original inhabitants
Native population group
Original inhabitants are the people who lived in a place before colonizers, settlers, or later populations arrived.
The phrase appears in historical, legal, and political contexts discussing indigenous peoples and their claims to land or sovereignty: The treaty recognized the rights of the original inhabitants.
It's more formal than "natives" and avoids the contested connotations of terms like "Indian" or "aboriginal."
- nativeOriginating from a place
- indigenousOriginating in a region
- aboriginalIndigenous to a place
- ancestralOf one's forebears
- ancestral homelandLand of one's forebears
native land · tribal · colonized · homeland · territory · hunting grounds · roots · elders · tribes · tribal elders · First Nations · ancient · prehistoric · nomadic · hunters · gatherers · sacred · sacred sites
original inhabitantsnewcomers
Those recently arrived
latecomers · new arrivals · immigrants · migrants · settlers
original inhabitantscolonizers
Those who establish foreign control
colonists · invaders · conquerors · occupiers · colonial settlers
original inhabitantsimmigrants
Those settling abroad
settlers · colonists · migrants · transplants · arrivals
original, originals, originally, originality, origin, origins, originate, originates, originated