculturalism (1 shared article)
- Māori (1 shared article)
- Braided Rivers (1 shared article)
- decolonialization (1 shared article)
- integration (1 shared article)
- discrimination (1 shared article)
- developmental (1 shared article)
Applications
Indigenous and Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism, as conceptualized in acculturation science, overlaps only to a limited extent with Indigenous perspectives, and Indigenous Peoples such as Māori identify a primary risk that multicultural policies could position them as just another ethnic minority, thereby undermining indigeneity. From a Māori standpoint, a genuinely beneficial multicultural society must be grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and centered on Manaakitanga, and support for multicultural policies is conditional on those policies not overriding the bicultural partnership established by the Treaty. Acculturation science must therefore address historical and sociopolitical conditions specific to colonization alongside the contemporary context of multiculturalism if it is to serve Indigenous communities.
Sources: Ward et al. (2025)
Indigenous and Acculturation
Acculturation research has concentrated heavily on voluntary intercultural contact, leaving the involuntary contact experienced by Indigenous Peoples substantially unexamined, a limitation that constrains the ecological validity of existing theory. The Braided River framework, combining Western and Indigenous methodologies with inductive and deductive techniques, offers one approach to producing acculturation research that reflects Indigenous conceptualizations rather than imposing external frameworks. Indigenizing acculturation science requires moving beyond methodological conventions and embracing research designs that respect Indigenous epistemologies and center the lived experiences of Native, Aboriginal, and First Nations communities.
Sources: Ward et al. (2025)
Indigenous and Colonization
Colonization has exerted devastating effects on Indigenous Peoples in post-colonial settler societies, including genocide, forced assimilation, destruction of language and spiritual practices, disruption of kinship systems, and dispossession from Native lands. These historical processes continue to manifest in systemic racism, socioeconomic deprivation, poorer health outcomes, and overrepresentation in prison populations and involuntary mental health placements. Any acculturation framework applied to Indigenous communities must account for this colonial history, as the conditions of Indigenous intercultural contact cannot be understood apart from it.
Sources: Ward et al. (2025)
