The bottom line, then, is that we do not fit this definition of an indigenous people — and for good reason; it was not written with us in mind. Scotland is a developed European nation, and Scots are the dominant ethnic or people group in Scotland. In the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples the UN uses ‘indigenous people’ to mean a people or ethnic group subject to colonisation or settler-colonisation in a situation in which they are dominated by the coloniser group in their own territory.
Tierra! Tierra!
When the voice of Rodrigo de Triana rang out from la Pinta on this day in 1492 the world changed. Columbus’ expedition to discover a westward route to India ran into quite a significant obstacle – the vast continent of the Americas.