Indigenous Rights
Pledge: Become A Modern Day Warrior For Indigenous Rights (Updated & Edited)
NOT VANISHED, JUST OVER-LOOKED"Viewing Native Americans as a people of the past is the most accessible, convenient perception for Americans. While I believe it is important to create images that are historically, culturally correct and support the preservation of culture, I also believe it is imperative that a modern, contemporary representation of Native culture needs to surface in the mainstream.
Crossposted at Native American Netroots
A web of land theft in a "a new kind of Indian war" is taking place. Non Indians' racism and genocide denial, who engage in attempting to steal tribal sovereignty through the court system, ignore an obvious question. Where would they meet to practice their religion, a white Caucasian word, if their churches were stolen, condemned, and being used to drill for oil and uranium? The "spirit" seems to be this: "What one group calls genocide, another group may call progress." Let's try to get an overview of the "progress" in the web of land theft in the "New kind of Indian war."
August 26th through the 29th was the SYMPOSIUM ON THE SETTLEMENT OF INDIAN RESERVED WATER RIGHTS CLAIMS (a good overview is here).
Issues you need to know about | Indigenous Rights
UN Passes Treaty on Native Rights
It was 22 years in the making, but today, in a strictly symbolic move (in other words, it has no enforcement) the United Nations has passed a resolution protecting the rights of indigenous peoples around the world.
From BBC News:
The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples after 22 years of debate.
The treaty sets down protections for the human rights of native peoples, and for their land and resources...
There are estimated to be 370 million indigenous people in the world.
Only four nations opposed the treaty: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. This despite the fact the resolution doesn't even have any teeth. Phil Fontaine, leader of the Assembly of First Nations, a group representing Canada's native communities, criticized the failure of the nations to support the resolution:
We're very disappointed... It's about the human rights of indigenous peoples throughout the world. It's an important symbol.
The resolution was already adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2006, but a final vote was deferred because of initial opposition by African nations. Those differences were resolved and the resolution went to a final vote today.
Here is a summary of the resolution from the International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs:
Indigenous Rights | United Nations
