NAIPC Comments on Action Plan beyond ALTA

North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus Comments on an Action Plan beyond Alta 2013, June 12, 2013

The NAIPC Delegation is here to:

·      Advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples as Peoples and Nations with rights equal to all other Peoples.

·      That we have and confirm the inalienable right to and of self-determination as recognized in various international instruments, including Article 3 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as our rights to our lands, territories, resources, treaties, languages and cultures.

We reiterate that the Alta “outcome document” will be reviewed by NAIPC to explore and assess the possible benefits and negative impacts, and to determine future involvement including at the HLP/WCIP.

With regard to an action plan, the NAIPC reserves all rights to decision-making with regard to future work in relation to the HLP/WCIP.

The NAIPC does not empower any body to speak for, represent, or negotiate any positions on our behalf.

The NAIPC, regardless of the content of the Alta Outcome Document, is committed to sharing a historical context and update that includes the outcomes of this conference with our regions and improve upon our communications to our peoples and nations affected.

Bear in mind that that these comments are made without the benefit of review of the final outcome document.  Once we have a chance to review the Draft Alta Document, we will provide our comments at that time.

Our primary message is that we call upon our brothers and sisters to uphold and respect the right of broad participation and decision-making in relation to the HLP/WCIP. 

YouTube:

North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus Report at Alta

Intervention by Indigenous Environmental Network, Tom Goldtooth

INDIVIDUAL INTERVENTION SESSION

11 June 2013 

Intervention by Tom Goldtooth, on behalf of the Indigenous Environmental Network, delegate from the North America Caucus.

Mr. Chair, Bureau, Indigenous Peoples Delegates and Indigenous Peoples of the World; 

This intervention is not on behalf of the North American Caucus, but on behalf of the Indigenous Environmental Network.

It is very important that the outcome document articulate the expression of Indigenous worldview that we all share, as Peoples of the Land, Waters, Oceans and noting our relatives of the Polar region – I will add the “Peoples’ of the Ice and Snow”.  The full recognition of our spirituality and cosmovision, as part of our culture, has consistently been under attack by States and their colonial bodies and within the implementation of their economic globalization and so-called sustainable development agenda. 

As Indigenous Peoples we are observing the UN, the World Bank, and other financial and private sectors, including energy and extractive industries that are pushing a “green” economy agenda. As Indigenous Peoples, we must articulate our voices in the Outcome Document on this UN and member States’ economic development agenda that is expanding the commodification, financialization and privatization of the functions of Nature. These functions of Nature are the life-giving cycles of Mother Earth. 

This green economy regime places a monetary price on Nature and creates new derivative markets that will only increase inequality and expedite the destruction of Nature – of Mother Earth. We cannot put the future of Nature and humanity in the hands of financial speculative mechanisms like carbon trading, REDD, conservation and biodiversity offsets and payment for environmental and ecological services. 

As Indigenous Peoples, we are the Guardians of Mother Earth and Father Sky.  We are the Peoples of Mother Earth. The rights of Indigenous Peoples and the rights of Mother Earth are not separate. We only have one Mother Earth – let’s take care of her and lift up her right for her natural laws to be recognized.

Thank you.

Huehuecoyotl: Intervention from the floor at Alta

 Intervention From the Floor before the
UN Indigenous Peoples Preparatory Meeting
Alta, Norway
By Tupac Enrique Acosta, Yaotachcauh
Huehuecoyotl
Tlahtokan Nahuacalli
Calpolli Nahuacalco, Izkaloteka 
June 11, 2014

Mr. Chairman,

Good greetings to the assembled delegations of Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth, and all members of the global assembly gathered here today in the ancient land of the Sami.

We would like to propose two recommendations for action by the United Nations system for the delivery in the process of development of the final outcome document of the High Level Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly 2014. 

1) We call for the restitution of the primary source materials and testimony that was lent to the United Nations system as fundamental to the evidence in document form of the systemic (system to system) nature of the legal relationships between the Nations of Indigenous Peoples and the member states of the UN system for the purpose of the Treaty Study conducted by Dr. Miguel Alfonso Martinez of Cuba.

