Indigenous peoples, also known as first peoples, aboriginal peoples or native peoples, are ethnic groups who are the original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. Groups are usually described as indigenous when they maintain traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is associated with a given region. Not all indigenous peoples share this characteristic, usually having adopted substantial elements of a colonising culture, such as dress, religion or language. Indigenous peoples may be settled in a given region (sedentary) or exhibit a nomadic lifestyle across a large territory, but they are generally historically associated with a specific territory on which they depend.
The adjective indigenous was historically used to describe animals and plant origins. During the late twentieth century, the term Indigenous people began to be used to describe a legal category in indigenous law created in international and national legislations; it refers to culturally distinct groups affected by colonization. It is derived from the Latin word indigena, which is based on the root gen- 'to be born' with an archaic form of the prefix in 'in'. Any given people, ethnic group or community may be described as indigenous in reference to some particular region or location that they see as their traditional tribal land claim. Other terms used to refer to indigenous populations are aboriginal, native, original, or first (as in Canada's First Nations). The use of the term peoples in association with the indigenous is derived from the 19th century anthropological and ethnographic disciplines that Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines as "a body of persons that are united by a common culture, tradition, or sense of kinship, which typically have common language, institutions, and beliefs, and often constitute a politically organized group". James Anaya, former Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, has defined indigenous peoples as "living descendants of pre-invasion inhabitants of lands now dominated by others. They are culturally distinct groups that find themselves engulfed by other settler societies born of forces of empire and conquest". They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal system. The International Day of the World's Indigenous People falls on 9 August as this was the date of the first meeting in 1982 of the United Nations Working Group of Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the Commission on Human Rights.

Q: what was the definitions ?
A: The adjective indigenous was historically used to describe animals and plant origins.

Q: when did it change?
A: During the late twentieth century,

Q: what was the change?
A: the term Indigenous people began to be used to describe a legal category in indigenous law created in international and national legislations;

Q: why did they use this term?
A: it refers to culturally distinct groups affected by colonization.
were there criticisms of this term?
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