Question

is there a fetishism of indigeniety by the indigenous?

Comments

"the indigenous" is pretty broad - if not downright vague. what part of the world are you thinking of?

to me, fetishizing one's own way of life - or another's for that matter - amounts to a form of identity politics. i assume anyone with a strong group identity is capable of that.

in the southwestern u.s., i have definitely seen many "non-indigenous" folks (not just the melanin challenged) fetishize some aspect(s) of what they perceive as indigenous life. i have also seen many american indians cater to that fetishism for the purpose of generating income.

i am personally only familiar with indians in the southwestern u.s., particularly the northern rio grande pueblo tribes and the jicarilla and mescalero apache. none that i have known personally seem to fetishize their way of life, but that doesn't mean they don't in some ways i am not aware of or privy to.

side note: i have primarily heard them refer to themselves as "indian" conversationally, at least in english. it has not been considered a derogatory term to any i have known; and i have asked directly numerous times. in u.s. legal contexts - bia and local, mainly - they often use "native". not sure i have ever heard them use the term "indigenous".

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Z- could you elaborate on this question? Do you have possible examples of what might be cases of this?