CHAPTER VI.
Indigenous Peoples and the Right to Development
The purpose of this chapter is to review issues relevant to articles 23, 29 and 30 of the
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to discuss challenges, HRE, and
actions on grassroots and international levels.
The chapter provides:
 A summary overview of the concept of Development
 Definitions of terms and themes
 Challenges
 Actions
 Resources
A.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will analyze the problems which exist between Indigenous Peoples’ and
human rights law as it relates to the right to development. A historical analysis will also
emphasize legal foundations developed in international human rights law as they apply to
the right to self-determination, land rights, and environmental protection of Indigenous
Peoples.
Indigenous Peoples have historically played and continue to play a leadership role in
protecting and conserving the entire natural world. This is evident in the worldwide
protection of forests, biological diversity, and the maintenance of ecosystems crucial for
the prevention of severe climatic change. From time immemorial this worldview has been
handed down traditionally over generations. Indigenous elders and traditional knowledge
foretold of the severe impacts of Western development models based upon the killing of
animal species for economic interests, deforestation, mining, oil exploitation, carbon
emitting industries, persistent organic pollutants and the insatiable consumption patterns
of Western industrialized countries. An elaboration of these conflicting perspectives
between Western society, international law and Indigenous Peoples will be emphasized in
this working chapter.
The question becomes what core values should guide our interest in creating solutions to
the opposing viewpoints of Indigenous Peoples and States of the world concerning
Indigenous Peoples’ right to sustainable development, natural resource development, and
environmental protection.
This chapter will look at the Draft Declaration as it relates to development, (Articles 23),
Economic and Social Development, (Article 29),Cultural and Intellectual Property, and
finally, the responsibility of Indigenous Peoples to Resource Development (Article 30).
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B.
DEFINITIONS
Sustainable Development:
Sustainable development means different things to different people, but the most
frequently quoted definition is from the report, Our Common Future (also known as the
Brundtland Report):
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Sustainable development focuses on improving the quality of life for all of the Earth's
citizens without increasing the use of natural resources beyond the capacity of the
environment to supply them indefinitely. It requires an understanding that inaction has
consequences and that innovative ways to change institutional structures and influence
individual behavior must be discovered. It is about taking action, changing policy and
practice at all levels, from the individual to the international.
Fair Trade
Fair Trade means an equitable and fair partnership between marketers in North America
and producers in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other parts of the world. A fair trade
partnership works to provide low-income artisans and farmers with a living wage for
their work. Fair Trade Federation (FTF) criteria are:

Paying a fair wage in the local context.

Offering employees opportunities for advancement.

Providing equal employment opportunities for all people, particularly the most
disadvantaged.

Engaging in environmentally sustainable practices.

Being open to public accountability.

Building long-term trade relationships.

Providing healthy and safe working conditions within the local context.

Providing financial and technical assistance to producers whenever possible.
Food Sovereignty
Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to define their own food and agriculture; to
protect and regulate domestic agricultural production and trade in order to achieve
sustainable development objectives; to determine the extent to which they want to be
self-reliant; [and] to restrict the dumping of products in their markets....Food sovereignty
does not negate trade, but rather, it promotes the formulation of trade policies and
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practices that serve the rights of peoples to safe, healthy, and ecologically sustainable
production.
--Statement on Peoples' Food Sovereignty by Via Campesina, et al.
Water Security
Water security means ensuring that freshwater, coastal and related ecosystems are
protected and improved; that sustainable development and political stability are
promoted, that every person has access to enough safe water at an affordable cost to lead
a healthy and productive life and that the vulnerable are protected from the risks of waterrelated hazards.
Economic Justice
Intellectual Property Rights
Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic
works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.
Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes
inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source;
and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and
plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and
sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those of
performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings,
and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs.
GATS
GATS: The WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services is one of the agreements
implemented by the WTO. GATS sets rules for who controls or owns services and limits
government regulation in the service sector. GATS covers all services including health
care, education, and utilities such as water, data management, energy, banking,
transportation and insurance. Only a small part of GATS is about trade. GATS is often
called a “backdoor Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI)” because it
creates rights for foreign investors to set up service business inside other WTO countries.
