On November 12, 2010 the government of Canada finally formally endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The government's official statement falls far short of actual endorsement, however, emphasizing that the declaration "does not reflect customary international law nor change Canadian laws" and further emphasizing Canada's objection to most of the major rights spelled out in the declaration.
At the White House Tribal Nations Conference December 15, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that the United States would "lend its support" to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. "The aspirations it affirms," he said, "including the respect for the institutions and rich cultures of Native peoples, are one we must always seek to fulfill. . . I want to be clear: what matters far more than words, what matters far more than any resolution or declaration, are actions to match those words. And that’s what this conference is about.
Today, President Obama met with tribal leaders at the White House Tribal Nations Conference. The text below is his address to the audience and includes a statement of support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The president promised a full statement to follow.
DATE
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20006
Dear President Obama,
I write to urge you to immediately endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The declaration is a set of principles that would provide Native Americans and Native Alaskans with greater security regarding their basic human rights, including their rights to equality and non-discrimination.
When the United Nations General Assembly voted to adopt the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, only four nations voted against it: New Zealand, Canada, Australia, and the United States. Since then, both Australia and New Zealand have reversed their positions and endorsed the declaration, and Canada also has recently indicated an interest in reversing its position in a qualified way. And now the United States has joined the trend toward enlightenment.
On November 12th, 2010, the Canadian government endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We urge the government to move ahead with the implementation of its provisions in a principled manner that fully respects their spirit and intent.
Canada came under severe criticism in the current negotiations on an international regime on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) for the use of genetic resources at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the Convention on Biodiversity was held in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, from 18 to 29 October 2010, where over 200 Indigenous representatives participated. Canada stood alone in its shameful opposition to preambular text "Taking into account the significance of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" (UNDRIP) in the proposed ABS Protocol.
September 13th marks the third anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the UN General Assembly. The US State Department’s formal review of the declaration will end in October. The department has asked Native American tribal leaders to write letters and give feedback about what the declaration means to their people. Now is the time to take action and let the Obama administration know why this document is so important to Native peoples in the US.
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
