[previous] [next] [Table of Contents]

HUMAN RIGHTS
Indigenous Peoples

Since the time of colonization, indigenous peoples throughout the world have suffered oppression from their colonizers. Many of the indigenous nations have faced intensive persecution and genocide that continues to this day as is the case in East Timor and Guatemalan indigenous people.

Although indigenous people's cultures and languages are rich and diverse, there is a commonalty that crosses all indigenous peoples' nations: their relationship with the land, mother earth, pacha mama. Indigenous people have a great deal to contribute to the value system that needs to be developed in order to achieve sustainable development. They have depended on their environment for survival for thousands of years, and as a result, they have come to develop an understanding and respect for all living things around them that does not exist in the dominant cultures.

The human rights of indigenous nations, particularly around self determination, need to be recognized and respected. Indigenous people have the right to their culture, their land and their traditional way of life. The following is an excerpt of the Kari-oca declaration that asserts those rights:

THE KARI-OCA DECLARATION

• We, the indigenous peoples, walk to the future in the footprints of our ancestors.
• From the smallest to the largest living being, from the four directions, from the air, the land and the mountains, the creator has placed us, the indigenous peoples upon our mother the earth.
• The footprints of our ancestors are permanently etched upon the lands of our peoples.
• We, the indigenous peoples, maintain our inherent rights to self-determinations. We have always has the right to decide our own forms of government, to use our own laws, to raise and educate our children, to our own cultural identity without interference.
• We continue to maintain our rights as peoples despite centuries of deprivation, assimilation and genocide.
• We maintain our inalienable rights to our lands and territories, to all our resources - above and below - and to our waters. We assert our ongoing responsibility to pass these onto the future generations.
• We cannot be removed from our lands. We, the indigenous peoples, are connected by the circle of life to our lands and environments.
• We, the indigenous peoples, walk to the future in the footprints of our ancestors.

Cite as: Youth Sourcebook on Sustainable Development. Winnipeg: IISD, 1995. Online. Internet. http://iisd.ca/youth/ysbk048.htm.

[Youth Sourcebook Table of Contents]