Neil: An indigenous concern for what goes on there and…
Joe: What do you mean indigenous? In reference to Hawaii [it] is relative, right?
Neil: Every usage of the word indigenous is relative, yes.
Joe: Especially with Hawaii because…
Neil: The only indigenous people are black people in Africa.
Joe: It really is, yeah.
Neil: Because life – human life began in Africa. Everyone else traveled to where they were. So “native” it’s – you set a time frame to declare what is native and what’s not. And a native, in its simplest form is “are you born there?” So I’m a native New Yorker, I’m born there. But I wasn’t the original settler there. My species did not form on Manhattan island. So everybody traveled to where they are, they just got there before Europeans. So that has become the definition of “indigenous”. Were you there when the Europeans landed? Then you’re indigenous.
Excerpt from Joe Rogan Experience #1347 – Neil deGrasse Tyson (49:35 – 50:35)
Transcribed by Hakeem Bey.