Latest news with #UnitedNationsPermanentForumonIndigenousIssues
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Consultation doesn't always equal consent
Pauly DenetclawICTUNITED NATIONS — The 24th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was focused on implementing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples — locally, nationally and globally.'At every stage, the global push for the so-called green transition has intensified demand for critical minerals, lithium, cobalt, nickel and others, many of which lie beneath sacred Indigenous lands and territories,' Aluki Kotierk, chair of the Permanent Forum, said in a speech. 'We cannot ignore (what) this threat poses to our rights, lands and way of life. Extractive activities when carried out in disregard of the right to self determination and the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples become another form of colonialism. We are not anti-development, but development must be on our terms and must be just.'An important aspect of the declaration, adopted by all 193 UN member states, is free, prior and informed consent.'It ensures that when Indigenous people sit down with a government, a company, or another third party, that they'll have all of the information they need, enough time, and really a fair opportunity to negotiate an outcome that's mutually beneficial to them and the other party,' said Kristen Carpenter, law professor and co-director of the Implementation Colorado-based project is a joint initiative between the Native American Rights Fund and the University of Colorado Law School to educate and advocate for the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Currently, the United States doesn't use this framework for decision making, opting for tribal consultation where the outcome doesn't have to include consent. However, countries who approved the declaration are required to codify it into their national laws. Native American Rights Fund and the National Congress of American Indians have been advocating for a transition to free, prior and informed leaders from the United States often don't participate in their capacity as an elected official because the nations would have to apply as a non-governmental organization, which could be seen as a diminishment of tribal sovereignty. Despite this, the largest number of tribal leaders attended this year's forum, according to Carpenter. 'I'm so happy we have more tribal leaders than ever,' Carpenter said. Tribal leaders play an important role locally, statewide and nationally. This could extend globally. 'It's important for tribal leaders to be here because you have a seat at the table,' said Joe Deere, co-chair of NCAI's international committee. 'Your voice is going to get heard. You're going to be able to communicate with other people across the United States, and now even other countries.'Over the last few years, the two national Indigenous organizations have ramped up their work internationally to advocate for the implementation of free, prior and informed consent in the United States, knowing it could take many years to actualize. 'We need to be ready to run a marathon to make that happen,' said Aaron Jones, co-chair of the international committee for the National Congress of American Indians. 'We're talking about implementing this and I know we're really in the early stages.' HistoryIn 2007, an overwhelming majority of the countries that make up the UN General Assembly voted in favor of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It's not shocking that the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand initially voted against the legal, nonbinding declaration. (Eventually the four countries changed their position on a document that in essence states that Indigenous peoples are human beings with the right to exist in perpetuity.) The most well-known and heralded right listed in the 46 articles is free, prior and informed consent. This principle doesn't just apply to land rights, which it's often conflated with. It also applies to culture, language, food systems, intellectual property, governmental laws and landback. The phrasing is intentional with every word having a principle behind it. Free meaning that consent is given without coercion, threats, violence, manipulation or bribery. Consent is given are many examples of consent given under threat, violence or coercion in the United States. Navajo leaders signed the Treaty of 1868 with the federal government after the tribe was death marched over 400 miles from their homelands that span New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah to Bosque Redondo in eastcentral New Mexico where they were placed in a concentration camp. More than 8,000 Navajo people were forcibly kept at Bosque Redondo for three years. During that time, illness, starvation, or exposure took the lives of over 2,000 Navajo people. During the termination era, the federal government passed the Indian Relocation Act of 1956. It would coerce thousands of Indigenous people to leave their homelands with the promise of job opportunities, more pay, and housing. Instead, many were left without work, training or housing. Prior means that Indigenous communities and nations have adequate time to go through the decision-making process well-before governments, companies or other third parties have made a decision. The third word of the phrase, informed, means that Indigenous nations must be completely and fully informed about the environmental, health and social impacts of a planned project. 'For example, in the Philippines, when there was a mining project in one area, and the community said, 'We want to know the details of the project. So if you don't share to us the full information of the project, we cannot come out with an informed decision. We need to know everything,'' said Joan Carling, a renowned Indigenous rights activist and environmentalist. The documentation has to include all the information about the proposed project including size, purpose, scope and time length. Most importantly, the information must be shared in a language the community is most comfortable with, and in a format that aligns with the community's needs. 