A/HRC/4/32/Add.3 page 6 7. The Special Rapporteur would like to acknowledge the hospitality of the Government of Kenya, and especially thank the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs for its invitation and cooperation, and KNCHR, UNIPACK (United Nations Indigenous Peoples’ Advisory Committee - Kenya) and the indigenous peoples’ steering committee for the preparation of the visit. He also wishes to thank the many indigenous communities and organizations that gave their time and provided useful information for this report, including Arid Lands Institute, Center for Minority Rights Development (CEMIRIDE), Enderois Development Council, International Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation (IMPACT), Maa Civil Society Forum, Ogiek Welfare Development Council, Pastoralist Integrated Development Organization (MPIDO), Sengwer Culture and Information Centre, Truth to be Told Network, and Womankind. UNDP-Kenya deserves a special mention for its invaluable support of the mission at all stages. II. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN KENYA 8. In Kenya all Africans are indigenous to the country, as many Kenyans are inclined to point out to the Special Rapporteur. This is of course true, given that most Africans living in contemporary Kenya are descendants of the original inhabitants, and because in colonial times all Africans, of whatever tribe or ethnic affiliation, were considered as “natives” by the authorities, sharing the same history of colonial subjugation and racial discrimination. At independence all natives became free and equal citizens of the new State. Moreover, due to geographic conditions and historical circumstances, social and cultural distinctions became defining characteristics that differentiated among the many tribes that populate the country. The majority ethnic groups which became integrated into the farming economy occupied the more fertile areas and after independence they regained much of the land which they had lost to the colonial regime. 9. As in some other African countries (see the Special Rapporteur’s report on his mission to South Africa, E/CN.4/2006/78/Add.2, paras. 20-32), the contested use of the term “indigenous” in Kenya has implications for policy decisions and therefore for the human rights of the concerned populations. From a human rights perspective, the question is not “who came first” but the shared experiences of dispossession and marginalization. The term “indigenous” is not intended to create a special class of citizens, but rather to address historical and present-day injustices and inequalities. It is in this sense that the term has been applied in the African context by the Working Group on Indigenous Populations/Communities of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR). 10. Within this perspective, pastoralists and hunter-gatherers are normally regarded as indigenous peoples in the international context, and they increasingly come to identify themselves as such in many countries, including in Africa. In Kenya they include pastoralist communities such as the Endorois, Borana, Gabra, Maasai, Pokot, Samburu, Turkana, and Somali, and hunter-gatherer communities whose livelihoods remain connected to the forest, such as the Awer (Boni), Ogiek, Sengwer, or Yaaku. Other groups such as the Nubians consider themselves as a minority that has also been marginalized, but in an urban context. They and other minority groups share demands to end discrimination and exclusion with indigenous peoples in Kenya. The Kenya Government normally refers to indigenous and minority groups jointly as “minorities”, “marginalized” or “vulnerable communities”.