My (limited) Understanding of Indigenous People

Things have gotten much worse over the years. I used to wonder why we didn't have a global police force to defend global treasures, like the Rainforest in Borneo and the Amazon Rainforest. But increased deforestation also destroys indigenous peoples. Deforestation happens when local bullies decide to take on and help wealthy (often international) corporations in order to line their pockets. Attacks on indigenous people happen in this and many other ways, too. I remember asking the local Huichol people here in Puerto Vallarta about their situation (in 2010), and them telling me that their culture was under constant threat and their sacred spaces were often destroyed by other Mexicans. I asked them why, and they didn't know, but I would suspect that it is out of fear of the unknown and intolerance for different viewpoints because they aren't educated. Over the past 10 years, I've heard countless stories about the indigenous people of the Amazon, being literally attacked, so that they will give up the land to the mining, logging, and consequent soybean/beef operations. Reading this article, it seems like there is some difficulty in defining what entails indigenous people now. It seems almost as though we need more specific terms. Are they colonialized people? At what point do indigenous people become one with the people of a new nation, or is that impossible? So do they still maintain the same nomenclature once living in cities and having no attachment to the land anymore? And then, as a participant in the conference hosted by the Society of Ethnobiology, I was able to learn about the indigenous people worldwide who have managed to maintain their rural, off-grid lifestyle, are not given enough priority by the organizations designed to protect forests, even though it was very clear from the numerous research studies done that this is what is necessary in order to save both the forests and the people. The stewardship of our global forest treasures, with the capacity to absorb carbon and keep the world cool are also complex ecosystems understood and appreciated most fully by the people who live within them. Their genocide (and forcing them to integrate into society is also cultural genocide), leads to the loss of over 25,000 years of knowledge tied to the local land. To me, reading this article, it seems like there is some discrepancy on the definition of indigenous people for purposes of environmental defense. But this was the only article I could really find on the subject of international policing to protect indigenous people. One thing is absolutely clear to me. They all need our help, but the ones in the forest need it the most right now because they are being wiped out, and it seems like no one is really aware of it. It's time to call the police...? What police? (Finally, I want to apologize to any indigenous people reading my post for any accidental insults. I am not politically correct in many ways, I'm sure, but this post comes from concern for our world. I hope that you will be understanding and educate me gently about any things I might not know, being an outsider. I lived in Japan for many years, and the whole conversation is virtually unheard of there, so I am starting from scratch having moved back to the West. Also, I don't mean anything against indigenous people integrated into society, but I think that people without physical buildings around them and without vehicles are in more acute danger than ones who have their current livelihoods in integration, despite how horrible it must have been beginning 200 years ago and with all the discrimination that has accompanied being indigenous in many colonial nations. I know that they continue to be attacked and discriminated against; I have heard about the large numbers of missing women of The First Nations people, for example. But I think this is a different discussion...? That one is more about integration, and this one is more about allowing separation from modern society. I feel like we absolutely need to protect the people who cannot defend themselves at all, and keep working towards helping and learning from those who have lost so much already so that we can create a better world.) https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/the-anti-indigenous-handbook-a-global-project-shows-most-common-attacks-on-indigenous-peoples/?fbclid=IwAR2DeAOLwYQAQ8MGK904SIf7lyK0A79uqKjTsJefVnjAHHjvldDm4CmmeqY