Such delivery, should be initial act of good faith in terms of the continuing process of systemic documentation among the Nations of Indigenous Peoples and the UN system prior to and as a necessary act of condition to allow for the full and effective participation of the Indigenous Peoples in the High Level Plenary Meeting on an equal basis and without systemic discrimination in the process of producing the Final Outcome Document of the High Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly 2014.

2) In addressing the underlying collective purpose of this gathering here in Alta, and the mandate of our ancestors and instructions from the future generations that makes our presence here as Indigenous Peoples in Alta possible, we also call for clarification now that as the primary purpose of the United Nations is fundamentally driven by the call for World Peace among All Peoples and the member states of the UN system, and in acknowledgment that peace on Earth will be impossible if we are not at Peace with Mother Earth, in homeostasis with the Land and Seas, with the Ice and Snow, with the Winds and Father Sun, it is critical that as we engage with each other collectively and in the spirit of Equality and Justice, that we reintroduce the principle of the Territorial Integrity of Mother Earth as fundamental and inherent responsibility in terms of International Law of all our relations and relationships now engaged together, without systemic prejudice in terms of precept, concept, and documentation systems on the long journey of Humanity that has brought us to ancient land of Áltá, Sápmi [Norway].

Tlazocamati.

YouTube:
The Territorial Integrity of Mother Earth
*******
 Link:
United Nations Economic and Social Council
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Sub-Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection
of Minorities
HUMAN RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Study on treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements between States and indigenous populations
Final report by Miguel Alfonso Martínez, Special Rapporteur
22 June 1999 

PACIFIC CAUCUS STATEMENTS ON THE OUTCOME DOCUMENT

Theme 2: United Nations system action for the implementation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples

Aloha.  My name is Mililani Trask and I am a Kanaka Maoli from Hawai’i.

The Pacific would like to recommend the following items under Theme 2: United Nations system action for the implementation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples

The Pacific recommends the deletion of recommendation #1 at the request of the bureau because it’s a restatement of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and we already have the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous, and the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Pacific accepts language drafted in existing recommendations #2-#5 as drafted and circulated.

We propose a new recommendation that is adapted from EMRIP proposal 9 of 2012 and the Copenhagen Call to Action that reads:

“Calls on the World Heritage Committee, UNESCO and States to revise the World Heritage Convention’s operational guidelines to ensure the rights of Indigenous Peoples are respected in the nomination, designation, management and monitoring of World Heritage sites incorporating or affecting their land, territories, waters, resources, and to ensure that Indigenous Peoples right to free, prior and informed consent is obtained in World Heritage decision-making processes.”

The justification for this is that there has been expanding State and UNESCO activity under the World Heritage Convention resulting in the expropriation of Indigenous lands territories and resources, and violations of Indigenous human rights globally.  The Expert Seminar that occurred in Copenhagen, Denmark in September 2012 documented 21 case studies of these violations in several regions in the states of Greenland, Venezuela, Suriname, Thailand, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Kenya, Sweden, Canada, Tanzania, the Phillippines, the Sangha Trinational (Congo/Cameroon/Central African Republic), India, and the Pacific Ocean.

These case studies verify in some instances extreme human rights violations including the murder of over 20 hunter gathers in Africa who were killed as poachers in protected areas, the murder of the Indigenous leader in the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex in Thailand and the militarization of 70% of the Pacific Ocean under the guise of marine protected areas and to the exclusion of Indigenous fishing, cultural and subsistence rights.

Finally, the Pacific recommends amendments to paragraph 6 to make it clear that we are seeking a full World Conference, which States are responsible for funding. We therefore recommend the text be written as follows:

“Recommends that following the high level plenary of the General Assembly in 2014 work be undertaken to organize an official UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples.”

Thank you.

Confederation of Eagle and Condor Honored at UN

Wednesday, May 14, 2003 

The Sacred Staffs of the Confederacy of the Eagle and the Condor arrived at the United Nations headquarters this morning and were received by the traditional leadership of the Haudenausaunee Confederacy. The Haudenausaunee, also known as the People of the Longhouse, are here in New York along with Indigenous Peoples from around the world attending the second session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council.