GATS allows some flexibility for countries to determine which service sectors they want
to subject to GATS full privatization and deregulation pressures. However, some GATS
rules apply even to sectors countries have not committed. Plus, the text of GATS
commits all countries to “progressive liberalization.”
TRIPS
The pharmaceutical industry exercised heavy influence on NAFTA and WTO
negotiations. These pacts require countries to adopt US-style intellectual property laws,
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such as granting monopoly sales rights to individual patent holders for extended time
periods. They also require including seeds, medicines and other traditionally excluded
items as those for which countries must provide patent protections. The WTO Trips rules
have been the subject of a major international fight regarding poor countries’ rights to
issue compulsory licenses for essential medicines.
WTO
The World Trade Organization was created in 1995 at the completion of the “Uruguay
Round” of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) negotiations. It did not
cancel out the GATT; rather, the WTO began to enforce that agreement and others, using
its status as a permanent institution with a huge secretariat. The WTO is a global trade
institution with teeth. It is responsible for administering dozens of international trade
agreements and declarations on a range of issues from agriculture to intellectual property
rights. It also handles trade disputes, monitors national trade policies, and operates as the
overarching forum for global trade negotiations, called “rounds.”
GATT:
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, signed in 1947, is one of the three
mechanisms for global economic governance established at Bretton Woods institutions
put in place World War II, (also the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank). For almost fifty years, GATT focused exclusively on trade in goods --cutting
tariffs and quota through “rounds” of negotiations. GATT set terms for countries who
wanted to trade with each other. GATT signatories were called “contracting parties.” The
Uruguay Round, completed in 1995, replaced the GATT contract with the World Trade
Organization, a global commerce agency with binding enforcements of comprehensive
rules expanding beyond trade. Now GATT has become one of the eighteen agreements
enforced by the WTO.
FTAA
Unlike the World Trade Organization, the Free Trade Area of the Americas is an entity
still in the process of being created. Currently under negotiation, the new FTAA will be a
hemispheric-wide free trade zone covering 34 countries in North America, Central
America, South America and the Caribbean, minus Cuba. Touted to be the largest free
trade zone in the world, the FTAA will encompass a population of over 800 million
people and a combined annual gross national product of U.S. $11 trillion. Just like the
current round of WTO negotiations, the FTAA is due to be completed by January 2005.
C.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE RIGHT TO
DEVELOPMENT
The historical deterioration of traditional Indigenous societies is evident in the fact that
the human rights of Indigenous Peoples have been ignored by States. The affinity that
Indigenous Peoples have to their lands, territories and resources has been and continues
to be threatened by a differing social order, one which is no longer dictated by the natural
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environment and the Indigenous Peoples relationship to it. The fact that Indigenous
societies are experiencing rapid social change is due to the denial of the rights of
Indigenous Peoples to lands, territories and resources.
Throughout the sessions of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in drafting the
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous land rights and
environmental concerns have been some of the most hotly contested issues. Indigenous
Peoples and non-governmental organizations representing them have continually insisted
that any formulation of their rights must firmly protect their lands from exploitation and
ecological degradation. These perspectives toward the land and the environment are
evident in the preamble and in many articles in the draft declaration. In the preamble of
the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples it clearly states: (needs
transition)
Concerned that indigenous peoples have been deprived of their human rights and
fundamental freedoms, resulting, inter alia, in their colonization and dispossession
of their lands, territories, and resources, thus preventing them from exercising, in
particular, their right to development in accordance with their own needs and
interests,
Recognizing the urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights and
characteristics of Indigenous Peoples, especially their rights to their lands,
territories and resources, which derive from their political, economic and social
structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies,
Welcoming the fact that Indigenous Peoples are organizing themselves for
political, economic, social and cultural enhancement and in order to bring an end
to all forms of discrimination and oppression wherever they occur,
Convinced that control by Indigenous Peoples over developments affecting them
and their lands territories and resources will enable them to maintain and
strengthen their institutions, cultures and traditions, and to promote their
development in accordance with their institutions, cultures and traditions, and to
promote their development in accordance with their aspirations and needs,
Recognizing also that respect for Indigenous knowledge, cultures and traditional
practices contributes to sustainable and equitable development and proper
management of the environment,
Emphasizing the need for demilitarization of the lands and territories of
Indigenous Peoples, which will contribute to peace, economic and social progress
and development, understanding, and relations among nations and peoples of the
world,
Recognizing also that Indigenous Peoples have the right to freely determine their
relationships with States in a spirit of coexistence and mutual respect,
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Considering that treaties, agreements, and other arrangements between States and
Indigenous Peoples are properly matters of international concern and
responsibility,
Acknowledging that the Charter of the United Nations, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights affirm the fundamental importance of the
right of self-determination of all peoples, by virtue of which they freely determine
their political status and freely pursue their economic social and cultural
development,
Encouraging States to comply with and effectively implement all international
instruments, in particular those related to human rights, as they apply to
Indigenous Peoples, in consultation and cooperation with the peoples concerned,
Emphasizing that the United Nations has an important and continuing role to
play in promoting and protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples,
This strong language in the Preamble drafted by members of the Working Group since its
inception in 1982 stresses the human rights problems facing Indigenous Peoples due to
land rights, environmental factors and the right to development. The emphasis becomes
even stronger in the specific Articles of the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples. The adamant viewpoints expressed have become strong issues that Indigenous
Peoples have continually stressed before the United Nations to make States aware of the
relevance of Indigenous spirituality, conservation, and global survival.
