The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was formerly adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007. Out of 159 votes (or abstentions), the United States and Canada remain the sole "no" votes on record. Both nations are now considering either endorsement (in the case of Canada) or a review of the Declaration (United States).
I cannot understand why so many chiefs are allowed to talk so many different ways, and promise so many different things. I have seen the Great Father Chief (President Hayes); the Next Great Chief (Secretary of the Interior); the Commissioner Chief; the Law Chief; and many other law chiefs (Congressmen) and they all say they are my friends, and that I shall have justice, but while all their mouths talk right I do not understand why nothing is done for my people. I have heard talk and talk but nothing is done. Good words do not last long unless they amount to something.
Chief Joseph, 1879, Washington D.C.
You have until July 15th, if you want input into the process, to send email or write to the US Department of State.
All interested parties...
The U.S. Government looks forward to hearing from all interested parties as it undertakes its review of the Declaration. The U.S. Department of State, together with other Federal agencies, will be holding consultations with federally recognized Indian tribes and meetings with interested nongovernmental organizations and other stakeholders on the review of the Declaration. Exact dates and locations will be announced on this website. Anyone unable to participate in these consultations or meetings in person can send comments by email to declaration@state.gov or by mail to S/SR Global Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW., Suite 1317, Washington, DC 20520. Please send written comments by July 15, 2010 to ensure that they can be given due consideration in the review.
On September 13, 2007, 144 nations voted in favor of the resolution, eleven nations abstained (Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Samoa and Ukraine), and four nations voted against the resolution – Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.
In the interim years, Australia (2009) and New Zealand (2010) have changed their votes to favorable support. In addition, Colombia and Samoa removed their abstention and now endorse the Declaration.
Earlier this year, Canada’s Governor General, Michaëlle Jean indicated that Canada will move towards endorsement of the Declaration; this appears to be a "qualified" endorsement.
"A growing number of states have given qualified recognition to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Our Government will take steps to endorse this aspirational document in a manner fully consistent with Canada’s Constitution and laws."
Speech from the Throne
March 3, 2010
A little more than a month later on April 20th, the US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, announced the upcoming US review of the Declaration:
...I am pleased to announce that the United States has decided to review our position regarding the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We recognize that, for many around the world, this Declaration provides a framework for addressing indigenous issues. During President Obama’s first year in office, tribal leaders encouraged the United States to reexamine its position on the Declaration — an important recommendation that directly complements our commitment to work together with the international community on the many challenges that indigenous peoples face. We will be conducting a formal review of the Declaration and the U.S. position on it. And as we move ahead, we look forward to consulting extensively with our valued and experienced colleagues in the federally recognized Indian tribes and interested nongovernmental organizations.
Is the tide changing? Will the United States and Canada climb to higher moral ground? Two nations still on the wrong side of history, neighbor nations with large populations of indigenous peoples, nations with long histories of collective indigenous abuse.
The US objections to the Declaration in 2007 during the Bush administration were several. The central disagreements were focused on both the use of the term "indigenous" (too broad, too undefined) and the perceived lack of specific procedures and actions that could be taken in the event of dispute over interpretation of the Articles in the Declaration. Note: I’m loosely and simplistically interpreting the core wording in the objection, a summary of which can be found here - Position of the United States on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
There are extensive counter arguments to these objections – enough to write a book. For those interested in further research, I’ve included some annotated links below.
It’s imperative to remember that this Declaration, even as a Resolution passed in the General Assembly, is a nonbinding resolution. This fact makes the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples no less important as an underpinning of policy for indigenous rights across nations, across boundaries, over resources, and in the international interests of preserving cultures, languages, and the existentially threatened populations on every continent.
The birth and subsequent development of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been decades in the making. The process technically began in 1982, when the first Working Group on Indigenous Populations was formed. The initial draft of the Declaration was created in 1985.
However, in reality, the foundations of this Declaration were laid much earlier.
From a purely national, United States parochial point of view, the rights of indigenous peoples have been raised, debated, and trampled under most treaties negotiated between the indigenous and those on the other side of the bargaining table.
Through the lens of history, elevating the rights of indigenous peoples was apparently first attempted at a global level in 1923 during the short life of the ill-fated League of Nations. (See ojibwa’s Indians 101: American Indians & the United Nations, February 11, 2010.)
Levi General (also known as "Deskaheh", Haudenosaunee Chief Deskaheh), a Cayuga of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, traveled to Geneva, Switzerland as Six Nations spokesman in an attempt to gain sovereign nation support and recognition from the League of Nations. In the early 1920’s after WWI, the Canadian government moved towards dissolution of the previously recognized sovereign rights of the Six Nations. Government officials and troops seized land and artifacts, and performed other actions in abrogation of long-standing treaties between the Six Nations Confederacy and both US and Canadian governments.
Deskaheh was inevitably rejected by the majority body of the League of Nations, though some nations verbally supported his cause. His efforts to be heard by the League were exhaustive, but ultimately unsuccessful over many months.