Mr. Wilton Littlechild of the Cree Nation and also member of the Permanent Forum led the legation which took the Sacred Staffs into the UN Headquarters where they were acknowledged and received ceremonially before the assembled delegates of other Indigenous Confederations from around the world. The Sacred Staffs were given the honor of being placed at the forefront of the Permanent Forum platform throughout the day where they were guarded by the Peace and Dignity runners.

During the forum, Mr. Littlechild reported to the United Nations of his visit as rapporteur of the Permanent Forum to the traditional gathering of Aztlan Indigenous Nations held in Izkalotlan in March of this year. The Declaration and Plan of Action of this Tlahtokan Aztlan submitted to the Permanent Forum is now an official UN Document and is available at www.tonatierra.org and at:

United Nations
E/C.19/2003/CRP.2

Archive of Aztlan

The act of international recognition, acceptance and establishment within the protocols of the United Nations system of the Archive of Aztlan fulfills the need for a reference system of indigenous international law wherein an archive of Treaties, Accords, and constructive agreements shall serve to define the relationship between the Indigenous Nations and the states. Until this point, the only official references have come from the systems established by colonization and subjugation to regimes of domination of the Indigenous Peoples and territories which is now illegal under international law.

Called upon to address the morning session of the second session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues the Confederation of the Eagle and the Condor made the call to other indigenous confederacies of nations from other continents and regions of the world to join efforts in mutual support and recognition.

"We have made this journey to the door of the United Nations headquarters as an assertion of our self determination, our right to self definition and spiritual fulfillment as Indigenous Nations of the Earth. The government states of the United Nations system may have status as internationally recognized governments, states, or government states, but we are the Nations," said Gustavo Gutierrez, coordinator of the Peace and Dignity Journeys for North America.

The Indigenous Peoples Peace Initiative is one such global campaign being coordinated from the Nahuacalli, an embassy of Indigenous Peoples located in Phoenix, Arizona. The Indigenous Peoples Peace Initiative is an expression of the resistance of the Indigenous Nations to the calls to war by the government states of the world.

During the today's session the delegation of Tlahtokan Nahaucalli submitted the Map of Aztlan for incorporation in the now established Archive of Aztlan here at the UN.

###

NICANTLACAH*CEMANAHUAC

In the Spirit of Self Determination

of

Indigenous Peoples

In Affirmation, In Defense 
of the
Territorial Integrity
of
Mother Earth

Call to Tribunal

DISMANTLING
the
Doctrine of Discovery

Local-Regional, Continental-Global

www.dismantlingdoctrineofdiscovery.org

Abya Yala Caucus

Maya Vision – Centro Cultural Techantit

TONATIERRA

www.tonatierra.org

QUESTIONS to be addressed by the High Level Plenary of the UN General Assembly 2014

(to be known as the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples):

DISMANTLING the DOCTRINE of DISCOVERY
The Organization of American States
Call to Tribunal 

 

1)  By what purported legitimate reason does this body of Colonizing Republics of the Americas, the Organization of American States (OAS) presume to establish a REGIONAL AGENCY within the UN System in violation of UNGA 1514, UNGA 1541, et al?

2)  In accord with principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent as referenced in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), where, when, and how were the Nations of the Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala Turtle Island consulted in bringing forth this REGIONAL AGENCY of the UN system as a representative hemispheric body of continental governance?

3)  What other regions, continents of the world suffer from this pattern of regional co-optation and colonization by a REGIONAL AGENCY of the UN system?

4)  Does this imply that the UN system itself is complicit with the violation of UN General Assembly Resolution 1514 "All peoples have the right of self determination" in terms of the TRUTH of the colonizers' ongoing continental project (aka the America states).

5) Were any of these questions addressed in during the 2013 UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Truth Commission reports on genocide and colonization in our continent of Abya Yala [the Americas]?

*******

CHARTER OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES

Part One
Chapter I
NATURE AND PURPOSES

Article 1

The American States establish by this Charter the international organization that they have developed to achieve an order of peace and justice, to promote their solidarity, to strengthen their collaboration, and to defend their sovereignty, their territorial integrity, and their independence.  

Within the United Nations, the Organization of American States is a regional agency.

