NEW YORK — After a 25-year effort, the U.N. General Assembly’s vote Thursday was swift in support of the rights of indigenous people throughout the world. Steady applause spilled through the assembly hall as the Declaration on the Rights of
NEW YORK — After a 25-year effort, the U.N. General Assembly’s vote Thursday was swift in support of the rights of indigenous people throughout the world.
Steady applause spilled through the assembly hall as the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted 143 to 4. Eleven nations abstained from voting.
Sept. 13 will be remembered as “a day that the United Nations together with indigenous peoples reconciled with past painful histories and decided to march into the future on the path of human rights,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, chairperson of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Still, the declaration’s supporters couldn’t ignore the four countries that voted against it: the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia — all countries with significant indigenous populations.
Indigenous leaders admonished the countries for failing to support the document, which establishes human rights standards worldwide.
Canadian First Nations representatives arrived at the United Nations in full force — and with no shortage of criticism against the Canadian government.
“I’m very disappointed with Canada,” said Phil Fontaine, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. “It’s had a long-standing reputation of being one of the great defenders of human rights internationally. That reputation is in tatters now.”
Canadian Ambassador John Mcnee said the declaration’s provisions on lands, territories and resources are overly broad, unclear and could raise questions about matters already settled by treaty.
U.S. adviser Robert Hagen called the text confusing, and said it “risks endless conflicting interpretations.”
And nearly all the dissenting country representatives noted it didn’t provide a legal basis for future dealings with indigenous people.
But proponents of the declaration argue time will prove otherwise.
“What they’re doing here is trying to establish a record that they won’t be held to those parts of the declaration they say are incompatible with their countries’ laws,” said James Anaya, a human rights law and policy professor at the University of Arizona.
“They know they will be held to the standards at some level. The declaration will start to take on a life of its own.”
Meanwhile, relief and joy was evident among those who had spent decades arguing the merits of the declaration.
“This has been a 25-year struggle to have the basic rights of indigenous people recognized,” said Andrea Carmen, executive director of the International Indian Treaty Council.
“Today for the first time, the United Nations general assembly recognizes indigenous peoples’ treaty rights through the recognition of this document.”
The Six Nations, or Haudensaunee, of New York are often credited with leading the way to the declaration as they fought for a settlement on land claims, arguing international human rights applied to indigenous people.
“The tide of history has changed where we are no longer regarded as people who are going to disappear,” said Tim Coulter, a lawyer from Helena, Mont., who has represented the Six Nations for more than 30 years.
“Indigenous peoples are a permanent part of the world. That’s what was really said here today.”
• Jodi Rave covers Native issues for Lee Enterprises. Reach her at (800) 366-7186 or jodi.rave@lee.net.