Specific articles in the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that
emphasize the right to development are numerous in the document. The major issues are
thoroughly addressed in very strong language that reflects the traditional cultural
worldview of Indigenous Peoples.
CERD
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination has been very
supportive of asserting the full rights of self-determination to Indigenous Peoples. In the
General Recommendation XXIII of the CERD Committee it calls upon States to provide
indigenous peoples with conditions allowing for sustainable economic and social
development compatible with their cultural characteristics, (6) and to ensure that
indigenous peoples can exercise their rights to practice and revitalize their cultural
traditions and customs and to preserve and practice their language. (7)
The recommendations of the CERD Committee cited above are consistent with Part V,
articles 21, 22, and 23 of the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which
emphasize in article 23: (are emphasized? Emphasize article 23?)
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Article 23 states:
Indigenous peoples have the right to determine and develop priorities and
strategies for exercising their right to development. In particular, Indigenous
Peoples have the right to determine and develop all health, housing, and other
economic and social programs affecting them and, as far as possible to administer
such programs through their own institutions.
Article 29 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is specific to the
environment. It declares:
Indigenous Peoples are entitled to the full recognition of the full ownership,
control, and protection of their cultural and intellectual property.
They have the right to special measures to control, develop, and protect their
sciences, technologies, and cultural manifestations, including human and other
genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and
flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, and visual and performing arts.
The strong language addressing the environment echoes the Martinez-Cobo study’s views
on the elements of Indigenous Peoples’ rights to land and property. Despite the strong
language in the Declaration, reality tells us that Indigenous Peoples continue to be
confronted with bad faith and gross exploitation of the destruction to the environment,
cultures, lifeways, and spirituality. This disregard and disrespect for traditional
authorities, massive environmental destruction, and social economic ruin is evident
among Indigenous Peoples lands and cultures globally. In some States when Indigenous
Peoples attempt to address these issues as human rights violations, reactions are provoked
among multinational corporations and the State that result in militarization, extrajudicial
executions, arbitrary detentions, forced dislocation and displacement, and other gross and
massive violations of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms
Indigenous Peoples are aware that social and economic change has overtaken their
communities. Since the formation of the Working Group in 1982, a growing population
of Indigenous Peoples are aware that they have internationally recognized rights to decide
their own futures, to determine their own pace of development based upon their own
vision of sustainable development. Whatever changes that do occur should be addressed
in a manner that preserves culture, language, and life views and must be directed toward
the preservation of our lands and territories, spirituality, and values as stipulated in the
above articles in the draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Ksentini Study
In one of the most detailed United Nations studies, in decision 1989/108 dated 31 August
1989, adopted without a vote, the Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities asked Mrs. Fatma Zohra Ksentini to prepare a concise note
setting forth methods by which a study could be made of the problem of the environment
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in relation to human rights. (8) The Human Rights Commission in 1990 approved the
Ksentini study.
In her detailed study on Human Rights And The Environment completed in 1994, for the
forty-sixth session of the Commission on Human Rights, Sub-Commission on Prevention
of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, Special Rapporteur, Ksentini
included a section on the Indigenous Peoples and the Environment in paragraphs 74-94.