Walking Backward in the International Arena

Walking Backward in the International Arena

Steven Newcomb

June 05, 2013

 

There was a deeply troubling development at this year’s United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (the 12^th Session) in New York. Before we get into that, though, let’s first build some historical context. In 1973, Russell Means and Dennis Banks of the American Indian Movement gained the approval of elders and spiritual leaders of the Oglala Lakota Nation to lead a protest at the site of the Wounded Knee massacre where more than 300 Oglala and Hunkpapa ancestors were slaughtered by the US military in 1890. The protest lasted 71 days.

Afterward, the American Indian Movement called for a convening of the first international Indian Treaty Council. In the summer of 1974, Indian nations gathered at the Standing Rock Reservation in the Dakotas, in the traditional territory of the Great Sioux Nation, and they issued a Declaration of Continuing Independence. Next year will be the fortieth anniversary of that Declaration.
In the fall of 1977, in the spirit of the Declaration at Standing Rock, Indian leaders traveled to Geneva, Switzerland and began the international work for the liberation of our Nations and Peoples that continues to this day. After thirty years of dedicated efforts by Indigenous Nations and Peoples and their allies, the United Nations General Assembly voted on September 13, 2007 to adopt the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, eleven countries abstained from the vote, and the CANZUS states (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S.) voted “no.”

The “no” vote by the United States was predictable. It had taken the official position in 2006—which it has never reversed—that the then “Draft Declaration” was “fundamentally flawed” and “unworkable.”

On December 16, 2010, President Barack Obama issued a statement saying that the U.S. was willing to support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The U.S. Department of State posted a U.S. position paper on its website in which the U.S. claims that the UN Declaration “calls for a new concept of self-determination for Indigenous peoples. The Declaration’s call is to promote the development of a concept of self-determination for indigenous peoples that is different from the existing right of self-determination in international law.” (emphasis added)

The U.S. said that, in its view, “the Declaration’s concept of self-determination” is nothing other than what is already found in U.S. federal Indian law and policy, and that it considers self-determination in the UN Declaration as being consistent with the United States’ recognition of, and relationship with, federally recognized tribes as political entities that have inherent sovereign powers of self-governance. This recognition is the basis of the special legal and political relationship, including the government-to-government relationship, established between the United States and federally recognized tribes.

The U.S.’s claim that the UN Declaration makes a call for “a new concept” of self-determination is, of course, a complete fabrication designed to undercut the expression of self-determination in Article 3 of UN Declaration. Article 3 reads: “Indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.” (emphasis added) Article 3 of the UN Declaration was drafted on the basis of the right of self-determination already recognized in international law, in international instruments such as the UN Charter, and UN Resolution 1514.

At this year’s UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (May 20-May 31), the United States revealed its latest strategy for undermining Article 3 of the UN Declaration. Recruit Indian leadership. At the May 22, 2013 session of the Permanent Forum, the United States said that it wanted to ‘reiterate’ its position that “self-determination as expressed in the UN Declaration is not the same as self-determination in international law.”

Six days later, on May 28 at the UN Permanent Forum, the US said that it is time for the United Nations to give “Indian tribes” an “appropriate” partcipation at the 2014 High Level Plenary Meeting-World Conference. During the delivery of her remarks, Ms. Laurie Phipps placed verbal emphasis on the word “appropriate.” When we combine the U.S. government’s 2010 statement and its May 22 UNPFII intervention on the Declaration, an “appropriate” participation can only be interpreted to mean one that is “consistent with the United States’ recognition of, and relationship with, federally recognized tribes…”, i.e., domestic dependent nationhood under U.S. plenary power.

A couple of hours after the United States’ statement, the National Congress of American Indians—in partnership with several other organizations and Indian “tribes”—issued its statement at the Permanent Forum calling for U.N. recognition of American Indian governments “as observers with, at a minimum, the same participatory rights as non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council,” according to an accompanying document issued by the Indian Law Resource Center.

United States support for the NCAI recommendation to the UN Permanent Forum came just five days after the U.S. reiterated its position on Article 3 of the Declaration. It is troubling that NCAI and its allies did not once publicly take issue with the U.S.’s domesticating interpretation of Article 3 of the UN Declaration. As a result, the United States is now making it look as if NCAI is fully supportive of the U.S.’s 2010 federal Indian law interpretation of Article 3 of the UN Declaration.

