Indigenous refers to people or objects native to a certain region or environment. They may grow there, live there, be produced there, or occur naturally there. The term indigenous is primarily used to refer to plants or peoples.

Indigenous plants are naturally occurring in a region or ecosystem without human introduction. Plants brought to a place by humans from other habitats, or plants humans have cultivated into new forms, are not considered indigenous. Indigenous plants are suited to the habitats in which they are traditionally found, as they are adapted to the soil and climate of a particular region. They may not thrive in other regions; if they can, they may require additional cultivation to make their new habitat closer to their native habitat.

Unlike plants, humans emerged first in a single location in Africa. About 70,000 to 80,000 years ago, some groups of humans left Africa and migrated around the world. They then established settlements in these new locations. People began to settle more permanently. Most people were born, raised, and died in the same location. We commonly refer to an Indigenous person as an individual from a group that has lived in a particular location for thousands of years. For example, a person of Native American ancestry is considered an Indigenous American. On the other hand, an American descendant of Europeans is not.