Ksentitni recognized that the right to the environment was not a new right, but a wellestablished one that had its foundations in precedent human rights law. Strong emphasis
in numerous sections includes the right to life and the right to health, including the right
to be free from environmental conditions that endanger life or health. The right to the
environment includes the right of peoples not to be deprived of their means of subsistence
by damage to their environment.
Special Rapporteur Ksentini’s Draft principles on Human Rights and the Environment
include:
Indigenous peoples have the right to control their lands, territories, and natural resources
and to maintain their traditional way of life. This includes the right to security in their
enjoyment of their means of subsistence.
Indigenous Peoples have the right to protection against any action or course of conduct
that may result in the destruction or degradation of their territories including land, air
water, sea-ice, wildlife, or other resources.
Special Rapporteur Ksentini, in her 1994 study cites numerous communications in her
study from Indigenous Peoples and their organizations throughout the period of the study
and has reviewed a wide range of materials from other non-governmental organizations.
Ksentini in her study utilizes numerous experts who criticize large-scale development
schemes in Indigenous lands; one of the experts cited is the recently appointed
Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, Rodolfo Stavenhagen who states:
“Much damage has been done to the Indigenous Peoples through economic
development projects … The isolated, marginal areas often occupied by
Indigenous Peoples constitute the last great and, until recently, unexploited
reserves of natural resources. Neither State planners or multinational corporations
nor international development agencies have hesitated to incorporate these areas
into national and international economy. In the process, Indigenous Peoples have
suffered genocide and ethnocide.” (9)
As a result of expert commentary by Ksentini and Stavenhagen the issue of Indigenous
Peoples was addressed at the 1990 Global Consultation on the Realization of The Right
to Development. Once again, the assessment of the environmental factors of human rights
and Indigenous Peoples was harsh.
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The relationship between environmental concerns, development and the rights of
Indigenous Peoples was also addressed at the 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development and at the 1993 United Nations Conference on Human
Rights. The environment was also a prominent feature in issues addressed in conjunction
with the 1993 International Year for the World’s Indigenous People.
In Mrs. Daes’study on Indigenous Peoples and their relationship to land, she also cites the
Rio Declaration and the Convention on Biological Diversity which states:
“There now exists a strong basis, in international conventional law, for concrete
measures at the international, regional and local levels to protect the heritage of
Indigenous Peoples, in particular the economic, social, cultural, and spiritual
relationships which exist between indigenous peoples and their ancestral
territories and resources.”
These two documents, particularly the Convention on Biodiversity, implicitly recognize
the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their lands, their natural resources and their
environment.
In the past year at the third United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa September
2001, the Indigenous Peoples regressed from past World Conferences on race in regard to
the word “peoples” the WCAR Declaration defines the “Indigenous Peoples,” as a term
that, “…cannot be construed as having any implication as to rights under international
law.” (11) The word “Peoples” in the WCAR Declaration is thus a word with no
substance devoid of meaning and devoid of rights.
Equally offensive to Indigenous Peoples is regression from the prior two World
Conferences in regard to land and natural resources. Stated in the 2001 Declaration:
We also recognize the special relationship that indigenous peoples have with the
land as the basis for their spiritual, physical and cultural existence and encourage
States, whenever possible, to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are able to retain
ownership of their lands and natural resources to which they are entitled under
domestic law. (12)
The WCAR thus only “encourages observance of our internationally recognized human
rights and fundamental freedoms (even though numerous citations have been emphasized
in this chapter that strongly state that human rights are legally binding obligations under
international law) and where only “possible.” Even worse international recognized rights
to land and natural resources are subject to domestic law, in effect approving the
exploitation and State theft of lands that have been condemned by both the Human Rights
Committee and the CERD Committee. As emphasized by the International Indian Treaty
Council this exemplifies an act of racism by the United Nations itself.
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CONCLUSION
In order that Indigenous Peoples consent to any development that concern their lands,
natural resources, environment, and means of subsistence, stronger levels of
empowerment must be exercised toward Indigenous Peoples. Serious efforts to address
imbalances between States, multinationals, and Indigenous Peoples must be ensured so
that Indigenous Peoples have the means and capacity to fully participate in the
International legal arena.
