Who are Indigenous peoples? Indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment. They have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live. The definition of indigenous is something or someone who is native to an area or who naturally belongs there. An example of indigenous are the Native Americans of the United States. (chiefly of living things) Born or engendered in, native to a land or region, especially before an intrusion. The Founder of Earth Day, Gaylord Anton Nelson was an American politician and environmentalist from Wisconsin who served as a United States Senator and governor. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the founder of Earth Day, which launched a new wave of environmental activism. In spring 1970, Senator Gaylord Nelson created Earth Day as a way to force this issue onto the national agenda. Twenty million Americans demonstrated in different U.S. cities, and it worked! Where do we go from here/... we are still using fossil fuel, the water supply is aniquated, our roads are torn up.