'What can be the positive and negative impacts of the project? So, it should be complete and accurate information,' said Carling, Kankanaey tribe in the Philippines codified free, prior and informed consent in the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act passed in 1997. A year later, Ecuador passed a new constitution that recognized Indigenous peoples right to free, prior and informed consent. In 2011, Colombia's Constitutional Court, which acts much like the Supreme Court, made a historic ruling that recognized the decision-making framework as a human right for Indigenous peoples. However, its full and fair implementation hasn't come without is a big difference between consultation and consent. Consultation in the United States doesn't have to include consent but tribal nations have made great strides in this area. Although not required, it's often a goal for the federal government to reach a consensus or agreement with a tribal nation. Historically, this hasn't always been the case. In 1948, the federal government approved the Garrison Dam that flooded 152,000 acres of Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara land in North Dakota, despite objections from the tribe. It forced the relocation of 325 families from the tribe. Last year, a judge ruled against Arizona-based tribes, Tohono O'odham Nation and San Carlos Apache Tribe, in a suit that was challenging the construction of the SunZia transmission line in southern Arizona's San Pedro Valley. The line passes through an area that holds historic, cultural and spiritual significance for the nations. The two tribes have been fighting its construction for years, advocating that it be built alongside land that has already been developed. It crosses 'one of the most intact cultural landscapes in the Southwest,' a 2024 lawsuit by the Tohono O'odham Nation stated. The project was a cornerstone of former President Joe Biden's green energy agenda. 'The SunZia Transmission Project will accelerate our nation's transition to a clean energy economy by unlocking renewable resources, creating jobs, lowering costs, and boosting local economies,' Deb Haaland, former Interior Secretary, said in a 2023 press release. 'Through historic investments from President Biden's Investing in America agenda, the Interior Department is helping build modern, resilient climate infrastructure that protects our communities from the worsening impacts of climate change.'The case was appealed to the Court of the Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The panel of judges heard oral arguments on March 26. An opinion has yet to be released. Adopting the principles of free, prior and informed consent could help to alleviate legal issues like this. The federal government and companies could avoid lengthy and costly legal battles by engaging in this process. 'One thing we see over and over again, and I'm sure everyone in this room is aware that projects will come in, including now renewable energy projects, there will be human rights violations, violations of the right to (free, prior and informed consent), land rights. People will exercise their right to protest and raise concerns about those harms,' said Christine Dodsen, co-lead of the Civic Freedoms & Human Rights Defenders Programme. 'Then there will be a crackdown against human rights defenders, either directly by the company, by governments, and that will then lead... to financial risks, legal risks for the company. For business actors, this model could lead to reduced risks, and a competitive advantage.'The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues will release a report with recommendations, to the United Nations and member states, based on interventions given during the two-week event. It will be released sometime this year. The forum concluded May 2. 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Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ICT NEWSCAST: Canada elections impact First Nations, Montana Legislature ends, and more
The ICT Newscast for Friday, May 2, 2025, features stories about the closing message coming soon from the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and a Montana man honoring culture through his business. Plus a Navajo translation for a galaxy far, far away. Check out the ICT Newscast on YouTube for this episode and more. Canada's Liberal Party won the national election with strong Indigenous support, keeping Prime Minister Mark Carney in power. A record 12 Indigenous MPs are heading to Parliament. Global Indigenous leaders call for action on UNDRIP. The forum focused on sovereignty, climate, and international collaboration. Montana's American Indian Caucus secures key wins on child welfare, education, and tribal policy. Several bills await the governor's signature. A Bozeman entrepreneur honors Native culture through a pop-up shop. Each piece highlights the artist's story and tradition. A drive-in screening of "Star Wars" dubbed in Navajo brings joy and pride. The project supports language revitalization through pop culture. View previous ICT broadcasts here every week for the latest news from around Indian Country. ICT is owned by IndiJ Public Media, a nonprofit news organization. Will you support our work? All of our content is free. There are no subscriptions or costs. Support ICT for as little as $10. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
With climate action at stake, pro-Trump statement at UNPFII met with silence