Indigenous Peoples must have the right to say “no” to extraction or any other form of
unsustainable development that would destroy their lands, territories and cultural
integrity. Indigenous Peoples are the true owners of their lands and resources as
stipulated under the numerous guarantees under international law. It is Indigenous
Peoples who have provided the world with land and resources, and it is they who are
being destroyed.
These issues should be a high priority for the recently appointed Rapporteur on human
rights and Indigenous issues. The destruction of Indigenous lands, territories and the
exploitation of natural resources as well as the removal of Indigenous Peoples based upon
State industry development schemes must be fully addressed as the gross human
rights violations that they are.
D.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND WATER RIGHTS
“Water is life. Whoever can privatize water can privatize life.”
Issyad AG KATO, Indigenous presenter from Niger
Since time immemorial, Indigenous Peoples have had a unique relationship with to water.
For Indigenous Peoples, this relationship is based on the belief that water is the giver of
life. Indigenous World Views teach that Indigenous Peoples have maintained a spiritual
connection with water and have a deep sense of responsibility to protecting it. For
centuries Indigenous Peoples have served as protectors and guides in maintaining healthy
relationships with nature. For Indigenous Peoples, this balance is based on the belief that
we should work with, rather than against Mother Earth and her natural forces.
Since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, environmental and water-related conferences have
often highlighted the role of Indigenous Peoples in their proposals for action. This is
based on the belief that they possess a special knowledge that has allowed them since the
beginning of time to constantly develop and (re)develop ways of living in harmony with
their environment. Over time and little by little, these world views and traditional
practices have become more recognized. Today, Indigenous Peoples are seen as major
players in ensuring sustainable development at the local level.
Yet, where do we stand today? Have these conferences, conventions and gatherings had
any real-world impacts? What rights do Indigenous Peoples have over the water
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resources they have been using and protecting for generations? Are their voices reflected
in the national water-related policies?
The Kyoto Water Declaration from the Third World Water Forum of March 2003
explains Indigenous Peoples’ relationship to water as follows:
Relationship to Water
1. We, the Indigenous Peoples from all parts of the world assembled here, reaffirm
our relationship to Mother Earth and responsibility to future generations to raise
our voices in solidarity to speak for the protection of water. We were placed in a
sacred manner on this earth, each in our own sacred and traditional lands and
territories to care for all of creation and to care for water. 1
2. We recognize, honor, and respect water as sacred and sustaining all life. Our
traditional knowledge, laws, and ways of life teach us to be responsible in caring
for this sacred gift that connects all life.
3. Our relationship with our lands, territories, and water is the fundamental physical
cultural and spiritual basis for our existence. This relationship to our Mother Earth
requires us to conserve our freshwaters and oceans for the survival of present and
future generations. We assert our role as caretakers with rights and responsibilities
to defend and ensure the protection, availability, and purity of water. We stand
united to follow and implement our knowledge and traditional laws and exercise
our right of self-determination to preserve water, and to preserve life.
The document further defines Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Water as a fundamental
aspect of their inherent right to self-determination. In doing so, the document states:
4. We, Indigenous Peoples, have the right to self-determination. By virtue of that
right we have the right to freely exercise full authority and control of our natural
resources, including water. We also refer to our right of permanent sovereignty
over our natural resources, including water
When the terms territory, land and water are used, it is inclusive of all life such as
forests, grasslands, sea life, habitat, fish, and other biodiversity.
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5. Self-determination for Indigenous Peoples includes the right to control our
institutions, territories, resources, social orders, and cultures without external
domination or interference.
6. Self-determination includes the practice of our cultural and spiritual relationships
with water, and the exercise of authority to govern, use, manage, regulate,
recover, conserve, enhance, and renew our water sources, without interference.
INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK
INDIGENOUS DECLARATION ON WATER
WATER IS LIFE: PROTECT WATER NOW!
Endorsed at the 12th annual Indigenous Environmental Network 2001, August 2-5,
2001, Protecting Mother Earth Conference, Penticton Indian Band - Okanagan
Nation Territories, British Columbia, Canada
As Indigenous Peoples, we raise our voices in solidarity to speak for the protection of
Water. The Creator placed us on this earth, each in our own sacred and traditional lands,
to care for all of creation. We have always governed ourselves as Peoples to ensure the
protection and purity of Water. We stand united to follow and implement our knowledge,
laws, and self-determination to preserve Water, to preserve life. Our message is clear:
Protect Water Now!
