default IN Policy Brief 4 - Indigenous Peoples and Poverty in Mindanao Popular
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The notion of "poverty" of/among Indigenous Peoples (IPs) is contentious for some rea-sons. For one, IPs themselves resent the label attached to their identity as IPs because it connotes the need for "development" programs and projects that they supposedly need, but are usually planned/conceptualized for them by outsiders (eg. government and non-government organizations). Moreover, some indicators of poverty, like the type or housing (materials used), clothing and other material things are deemed insensitive and inappropriate to their context and culture. IPs assert that they are not poor, espe cially as long as they are in their ancestral domains where natural resources are usually bountiful.