Advocating that U.S. domestic dependent nationhood and U.S. plenary power over Indian “tribes” be recognized in the United Nations is not political reform or liberation for Indian nations. It is political regression. It serves to undercut more than 30 years of work in the international arena.

Steven Newcomb (Shawnee, Lenape) is the co-founder and co-director of the Indigenous Law Institute, author of Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (Fulcrum, 2008), and Indigenous and Kumeyaay Research Coordinator for the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.

CONCLAVE GLOBAL DE PUEBLOS INDIGENAS: DERECHOS HUMANOS

United Nations Permanent Forum on lndigenous Peoples -12o. Sesión

New York City, New York

Mayo 20-30, 2013

CONCLAVE GLOBAL DE PUEBLOS INDIGENAS SOBRE DERECHOS HUMANOS

Delivered by: MYRIAM SANCHEZ

Gracias, Señor Presidente y Honorables Miembros del Foro Permanente por la oportunidad dada a los pueblos indígenas de todos los rincones de nuestro mundo a elevar su voz para solicitar el cese de las violaciones de los derechos humanos.

Basado en nuestra cosmovisión indígena y tomando en cuenta que la madre tierra es un ser viviente con derechos plenos, afirmamos que como sus hijos tomamos la responsabilidad de protegerla.  Los pueblos indígenas reafirmamos nuestro mandato y ejercicio de nuestros derechos como guardianes de la armonía, la vida y la defensa de la madre tierra.  Nuestra vida esta intrínsecamente vinculada a su integridad, por lo que nuestros derechos humanos están igualmente intrínsecamente ligados a su derechos.  En base a esto, queremos recomendar lo siguiente:

l.  Reconociendo que los pueblos indígenas pueden aplicar su conocimiento ancestral a la defensa de la madre tierra, estimamos pertinente recomendar a nuestros hermanos y hermanas indígenas que se constituya un tribunal indígena (referenciado en el Artículo I de la Declaración Universal de Derechos Humanos) para garantizar, vigilar y monitorear la defensa de la madre tierra, así como la vida de los líderes en las naciones indígenas que trabajan con los diferentes procesos de su protección y en su defensa. Estos defensores de la madre tierra son el blanco de constantes persecuciones, asesinatos, y amenazas de muerte.

2.  Tomando en cuenta que la implementación de nuestro derecho inherente e inalienable a la libre determinación es fundamental para la defensa de la madre tierra, recomendamos a los estados trabajar con los pueblos indígenas para que se instituyan medidas legales y recursos técnicos para garantizar y facilitar el autogobierno de los pueblos indígenas.

3.  Que los bancos multilaterales de desarrollo, tales como el Banco lnteramericano de Desarrollo y el Banco lnternacional de Reconstrucción y Fomento (Banco Mundial) entre otros respeten los estándares internacionales de derechos humanos antes de financiar cualquier proyecto que afecte nuestro medio ambiente, salud y los derechos fundamentales de la vida.

4. lnstamos al Foro Permanente recomendar a los Estados conciliar la necesidad de los pueblos indígenas para viajar a través de las fronteras impuestas ya que acosar nuestro derecho a viajar es una violación extrema de los pueblos indígenas los estados han creado las fronteras coloniales como un instrumento para criminalizar los desplazamientos forzados, la imposición de estas fronteras coloniales perpetua y justifica el genocidio permanente en contra de nuestros pueblos, familias y personas desplazadas, el terror causado por las transnacionales y ejércitos de los estados víolenta, destruye y amenaza nuestra existencia y causa a la vez la persecución y asesinato de nuestros líderes.

5.  lnstamos al Foro Permanente a recomendar a los Estados conciliar la necesidad de los pueblos indígenas para viajar a través de las fronteras impuestas ya que acosar nuestro derecho a viajar es una violación extrema de los pueblos indígenas.  La imposición de fronteras coloniales es una violación permanente a el derecho de los pueblos indígenas y la causa el deterioro permanente de nuestro tejido socíal y espiritualidad. El artículo 13 de la Declaración de los Derechos Humanos y el artículo 36 de la Declaración de los Pueblos lndígenas deben ser reconciliados a favor de nuestros propios derechos humanos indígenas.