As Indigenous Peoples, we recognize, honor, and respect Water as a sacred and powerful
gift from the Creator. Water, the first living spirit on this earth, gives life to all creation.
Water, powerful and pristine, is the lifeblood that sustains life for all peoples, lands, and
creation. We know that by listening to the songs of the Water, all creation will continue
to breathe. Our knowledge, laws, and ways of life teach us to be responsible at all times
in caring for this sacred gift that connects all life. In ceremony and as time comes, the
Water sings. Her songs begin in the tiniest of streams, transforms to flowing rivers,
travels to majestic oceans, and thundering clouds, and back to the earth, to begin again.
When Water is threatened, all living things are threatened. Our hearts cry when we see
the ways in which people, through governments and multinational corporations, destroy
the Water in their greed. As Water has given us life, we must fight for the life of Water.
We must continue to hear her songs and protect this sacred gift from the Creator. We
must be prepared.
In this time, we see that our Waters are being polluted with chemicals, pesticides,
sewage, disease and nuclear waste. We see our Waters being depleted or converted into
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destructive uses through the diversion of Water systems to different lands, unsustainable
economic, resource and recreational development, the transformation of excessive
amounts of Water into energy, and the treatment of Water as a commodity, a property
interest, that can be bought, sold and traded in global and domestic economies. We see
our Waters governed by imposed foreign, colonial, and inhumane laws and practices that
disconnect us as Peoples from the ecosystem. These laws do not respect that life is
sacred, that Water is sacred.
Throughout Indigenous territories worldwide, we are witnessing the increasing scarcity
of fresh Waters and the lack of access that we and other life forms such as the land,
forests, animals, plants, marine life, and air have to our Waters. In these times of scarcity,
we see governments creating commercial interests in Water that lead to inequities in
distribution and prevent our access to the life giving nature of Water.
When Water is disrespected, misused and poorly managed, we see the life threatening
impacts on all of creation. We know that our Rights to Self-Determination, jurisdiction,
knowledge and laws to protect the water are being disregarded, violated, and
disrespected. We hear the sad and painful songs of the Water, of the land and our
peoples. We hear the Waters call for protection now.
As Indigenous Peoples, we express our power, to protect the Water and call on all others
concerned to open your minds and hearts and listen to our protection song, our message
and support the calls for actions that follow:
We recognize that Water is a sacred gift from the Creator that gives, sustains and nurtures
all life on earth. We recognize the need to share our understanding that Water is sacred
and essential for the survival of all life on earth.
We recognize that as stewards of the lands and waters, and as sovereign peoples who will
never sell nor trade their rights to Water, we Indigenous Peoples retain inherent rights
and responsibilities to protect Water.
We recognize that our knowledge and sustainable practices are essential links to the
protection of Water. We recognize Indigenous governments and their jurisdiction to
develop laws and treaties to protect Water.
We support the implementation of Indigenous legal systems in this effort. To retain our
connection to our Waters, we must have the right to make decisions about Waters at all
levels.
We resolve to communicate and express our power, our common interest to protect Water
and life, through the building of Water alliances and networks worldwide.
We support all Indigenous Peoples and grass roots movements that organize to protect
Water based on their ancestral teachings and laws, and who also respect the role of
Indigenous elders, women, and youth to protect Water.
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We call for the creation of an international monitoring body to track the trade of Water in
relation to Indigenous Peoples.
We resolve to use and develop indigenous, domestic, and international mechanisms to
hold corporations, domestic governments, and international financial institutions, such as
the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, accountable for their actions that
threaten the integrity of Water, our land, and our peoples. Systems of restoration and
compensation have to be put in place to restore the integrity of water and ecosystems.
We seek support and solidarity for the opposition to any free trade agreements that
purport to privatize Water and trade Water as a commodity, including the North
American Free Trade Agreement and the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.
We endorse declarations and treaties that enshrine the goals stated above such as the
Cochabamba Declaration and the Treaty Initiative of the Council of Canadians
representing genuine efforts by concerned citizens, communities and grass-roots peoples
to protect water.
On this 8th day of July, 2001, the international community and Indigenous Peoples
assembled at the International Conference on Water for People and Nature organized by
the Council of Canadians, endorsed the Indigenous Declaration on Water.