Before returning to North America, Deskaheh and George Decker, the lawyer from New York State who traveled with him, scheduled an appearance that many of the European press attended (a press conference in today’s terms). Aloys Derso, a well-known journalist of the time whose established press "beat" covered the League of Nations, related the following:
...he (Deskaheh) repeated a passage from the Treaty of 1784, as worded by Sir Frederick Haldimand, governor-in-chief of Quebec and territories depending hereon:
"I do hereby in his Majesty's name, authorize and permit the said Mohawk nation and such other of the Six Nations Indians as wish to settle in that quarter to take possession of and settle upon the banks of the river commonly called Ouse or Grand River...which them and their posterity are to enjoy forever."
Then he recited the tale of the broken pledge, the raid of the Royal Mounted Police, the rummaging of his own house, the building of the police barracks, the seizure of the sacred wampum. The story would be incredible without evidence, he said. But he had foreseen this and had the proofs with him. Then he lifted the lid of the suitcase and with care and reverence drew from within the old headed wampum on which might be read the sworn agreements of' white governments with his people. Speaking with deep feeling, translating these documents slowly and impressively, stopping now and then to make clear the meanings of the bead colors and of the representations of the symbols, he made his entranced listeners feel that this was not the narration of the grievances of a small racial unit, but the story of all minority peoples - the tragedy of every small nation that is a neighbor to a larger one.
When he finished, there was a moment of silence - then a roar of a tremendous ovation. Thousands rose to their feet to cheer him and the great hall echoed and re-echoed with their applause. Straight, unsmiling, impassive, he waited until after many minutes the sound began to wane. Then, still expressionless he left the platform.
Iroquois Patriot's Fight for International Recognition
Once again, if you want input into the process, you have until July 15th.
It’s long past time to be on the right side of history, on the better road to the future, Uncle Sam.
For the full text of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, click here.
Additional references
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
– Eighteen page PDF file containing text of the Declaration.
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Towards Re-empowerment
- Two law professors, discussion of counter arguments to the objections raised by the US in 2007.
Time to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
– Offers a reasonably concise, bulleted list of reasons why the Declaration should be endorsed by the US, including points on which US law already follows the policies advocated in the Declaration.
2010 White House Tribal Nations Conference Progress Report
– This is what it says it is. The report covers many issues also enumerated in the UN Declaration document.
The work and process beyond the final adoption (140 pages)
– Fascinating 180+ page document that details a lot of the process of drafting the Declaration and the obstacles and objections individual indigenous stakeholders had to overcome (or not) during the drafting. This is related from the point of view of the Norwegian indigenous delegation. The document is from the Norwegian Ministry of Culture-supported Indigenous Peoples website.
Position of the United States on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
– This is the text of the summary of the objections presented by the US representative at the September 13, 2007 General Assembly vote on the Declaration. I searched and searched and have not been able to find the actual Objection document. It is no longer on the UN site or the US State Department site.
The Declaration's Discussion at the General Assembly
– More documentation of the discussion apparently on the floor of the General Assembly.
General Assembly Adopts Declaration On Rights Of Indigenous Peoples
– UN press release.
Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights Of Indigenous Peoples
– Example of an organization that is currently working on policy decisions based around the adoption of the Declaration, including the importance of inclusion of indigenous groups on global issues like climate change and allocation of natural resources.
A New Dawn for Indigenous Peoples Rights
– An interesting graduate paper that discusses whether, and how, the content and Articles of the Declaration fit tenets of "customary international law or general principles of international law". These concepts are manipulated in the 2007 objections put forth by the US, with the US implication being that the Declaration is basically not "sound enough" (my emphasis) to stand as an international policy-making instrument.
Chief Joseph, Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, 1879, Washington D.C.
At last I was granted permission to come to Washington and bring my friend Yellow Bull and our interpreter with me. I am glad I came. I have shaken hands with a good many friends, but there are some things I want to know which no one seems able to explain. I cannot understand how the Government sends a man out to fight us, as it did General Miles, and then breaks his word. Such a government has something wrong about it. I cannot understand why so many chiefs are allowed to talk so many different ways, and promise so many different things. I have seen the Great Father Chief (President Hayes); the Next Great Chief (Secretary of the Interior); the Commissioner Chief; the Law Chief; and many other law chiefs (Congressmen) and they all say they are my friends, and that I shall have justice, but while all their mouths talk right I do not understand why nothing is done for my people. I have heard talk and talk but nothing is done. Good words do not last long unless they amount to something. Words do not pay for my dead people. They do not pay for my country now overrun by white men. They do not protect my father's grave. They do not pay for my horses and cattle. Good words do not give me back my children. Good words will not make good the promise of your war chief, General Miles. Good words will not give my people a home where they can live in peace and take care of themselves. I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk. Too many misinterpretations have been made; too many misunderstandings have come up between the white men and the Indians. If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian he can live in peace. There need be no trouble. Treat all men alike. Give them the same laws. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.
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Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other then we shall have no more wars. We shall be all alike -- brothers of one father and mother, with one sky above us and one country around us and one government for all. Then the Great Spirit Chief who rules above will smile upon this land and send rain to wash out the bloody spots made by brothers' hands upon the face of the earth. For this time the Indian race is waiting and praying.
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekht has spoken for his people.