6.  Dentro del sistema de colonización moderna y los procesos económicos la mujer es violentada, abusada y deshumanizada convirtiéndola en un instrumento solamente y tomando en consideración que ella es el núcleo central y dadora de vida exigimos su respeto y protección y un alto a la violación de sus derechos más elementales. Pedimos que se adopte legislación y recomendaciones en la Asamblea General y los organismos de las Naciones Unidas para apoyar la integridad física, mental y espiritual de la mujer y prevenir la violencia a ella en todas sus formas, como la perpetrada por la lógica opresiva del patriarcado occidental.

7.  Exigimos un respeto a la vida misma del pueblo indígena y un alto a los asesinatos en contra de nuestros líderes. Exigimos el respeto a la vida del mismo pueblo indígena y una parada del asesinato de nuestros dirigentes y la criminalización de los pueblos indígenas con legislación anti-terrorismo en América del Norte y del Sur Recomendamos que el foro permanente establezca un mejor mecanismo de vigilancia para monitorear los abusos cometidos por las fuerzas de seguridad de los estados miembros y el crimen organizado internacional en contra de nuestros pueblos.

Gracias.

Abya Yala: Planton de Solidaridad Indígena con el Pueblo Maya [Guatemala]

YouTube:

 Planton de Solidaridad Continental Indígena Abya Yala 

con el Pueblo Maya de Guatemala denuciando la Impunidad en el caso de

GENOCIDIO

en Guatemala por el ex-presidente Rios Montt.

Demand for ACCOUNTABILITY and JUSTICE for the CIA’s involvement in the GENOCIDE of the Maya in Guatemala under the regime of ex-president Rios Montt before the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

 *******
Abya Yala
Continental Indigenous Tribunal
of

ACCOUNTABILITY and JUSTICE

Demand for ACCOUNTABILITY and JUSTICE

for the CIA’s involvement in the

GENOCIDE

of the Pueblo Maya [Guatemala]
********

Chronology:
1492 The Doctrine of Discovery
*
1493 The Papal Bull Inter Caetera
*
1507 Universalis Cosmographia First Map of [America]

by Martin Waldseemüller

*
1513 El Requierimiento
* 
DISMANTLING: The Divine Right of States in the Americas
1823 Johnson v. McIntosh and the Monroe Doctrine
*
1904 The Roosevelt Corrollary to the Monroe Doctrine
*
1946 Establishment of Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in Panama
(AKA The School of the AMERICAS)
*
1954 Guatemala President Arbenz Toppled by the CIA Coup

ONLINE PETITION:

Guatemala, Convict Rios Montt of Crimes Against Humanity!

###
Links:
How the CIA and the Pentagon Supported the Military Dictatorship
*******
Truthout
The School of the Americas and the CIA 
*******
US Aided and Abetted Genocide in Guatemala 
*******
 Amy Goodman
Guatemala's victory for human rights highlights a major US failure

********
Noam Chomsky
Guilty in Guatemala
 

 

TONATIERRA

North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus Statement on HLP/WCIP 2014

Video of Intervention

at 1:35:15 of the (10th meeting)
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues,
12th session - ECOSOC
by Kenneth Deere
Text as transcribed from the DOCIP archive

************* 

1.  The North American Indigenous Peoples Caucus (NAIPC) met on March 1, 2 and 3, 2013 at the Sycuan Resort, in the traditional territory of the Kumeyaay Nation.  The meeting was sponsored by the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, the Haudenosaunee, the Viejas Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, and the Lummi Nation. 

2.  North American Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus Strategy for the Indigenous Peoples’ Preparatory Meeting in Alta, Norway and the HLP/WCIP in 2014: 

We will advance the work of the NAIPC by exploring the possibilities of where this can go, including attending and participating in the Indigenous Peoples’ preparatory gathering in Alta, Norway for the HLP/WCIP 2014, based on the following:

1. a) Advance the rights of Indigenous Peoples as Peoples and Nations with rights equal to all other Peoples[1] 

2. b) That we have and confirm the inalienable right to and of self-determination as recognized in various international instruments (the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1 of the Human Rights Covenants, and U.N. Resolution 1514), including Article 3 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as our rights to our lands, territories, resources, treaties, languages and cultures.