This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance. During the opening day of this year's United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, or UNPFII, one speech took a striking turn. Indigenous leaders and representatives of nation states delivered 3-minute monologues about the plight and importance of Indigenous women around the globe. Most were followed by ripples of applause from the speakers' peers, or sometimes thunderous ovation if the statement was particularly rousing. Notably, an hour or so in, when the U.S. counselor for economic and social affairs, Edward Heartney, delivered his statement, he used his time to tout President Donald Trump as a protector of Indigenous women. 'The United States remains committed to promoting the rights and well-being of Indigenous women and girls,' said Heartney. 'During President Trump's first administration, he supported initiatives aimed at promoting economic development and entrepreneurship among Indigenous women.' Heartney mentioned violence against Indigenous women, and gave examples that he said 'demonstrate the administration's ongoing commitment to delivering accountability and justice for American Indian and Alaska Native nations and communities.' No one clapped. You could hear a pin drop. Presiding over the three hours of interventions, which would continue into the next day, was Aluki Kotierk (Inuit), newly-elected chair of the UNPFII. Representatives of Indigenous communities around the world described the progress certain countries have made to protect Indigenous women, and the considerable work still left to do. Read Next Your guide to the 2025 UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Anita Hofschneider Chile, for example, has adopted laws against gender-based violence and has a new law going through Parliament that aims to protect cultural heritage. The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, declared 2025 to be the 'Year of the Indigenous Woman.' Colombia approved a formal development plan recognizing Indigenous women as key defenders of land, food sovereignty and knowledge systems. 'Colombia understands that Indigenous women are the owners of our territories – not guardians,' said Colombia's Minister of Environment Lena Estrada Anokazi (Uitoto Minɨka). Anokazi is the first Indigenous woman to hold this office in Colombia. But it's not enough, she said, that her nation has implemented traditional Indigenous knowledge in development and policy. 'We need to fight, because traditional knowledge systems are there and always have been, but they need to be appreciated on the same level as scientific knowledge,' Anokazi said. By her characterization, Indigenous women are leaders living at 'the dangerous nexus of multiple and intersectional discrimination due to their gender and their Indigenous identity,' but who nevertheless protect the land and the cultural understanding of how to care for it. More and more, traditional cultural knowledge is revealing itself as essential to fighting climate change and engineering new ways of living that don't destroy the earth. This positions Indigenous women as among the most impacted by climate change, and also likely the most capable of solving it. Without Indigenous women, Anokazi said, we can't even talk about sustainable development. Interventions by some non-Native representatives painted a slightly different picture of Indigenous women: one that focused almost exclusively on the violence, dispossession and dismissal they face, without the context that they are knowledge- and culture-bearers, intentionally vulnerable in a hardening world as stalwart servants of their ecosystems and communities. The differing views of Indigenous women was not lost on forum attendees. An Inuit representative took time from her three minutes to assert that Indigenous women are not simply passive victims of colonization, which is a key distinction highlighting fundamentally differing worldviews. Quechua activist and forum panelist Tarcila Rivera Zea re-grounded the discussion with an Indigenous women's view on Indigenous women: 'We're not complaining. We're not begging,' she asserted. 'We're acting.' In the context of this conversation, Heartney's pro-Trump statement felt abrupt and out of place to attendees. It echoed messaging from right-wing think tanks, which use economic development, job creation and even so-called protection as Trojan horses for resource extraction. Heartney framed economic empowerment – not preservation of culture and biodiversity, nor justice for murdered and missing Indigenous women (MMIW) as others did — as 'a cornerstone' of the United States' approach to Indigenous women's well-being. As for their safety, he cited legislation passed during the first Trump administration to address the MMIW crisis, and the FBI's Operation Not Forgotten. In the silence that followed, Heartney briskly gathered his things and slipped out the door. Had he stayed, he would have heard the next statement, delivered by fashion model and land protector — a term used to describe a lifelong commitment to one's homelands — Quannah ChasingHorse (Hän Gwich'in and Sicangu Oglala Lakota) on behalf of the Gwich'in Steering Committee. 'The U.S. has opened the coastal plain to oil and gas leasing, threatening our very survival,' ChasingHorse said. Though ChasingHorse's statement was written in advance, it read like a direct rebuff to Heartney's message. The coastal plain in question is Iizhik Gwats'an Gwandaii Goodlit, 'the Sacred Place Where Life Begins.' 'The Gwich'in have never given consent for development, and our right to self-determination is being violated by interests that view our lands as a commodity,' ChasingHorse continued. 'I am outraged that decisions about my people's future are being made without us at the table.' Last month Heartney announced in a General Assembly session the United States' rejection of the UN's sustainable development goals. 'Put simply, globalist endeavors like Agenda 2030 and the SDGs lost at the ballot box,' he said. High Country News reached out to Heartney for comment through his colleagues and through an online contact form, but as of press time has not received a response. On Tuesday, during a discussion on the right of Indigenous people to consent to decisions impacting their lands, Chickaloon Village Traditional Chief Gary Harrison put a fine point on things. His community, he said, has particularly high rates of MMIW cases. 'I find it a little bit strange that you have governments taking up Indigenous peoples' time,' he said, spending precious seconds of his three minutes to directly question the forum chair. 'If everything's okay in their countries, why are we here?' The room thundered with applause. This story was originally published by Grist with the headline With climate action at stake, pro-Trump statement at UNPFII met with silence on Apr 28, 2025.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Indigenous delegates at the UN raise alarm on voluntary isolated peoples
This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance. At the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues — the world's largest convening of Indigenous peoples — Indigenous leaders from South America are taking the chance to spotlight threats facing isolated peoples, also known as uncontacted people. Deforestation is closing in on some communities in the Amazon and many lack official recognition of records of their existence, say representatives at the 10-day gathering in the U.N. headquarters in New York City. They are holding multiple events in the city, including launching a book with strategies to recognize their presence and sharing solutions to protect the lands they depend on. 'There needs to be greater respect, protection and land demarcation for these peoples,' said Bushe Matis, general coordinator of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Vale do Javari. 'It's important for us Indigenous peoples who came to New York to raise our voices for them.' The rights of isolated Indigenous peoples are guaranteed in international legislation and some national laws, such as the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization. However, these are at times violated by states, companies, and invaders searching for land. In some cases, they are unprotected because states, including Venezuela and Paraguay, don't recognize them. Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and initial contact, also known as PIACI, are threatened by the exploitation of natural resources, drug trafficking, illegal logging, and mining in their lands, say researchers. Contact with outsiders can be deadly because isolated peoples lack immunity to illnesses that are common outside. These threats can also lead to their displacement and the disappearance of the game they depend on to survive. 'The issue is of utmost importance because these peoples are the ones who also help protect Indigenous territories with their ancestral knowledge,' said Eligio Dacosta, the president of the Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Amazonas, or ORPIA, in Venezuela. The main proposals Indigenous leaders and organizations have raised at the forum are the recognition of lands vital for isolated peoples and the implementation of protective measures, such as public policies to safeguard their rights. Jamer López, the president of ORAU, a regional organization part of the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest, said the primary concern of Indigenous leaders and organizations at the forum is to secure the territories their isolated brothers and sisters have ancestrally occupied. While there has been past progress in Peru, he said the state, rather than guarantee the protection of these communities, has promoted policies of land possession, such as laws that obstruct and prevent the creation of Indigenous reserves for isolated peoples. The government is favoring the interests of big business which want to expand forestry concessions and oil fields in these areas to boost economic growth, López said. For more than 20 years, Indigenous organizations in Peru have petitioned the government to create Yavarí Mirim, a 2.5 million-acre Indigenous reserve on the Amazon border with Brazil and Colombia that would protect hundreds of isolated and initially contacted peoples in the region. But in February this year, the country's Multi-Sector Commission postponed a meeting to determine the reserve boundaries indefinitely. Peru's Ministry for Culture did not respond to our requests for comment by the time of publication. Darío Silva Cubeo, a delegate of the Amazon Regional Roundtable for the Amazonas department of Colombia, told Mongabay a 'very serious concern' in Colombia is that despite having a decree to protect isolated peoples, to date, there has been little implementation and there is no public policy on the matter, such as a contingency plan in case of contact. In Colombia and many other countries in South America, many people in isolation are threatened by organized groups, such as illegal miners and drug traffickers, who encroach on their homes and cause violence and displacement. 'They are being besieged precisely by the chains of crime,' Lena Estrada Añokazi, Colombia's minister of environment and sustainable development, and the first Indigenous person to ever hold the position, said at the forum. 'That's why it's urgent to continue to invest more in investigations to find out who these criminals are.' Across South America, states only recognize and guarantee the rights of peoples in isolation whose presence has been officially recorded. In Venezuela, for example, although NGOs have confirmed four records of Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, the state has not recognized any of them. '[Venezuela] does not appear on the map of isolated peoples in Latin America,' said Dacosta. 'There are already mining hotspots in each [Indigenous territory] and mining is almost reaching these peoples who do not have this initial contact, who are in isolation.' Dacosta said people in isolation have already been affected in some regions as mining gradually pushes their displacement. At the forum, ORPIA raised the issue with the national government and called for constitutional reform in Venezuela to establish rights for peoples in isolation and initial contact. Currently, they are not included in its constitution, and the country has no established protocols to recognize them in laws and supreme decrees. Venezuela's Ministry for Indigenous Peoples did not respond to our requests for comment by the time of publication. The International Working Group for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact launched a report at the forum that lays out a series of principles and guidelines to help governments, Indigenous organizations, and NGOs prove the existence of Indigenous peoples in isolation. According to the report, there are 188 records of Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation in South America but only 60 are officially recognized by the state. 