Land essential to future of Indigenous peoples

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Recognizing land rights and the right to self-determination topped the lists of recommendations presented by the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples to the Non-Government Forum of the United Nations World Conference on Human Rights last month.

A land base defines an Indigenous people and is essential in securing their futures, said working group spokesman Terry Janis.

"We, the world's Indigenous peoples, have lived on our lands before colonization and we continue to reside there, manifesting distinct characteristics which identify us as nations. We must emphasize the importance of land to Indigenous peoples. The most important of these issues is the right to obtain our land, the right to retain our land, and the right to live as people on our land."

Janis' comments drew thunderous applause from the more than 1,400 NGO delegates assembled for the June 12 morning plenary session, the third and last day of the NGO Forum at the Austria Centre in Vienna.

"This distinguishes us from minorities and identifies us as peoples with the right to self-determination."

Hundreds of NGOs, ranging from Indigenous groups to women's rights groups, met June 10-12 in an attempt to develop 10 NGO position papers for the United Nations during its World Conference on Human Rights.

Indigenous peoples are not the remains of traditions and cultures throughout the world, Janis said. They are a vital and structured living entity whose problems must be supported by the United Nations.

Along among the groups' chief recommendations was the establishment of an international decade of the world's Indigenous peoples, an event to be built upon the current international year.

The UN's own Working Group on Indigenous People should also be upgraded to a permanent body within the global organization, he said. The mandate for such a permanent body should be determined by the United Nations in partnership with Indigenous peoples' organizations.

Janis also recommended the establishment of a High Commissioner, appointed by the UN, to permanently monitor the state of Indigenous peoples' rights. Regular meetings of an Indigenous rights group should also be held in areas through the world, especially in regions with high Indigenous populations.

Future UN development, funding and technical assistance programs should recognize and respect Indigenous peoples' rights to work in partnership with the global organization. And the UN should provide funding and assistance to development programs initiated by Indigenous peoples.

The UN should also adopt the "strongest possible draft" of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Janis said.

"Indigenous peoples shall have access to participate in the drafting and review process as it moves through the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly."

The draft document has already come under fire from Native groups. Canadian delegates to the UN moved in May to change the term 'Indigenous Peoples' to 'Indigenous People' during a document drafting session in Geneva, effectively eliminated the chance for Indigenous peoples to access self-determination under established international charters and declarations.

Janis also said the working group will urge the UN to "hasten this already lengthy process and bring pressure upon states to ratify the finished document as soon as possible."

NGO working group chair Paul Reeves said he was pleased with the group's final recommendations, despite the absence of stronger wording on the issue of land rights.

"I felt there was a good description of who we are within our own terms," he said. "As far as the recommendations, they were specific and they sought to build on things that are already happening. I think Indigenous peoples are being invited to be (world) managers at this moment but what they really want to do is jump and be board of directors. The owners."

The final draft did, however, capture a basic statement of land as the cement of Indigeous identity, said the Anglican Reverend and New Zealand Maori.

"It's all that we are, all that we have been, and all that we want to be. This is not simply an economic base, it is a cultural base. It is our life. As Maori, we describe ourselves as people of the land. We were all at one in our discussion about that."

The document also met with the approval of a representative from the United Nations Working group on Indigenous People.

"It's very much in line with that Indigenous peoples are asking for," said group secretary Julian Burger. "It's very consistent with what Indigenous peoples world-wide are asking for. Basically, that the UN do a hell of a lot more."

The recommendation to extend the international year would also give the UN time to undertake more effective programs.

"We feel from listening to Indigenous people, that the international year is just not long enough," Burger said.

None of the United Nations operational organizations can carry out a program in 13 months so the idea of recommending an international decade was very welcome, he said.

The United Nations was, however, under no obligation to adopt any of the recommendations. But UN conference organizers did allow 550 NGO delegates to attend the June 14-25 discussions.

Fifty of them would also be allowed to speak, marking the first time NGO delegates will participate at a UN function.