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40 Panel 2Indigenous Engagement in Local Government: Experiences in Malaysia andIndonesiaClaire Bongsalo LacdaoIntroductionIndigenous peoples have the right to freely determinetheir political status and pursue their economic, social,and cultural development. No less than the Charter ofthe United Nations has recognized and affirmed this,with the adoption of the United Nations Declarationon the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), aswell as numerous other international instruments.That said, Indigenous peoples remain excluded frompolicy making and governance.As observed, their lack of participation has resulted inadverse policies and programs that have severelyaffected their way of life: their rights, traditions, lands,territories, and natural resources have been abrogated,encroached upon, stolen, and denigrated in the guise ofdevelopment. Their way of life and distinct views ondevelopment are often disregarded and ignored bylocal and national policy makers alike. In instanceswhere policies exist, most are non-inclusive andassimilative in nature, which creates dependency onthe government and does not promote meaningfuldevelopment (a development that protects theircultural, social, political and economic integrity).Thus, projects and programs are often not sustainedand Indigenous peoples are left without their lands andterritories, and the natural resources, exhausted.Indigenous peoples, however, continue to adapt theirtraditional decision-making processes and institutionsin dynamic ways. Some have taken to participating inthe mainstream political processes and engaging thelocal government. This is seen as an alternative, ameans by which they can become part of and influencethe mainstream decision-making process. It is a riskthat they have either chosen consciously, or have littlechoice, but to take.In recent years, the engagement of Indigenous peopleshas become of import in view of the growing interestin and support for local development. This is because“successful local development” has been identified asessential to meet the Millennium Development Goals(MDG). As such, attention has shifted from thenational to the local level, which has put into focuslocal communities, including Indigenous peoples, andtheir engagement in local government and meaningfulinclusion in the decision-making process.This paper looks into this aspect of local development,the participation and engagement of Indigenouspeoples in the decision-making aspect of localgovernment. It looks into their experiences of in termsof the nature and extent of their engagement; theproblems of and constraints on indigenousengagement; and the present and potential roles ofindigenous women and youth.The Indigenous PeoplesDuring my fellowship, I was often asked about what Iwas researching. Whenever I would say I wasresearching on Indigenous peoples, almost always, Iwould get a long “okay” or just a blank stare in reply.The reaction was the same, regardless of whether I wastalking with a student, a professional, or just a regularperson on the street. Often, I would have to giveexamples before they could figure out to whom orwhat I was referring– that is if they even had any ideaat all.The question as to who exactly are the Indigenouspeoples has always been a contentious one. Even theUnited Nations (UN), or any UN-System Body, hasnot adopted an official definition. Rather than definethe term, the approach has been to identify. This isbased on the fundamental criterion of selfidentificationunderlined in a number of human rightsdocuments and affirmed in Article 33 of the UnitedNations Declaration on the Rights of IndigenousPeoples (UNDRIP), which underscores itsimportance–that Indigenous peoples themselvesdefine their own identity as indigenous.A modern understanding has been developed based onthe following: the Indigenous people’s selfidentificationat the individual level and theiracceptance as members by the community; theirhistorical continuity with pre-colonial and/or presettlersocieties; their strong link to territories andThe Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows