Here are relevant materials:
Onondaga Nation General Counsel Joe Heath debriefs on latest decision for nearly decade-long land theft petition.pdfDownload
Organization of American States
Update in Hul’qumi’num Land Claim: Press Release and Link to IACHR Presentation this Weekend
The Hul’qumi’num Land Claim presentation before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights WILL BE WEBCAST LIVE ON THE IACHR WEBSITE on Friday, October 28 and 9am ET, from the Padilha Vidal Room of the Commission, and will also be available for taped viewing after that on the Commission’s website.
Here are additional details, and news about a post-hearing press conference:
Canadian First Nations Secure Hearing before
International Rights Commission in Washington, D.C.
Press release (PDF)
Ladysmith BC – The Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group (HTG) will hold a media briefing conference call on Friday, October 28, 2011, following the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) hearing on the merits of their land rights claims. This case is significant because it is the first time that IACHR is considering a Canadian indigenous land rights issue.
“This represents a historic opportunity to address a human rights issue in Canada that could have far-reaching implications for the indigenous movement worldwide,” saidRobert Morales, Chief Negotiator for the HTG.
HTG has had a longstanding petition against Government of Canada for failing to secure, recognize and safeguard the property rights of the Hul’qumi’num indigenous peoples in their ancestral lands.
Morales added: “We are not asking to turn back the clock and investigate historic wrongs; rather urging effective resolution of land rights and consultations with the Hul’qumi’num indigenous peoples regarding the on-going deforestation and development activities by private corporations.”
WHAT: Press briefing conference call following IACHR hearing on Hul’qumi’num land rights case.
WHEN: Friday, October 28, 2011 at 12:00 noon U.S. EDT/ 9 a.m. BC time.
WHERE: Dial in to the following conference numbers:
U.S. Toll free: 1-888-529-0347
Canada/International: +1-719-234-7500
Pass code: 283634
WHO: Chief Richard Thomas, Chief Lydia Hwitsum, Robert A. Williams, Robert Morales HTG Spokespersons; Craig Benjamin, Amnesty International; Heather Neun, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada; and, Jody Wilson Raybould, Assembly of First Nations.
For additional details and to RSVP, please contact:
Rosanne Daniels 250-710-2201
Kelly Cross 202-530-4528
Elizabeth Berton-Hunter 416-363-9933 ext. 332
Here is an additional press release from supporting organizations: Continue reading
Negotiations on American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
From the Indian Law Resources Center:
Indigenous representatives from the Americas attend a preparatory meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus at the OAS. Photo by Leo Crippa
WASHINGTON – A special session of the OAS Working Group in charge of negotiating the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was held December 9-12, 2008 at the Organization of American States headquarters. Reynaldo Cuadros, Ambassador of the Bolivian Mission to the OAS, chaired the session.
About 60 indigenous representatives from the Americas attended the session which was preceded by a preparatory meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus. Armstrong Wiggins, Director of our Washington DC Office, and staff attorney Leonardo Crippa gave a briefing on recent developments and provided legal assistance at the special session when meeting with states.
Chief Karl Hill of the Cayuga Nation of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Confederacy) gave the opening statement on behalf of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus.
Mankiller: Obama’s opportunity: Add America’s name to declaration
From Indian Country Today
Originally printed at http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/opinion/41586817.html
President Obama has an opportunity to send the world a message about American justice.
| All the countries of the Americas must now exert the political will to finalize and adopt the American Declaration. |
He can add America’s name to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples before the Organization of American States. This is a historic effort by all countries in the Americas to recognize and declare that human rights belong to indigenous peoples, both as individuals and as communities, nations, or tribes. Negotiations over the draft American Declaration in the Organization of American States have reached a critical point. All the countries of the Americas must now exert the political will to finalize and adopt the American Declaration. Last year, the United States refused to actively negotiate. This must change, and each of us can help make that happen.
The adoption of a strong American Declaration would be a tremendous step toward ending the appalling treaty and human rights violations that are so often inflicted on our Indian and Alaska Native tribes and communities. The declaration states the commitment by these countries to the rights of Indian peoples – our right to exist as distinct cultures, our right to govern our own affairs, our right to own and use our lands, and our right to be free from discrimination.
We live in an era of self-determination, yet Congress still claims the power to do what it wants – confiscate our native lands in violation of the Constitution, strip our jurisdiction, exploit our natural resources and refuse to honor its treaty obligations. Many of our nations and communities face a daunting set of social and economic challenges, as well as violation of treaty and human rights on a daily basis. Our northern tribes and Native Alaska villages see their very existence threatened as climate change undermines their subsistence lifestyles.
Indian and Alaska Native nations have always had to fight to make sure the United States government respects and protects our rights as tribal governments and as Indian peoples. This declaration is an important step in protecting those rights. The United States did not vote for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples even though it publicly agreed with most of its provisions. We have a new opportunity to make sure the United States commits to protecting our rights by joining in adopting of a strong American Declaration.
United States leadership is key to gaining the respect for treaty and human rights that is lacking in the Americas. Strong leadership from the United States would signal a change in its foreign policy on human rights, reinvigorate the OAS negotiations, and lead to the adoption of a strong American Declaration. The new administration provides an excellent opportunity for us to encourage such leadership from the U.S.
As Indian nations and as communities and individuals, this is the time to vigorously encourage the United States to support a strong American Declaration that respects and declares our rights. And while we are at it, let’s also see to it that the U.S. declares its support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Wilma Mankiller is the former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.
OAS Holds Special Session on Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Today, the Organization of American States (OAS) convened a special meeting on the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The special meeting is to evaluate and strengthen the negotiation of the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Negotiations have slowed over the past year as some states have questioned the need for a region specific American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The drafting of a strong American Declaration is important because it gives Indian nations the opportunity to establish legal standards that address issues specific to the Americas and to improve upon the rights in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Further, the Inter-American System has a well-developed complaints mechanism in the Inter-American Court on Human Rights that can be used by tribes to implement a strong American Declaration (the Western Shoshone successfully used the Inter-American Commission against the United States in United States v. Dann).
Indian tribes can participate directly in the negotiation of the draft American Declaration. Representatives of the Haudenosaunee, Navajo Nation, and the National Congress of American Indians have regularly attended the negotiating meetings. Chief Karl Hill of the Cayuga Nation made the opening statement on behalf of the Indigenous Caucus.
For more information on the Special Meeting, see here: http://www.indianlaw.org/node/367
To read Chief Karl Hill’s opening statement, see here: http://www.indianlaw.org/
Turtle Talk 
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