'This means that, for the state, 128 records don't exist,' states the report, adding that this lack of recognition denies the rights of these communities. Of these records, Indigenous organizations recognize 31, but they are not included in the official lists. Delegates have also requested that states adopt a territorial corridors initiative, which aims to protect the PIACI and the well-being of neighbouring Indigenous peoples. They have called on governments to coordinate with the Indigenous organizations to implement policy actions, with a cross-border approach, to guarantee isolated peoples' rights and territories. Last month, Colombia created an over 2.7-million-acre territory to protect the Yuri-Passé Indigenous peoples living in isolation between the Caquetá and Putumayo Rivers in the Amazon. 'In order to protect them, we must protect the territories they inhabit,' Estrada said. 'We must also protect the Indigenous peoples surrounding the territories they inhabit. If we strengthen the governance of these Indigenous peoples whose territories surround the territories of isolated peoples, we will obviously protect them as well.' Julio Cusurichi, a Shipibo-Conibo Indigenous leader and President of the Native Federation of the River Madre de Dios and Tributaries in Peru, wrote over WhatsApp voice messages they want to see the implementation of a control and surveillance system in Peru to protect the PIACI which involves the participation of the communities surrounding these reserves. This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Indigenous delegates at the UN raise alarm on voluntary isolated peoples on Apr 28, 2025.
CBC
25-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Young Cree leaders bring modern-day Treaty to United Nations forum
Social Sharing At the heart of the United Nations headquarters in New York, Cree youth from Northern Quebec stood before a global audience — not just to speak, but to lead. Cree youth shared insights on Indigenous self-governance at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on April 22 in New York City. "It was nice to hear a lot of people say that we were inspiring as a nation. We're very fortunate to be able to have our rights protected already," said Kevin-Joe Mianscum, who is a council member of the Cree Nation of Mistissini. This year's forum, which runs until May 2, examines how UN member states and the UN system implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, highlighting successful practices and addressing challenges faced by Indigenous peoples. "Some of these nations around the globe have trouble acquiring services and especially protecting their rights," said Mianscum. Many delegates from all over the world are attending this year's forum. They have been discussing how some nations and tribes thrive under self-governance and sharing knowledge on how developing nations can do the same. "They're really interested in learning all our ways — how we brought ourselves to economic development, education, health board, government, communities, and how we established everything," said Mianscum. Mianscum, along with three other fellow delegates, presented during part of the forum. They talked about the history of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement, Canada's first modern treaty, signed in 1975. Since then, northern Quebec Cree have had the right to self-government. For Mianscum, meeting people and building relationships from other nations gives him a new sense of hope, he said. "This is a space where we can all help each other to gain what we want … to acquire safe living and protected environments, protected lands, education, and health care," said Mianscum. Indigenous peoples from across Canada, Native Americans, and Indigenous groups from Africa, Guatemala, and other nations have all been taking part in the forum. "I think they're taking home hope and see that other nations are excelling in certain fields," said Mianscum. For Tanisha Bear, 18, meeting youth from other nations brings more awareness that adults are not the only ones who can make changes in Indigenous communities. "Hearing other people's stories really connects us. it's the same story, just on a different paper … We share a lot of the same struggles as other people," said Bear. Drug abuse, rising suicide rates and insufficient Indigenous programming for youth are issues that many nations face, according to conversations Bear has had with other youth. "As youth, our role is to make changes, and what we think is needed at the moment. Because we're the ones that are there, we're the ones that see it," said Bear. Bear is involved with her local Mistissini Youth Council, an organization that helps youth with healthy lunch programs, after-school activities, and more opportunities to practice Cree culture. She said the more people who speak up and advocate for their needs, the more it will be heard. "When we come together, our voices are much louder," said Bear. The Cree Nation Youth Council has agreed to do a cultural exchange with Indigenous youth from British Columbia, which they will be planning for this coming fall. "It's about creating a global network where we can support each other, and that amplifies our voices. It really helps us tackle these challenges together," said Bear. Bear hopes that cultural exchanges lead to knowledge sharing, language learning and stronger bonds with other nations across Canada. "That's one of the ways to take a step in the right direction," said Bear. Mianscum shares this sentiment and hopes the cultural exchange with their new friends from British Columbia will enhance knowledge of self-governance and foster stronger relationships with other Indigenous communities. "This is only the beginning," said Mianscum.
