STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionpeoples have frequently looked to international instruments and international and national judicial systems to fillin the implementation gap, with some successes.The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples addresses lands, territories and naturalresources thoroughly, including the right to maintain spiritual relationships with the land, the right not to beforcibly removed or dispossessed, the right for indigenous peoples to have their own land tenure systems, theright to redress for land that has been taken or damaged and the right to conservation and protection of theenvironment. Article 26 contains some of the most important language on land:Article 261. Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they havetraditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.2. Indigenous peoples have the right to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories andresources that they possess by reason of traditional ownership or other traditional occupationor use, as well as those which they have otherwise acquired.3. States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources.Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and landtenure systems of the indigenous peoples concerned.In addition to the Declaration, some significant progress has been made at the national level. This holds particularlytrue regarding legislative reforms, respecting indigenous peoples´ collective rights to land. In Northern Canada,for example the Nunavut land claim agreement grants approximately 25,000 Inuit title to around 350,000 squarekilometres of lands and resources. In South America, some of the most advanced legal frameworks for indigenousland tenure are in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Peru,enshrined in legislation and often in constitutions as well. Indigenous peoples’ collective rights to land are alsorecognized in Australia, New Zealand, Northern Europe and the Russian Federation. The situation in Asia variesgreatly. Cambodia and the Philippines have enacted legislation that recognizes communal land rights, whilein India, there is constitutional protection of indigenous lands in areas of Northeast India. In Africa, very fewcountries recognize indigenous peoples’ rights to land, although in South Africa and Botswana, some peopleshave had success in having their land claims recognized. 10In many cases, these legislative reforms are a direct consequence of court decisions in favour of indigenouspeoples and their demand for the recognition of their ancestral lands, while in other cases, these reformscorrespond with changing international standards. In all cases, these reforms are a direct consequence ofindigenous peoples’ resistance and demands that their rights be respected, protected and fulfilled.Landmark casesCalder v. British Columbia (1973) CanadaThe Calder case reviewed the existence of “aboriginal title” claimed by the Nisga’a people of BritishColumbia, Canada. The Nisga’a argued that they possessed land rights over their traditional territoriesand had never surrendered or lost their rights to the land. Chief Frank Arthur Calder lost the case,based on a procedural point, but the lasting result of the Supreme Court decision was that the Courtrecognized that Aboriginal title to land existed prior to the colonization of the continent and was not10IWGIA (2004), 4-7.CULTURE | 55