Preface

Indigenous and minority populations across the world currently face a number of challenges at national, regional and international levels, encompassing a variety of issues, some of which are existential. The significance and gravity of these issues are perhaps the reason why the United Nations General Assembly has adopted two declarations seeking to protect them. These are the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious or Linguistic Minorities, 1992; and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007.

However, issues around indigenous and minority populations across the world transcend their human rights concerns in relation to dominant groups and institutions within the territorial boundaries of the modern states where they currently live. These issues are cultural, anthropological, sociological, philosophical and epistemological, as well as historical. Any scholarly piece of work on indigenous and minority populations is therefore inevitably inter-disciplinary, multi-disciplinary or both.

This book is sub-divided thematically into four sections and seventeen chapters, covering different issues about indigenous and minority populations in different continents. While in some chapters there is no specific geographical location or ethnic group focus, others focus on Africa in general, as well as on states such as Latvia, Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, Namibia, India and Israel. The authors examine issues such as these populations' rights, the significance of preserving their identity and culture, the importance of their traditional knowledge in various contexts, their survival vis-à-vis other dominant tribes and ethnic groups, their challenges and struggles, as well as theoretical and philosophical approaches to studying such issues. Hailing from diverse academic backgrounds, disciplines and institutions located in different parts of the world, they approach the topics from different perspectives.

The academic editor expresses his profound appreciation to IntechOpen for providing him with an excellent opportunity to edit such an interesting and significant book on indigenous and minority populations. The editor is very grateful to the authors for making such significant contributions to this important piece of academic work. The constant help of the Author Services Manager is hereby acknowledged.

> **Sylvanus Gbendazhi Barnabas** Department of Public and International Law, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria

**1**

Section 1

Indigenous Knowledge

Section 1
