Who are the indigenous people of Scotland?

Answer 1

By Mark Hughes

Saturday, 19 April 2008 * Share Close ** Digg ** del.icio.us ** Facebook ** Reddit ** Google ** Stumble Upon ** Fark ** Newsvine ** YahooBuzz ** Bebo ** Mixx ** Independent Minds

* Print * Email * Text Size ** Normal ** Large ** Extra Large Australia has Aborigines, New Zealand has Maoris and the US has Native Americans. Now Scotland could soon have its own group of indigenous people, in the shape of its crofters. A report by the Scottish Crofting Foundation (SCF) is calling for the Government to recognise Scotland's 13,000 crofters as indigenous to the country in the same way that Australia, New Zealand and the US does with their ethnic groups. It suggests that, not only should the crofters be recognised as indigenous, but that they should be given the power to govern themselves through their own crofters' parliament. The report states that the Government must "recognise crofters as indigenous people of the Highlands and Islands, respect the growing body of international law on indigenous peoples, and devolve power and decision-making on indigenous issues to the people who maintain the indigenous cultures of the Highlands and Islands." The Government has refused to accept that the country has any indigenous people, so, should it act upon the report's recommendations, the crofters - essentially farmers who rear animals on small, rented pieces of land - would become the UK's first group of indigenous people. Patrick Krause, the chief executive of the SCF, says that his organisation decided to seek the indigenous status after becoming disillusioned and worried by decisions taken on behalf of the crofters by a government in Edinburgh which he says "knows very little about crofting". And he added that the crofters could even follow the example of the Sami people of Norway, who after decades of cultural repression established their own parliament in 1989. Mr Krause said: "Indigenous-people status would recognise crofters as a people that has its own unique culture and who deserve a certain amount of autonomy. In the past, central government has called all the shots - but they have always used a central belt benchmark. "What we are saying is that the Highlands and Islands are different and have a distinct culture which should be recognised as different. Urban people making rules for rural people doesn't work. There is a risk that cultural values can be swept aside in the name of progress." He added: "Crofters have always had a very strong and unique cultural identity. Many crofters speak a different language [Gaelic] and our whole culture is based upon the land and our livestock. We sing about it in our songs and tell about it in our stories. The Government in Edinburgh knows little about our culture, so why should they be making decisions about our lives? We are capable of making them ourselves. The first step away from that would be to be recognised as indigenous, but the ultimate aim would be to have our own parliament." The report is due to be presented to the United Nations in April next year, in the hope that it will pave the way for crofters to be given more rights under international law. The UN already has a draft declaration on the rights of indigenous people, which says that indigenous people should be free from discrimination and their rights should be respected and promoted. The draft goes on to say that the only way this can be done is by those people "exercising control over the developments affecting their lands and resources based on their needs". A copy of the report has also been sent to the Inverness-based government body, the Crofters Commission - which the report says should be abolished. Drew Ratter, chairman of the commission, has agreed to respond to the report, but he has already said: "I remain to be convinced that this indigenous people's thesis they are developing is the right one."

Answer 2

The indigenous people of Scotland are the Picts, who were early inhabitants of the region. Later, various Celtic tribes lived in Scotland, such as the Gaels and the Britons. Today, Scotland has a diverse population with historical ties to these indigenous groups.

Answer 3

You must be inquiring about the Picts. Unfortunately the Picts were very poor record keepers so little is actually known about them except what the Romans and Gaels recorded about them. The Picts eventually merged with the Gaelic Dal Riata kingdom from North Ireland as the latter settled in what is modern day Scotland in the 10th century.

Answer 4

Scots