3. c) At the global Indigenous Peoples’ preparatory meeting we will advance the position that the Indigenous Peoples’ “outcome document” shall protect and advance the inalienable

and fundamental rights we have as Indigenous Peoples and Nations, including the right to participate fully and equally as Peoples and Nations to support the implementation of the

provisions of the UN Declaration that advance the rights and protections of Indigenous Peoples and Nations.

4. d) The Caucus may propose and consider specific recommendations consistent with this decision.

5. e) That the Alta “outcome document” will be reviewed by NAIPC to explore and assess the possible benefits and negative impacts, and to determine future involvement including at the HLP/WCIP.

6. f) Key Themes

International oversight of monitoring mechanism

Domination

Decolonization

Self-determination

Culture, language and spirituality

International personality of Indigenous peoples

Free prior and informed consent

Defense against ecocide, ethnocide and genocide Militarization

International border issues

Environmental including water rights

Land rights

Treaties and treaty rights

Defense of Indigenous Peoples traditional knowledge and cultural expressions and genetic resources

g) Major Topics

Militarization borders/occupation,

Violence against women, children, and elders

True cost economy, poverty and economic development

Forced assimilation,

Recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ contribution

Land rights, and Territorial/jurisdiction

Treaties and other constructive frameworks 

The NAIPC Recommendations for Outcome Document

The NAIPC recommends that the entire UN system, especially the Permanent Forum, use the term Peoples at all times when referring to Indigenous Peoples.

The NAIPC recommends that a systemic analysis of the causation of colonization, domination and subordination be undertaken, that continued work be done on issues related to the use and impact of the racist Doctrine of Discovery that has allowed states to steal Indigenous lands and resources, and that a statement be drafted on the Doctrine of Discovery and that the Doctrine be repudiated in the HLP WCIP Outcomes Document.

The NAIPC recommends the organization of an official UN World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in accordance with the promises made by the UN during the Second Decade of Indigenous Peoples.

The NAIPC recommends that there be an international mechanism and oversight monitoring body for redress and restitution of treaty violations by states and/ or successor states.

The NAIPC recommends that the Outcome Document stress the import of acknowledging the status of Indigenous peoples in the North particularly regarding United Nations funding mechanisms.

The NAIPC recommends that the Outcome Document acknowledge water as a critical element for cultural, physical, and spiritual survival.

The NAIPC recommends that the Outcome Document take a position against Aquacide: the killing of the waters by dams, diversions, privatization, deprivations, extractive industrial and mega-agricultural developments, hydraulic -fracturing, toxins, and pollution, and other ways that inhibit or preclude Water’s ability to nurture and support Life. This includes working to immediately halt Aquacide by all forms of exploitation, commodification, and other assaults that impede or destroy the life giving quality of Water.

The NAIPC recommends the creation of a body with a mandate to promote and monitor the implementation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The General Assembly should, in conjunction with Indigenous Peoples, establish a mechanism by a process which includes the full and equal participation of Indigenous peoples.

The NAIPC recommends further work be done related to combating violence against Indigenous women and girls, including explicitly linking the issue of environmental violence, including the connection between sexual violence against women and girls and extractive industries.

The NAIPC recommends that the situation of non-recognized Nations be included in the discussion of violence against women and girls, and that the State’s refusal to acknowledge these Nations is a form of violence against Indigenous women and girls.

The NAIPC recommends that there be a move toward a world expert meeting to focus on the theme of domination, decolonization, and self- determination.

The NAIPC recommends that the Outcome Document address the issue of poverty as it relates to the Millennium Development Goals.

The NAIPC recommends that the Outcome Document reinforce the right of free prior and informed consent on all matters that effect Indigenous Nations and Peoples.

The NAIPC maintains a position that assigning a lesser or subsidiary role for Indigenous Peoples as compared to states in any phase of this High Level Plenary Meeting would constitute a violation of the very rights which it purports to affirm. Real participation is not the same as mere presence in the room.

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