Weekly Indigipreneur Review

Here's a roundup of the top article from the past week via Indigipreneur Digest.

‘The United States lags behind’ on the Rights of its Indigenous Peoples, Natives say - learn more

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the General Assembly on Thursday, 13 September 2007. It was adopted by a majority of 144 states in favour,?4 against?(Australia, Canada,?New Zealand?and the United States).

Although there are still some countries that are opposed to it, the UN Declaration has now been ratified by most of the world.

The UN Declaration affirms the rights of Indigenous peoples, recognises the historical and original sovereignty of their nations, and affirms their right to self-determination. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain their own cultural identity, customs, and traditions. They must be consulted on any changes to their traditional land or natural resources, and have a right to say how those resources should be used.

They must be protected from attempts to assimilate them into the dominant society. Indigenous people have the right to participate in decisions that affect them.

The declaration itself outlines a framework of international rights for Indigenous people, but it does not detail enforcement methods – a framework of principles that lacks real enforcement mechanisms.

And this is a problem.

Countries that have military sovereignty or occupation (e.g. Israel vs Palestinian) and violate the rights of Indigenous people will likely not be prosecuted through the UN because the UN lacks the authority to enforce its own resolutions.

Other ongoing examples are the Indonesian government's lagging efforts to recognize Indigenous lands and accusations of non-Indigenous South American governments' alleged ongoing genocide and land theft.