(On August 5, 2001, at the 12th annual Protecting Mother Earth Conference, Penticton,
British Columbia, the conference participants and Indigenous Environmental Network
endorsed this document.
E.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND THE RIGHT TO FOOD
The right to food is recognized as a basic human right under the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and
the Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition.
Since time immemorial, Indigenous Peoples have developed and traditional sustainable
agriculture, maintained hunting, fishing, and gathering practices based on Indigenous and
local knowledge, which was handed down and taught through the generations. These
practices have allowed Indigenous communities to achieve sustainability and food
security. By maintaining these practices, Indigenous communities have been able to
retain economic independence and self-sufficiency as well as ensure that the diversity of
plant and animal species remains high.
The Indigenous Peoples council on Biocolonialism writes that “80% of the world’s
remaining biodiversity is found within Indigenous peoples’ lands and territories.” “Over
millennia, Indigenous Peoples have become physically and metabolically accustomed to
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the foods found, gathered, and cultivated in local areas and the animals we have
traditionally hunted, fished, and raised. Food is the main medicine, essential to
community and individual health. Our bodies are made of our food and the land that
provides it. Many of our spiritual practices are centered on our traditional foods, and we
have a profound and deeply ingrained spiritual and cultural relationship with our lands
and territories that has been well documented. Some Indigenous tribal cultures derive
their family clan or kinship identification from certain food groups and animals.”
(don’t know why the following is in a different font)
Today, trade liberalization and export-oriented development are creating adverse impacts on the
lives of Indigenous Peoples.
The WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AOA), which promotes export competition and import
liberalization, has allowed the entry of cheap agricultural products into our communities. This is
causing the destruction of ecologically rational and sustainable agricultural practices of
Indigenous Peoples.
Food security and the production of traditional food crops have been seriously compromised.
Incidents of diabetes, cancers, and hypertension have significantly increased among Indigenous
Peoples because of the scarcity of traditional foods and the dumping of junk food into our
communities.
Small-scale farm production is giving way to commercial cash-crop plantations further
concentrating ancestral lands into the hands of few agri-corporations and landlords. This has led
to the dislocation of scores of people from their communities who then migrate to nearby cities
and become the urban homeless and jobless.
The WTO Forest Products Agreement promotes free trade in forest products. By eliminating
developed country tariffs on wood products by the year 2000, and developing country tariffs by
2003, the Agreement will result in the deforestation of many of the world's ecosystems in which
Indigenous Peoples live.
Mining laws in many countries are being changed to allow free entry of foreign mining
corporations to enable them to buy and own mineral lands, and to freely displace Indigenous
Peoples from their ancestral territories. These large-scale commercial mining and oil extraction
activities continue to degrade their lands and fragile ecosystems, and pollute the soil, water, and
air in their communities.
The appropriation of our lands and resources and the aggressive promotion of consumerist and
individualistic Western culture continue to destroy traditional lifestyles and cultures. The result is
not only environmental degradation but also ill health, alienation, and high levels of stress
manifested in high rates of alcoholism and suicide.
The theft and patenting of our biogenetic resources are facilitated by the TRIPs (Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement of the WTO. Some plants which Indigenous
Peoples have discovered, cultivated, and used for food, medicine, and sacred rituals are already
patented in the United States, Japan, and Europe. A few examples of these are ayahuasca,
quinoa, and sangre de drago in forests of South America; kava in the Pacific; turmeric and bitter
melon in Asia. Their access and control over their biological diversity and control over their
traditional knowledge and intellectual heritage are threatened by the TRIPs Agreement.
Article 27.3b of the TRIPs Agreement allows the patenting of life-forms and makes an artificial
distinction between plants, animals, and micro-organisms. The distinction between "essentially
biological" and "non-biological" and "microbiological" processes is also erroneous. As far as
Indigenous Peoples are concerned all these are life-forms and life-creating processes which are
sacred and which should not become the subject of private property ownership.
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Speech by Wilton Littlechild, Grand Council of the Crees at the World Food
Summit, Rome 1996
Thank you very much for this opportunity to address this World Food Summit. My name
is Willie Littlechild, a Cree Indian, a Member of the Ermineskin Cree Nation in Treaty 6
of the Territory of Canada. It is an honor for me to present this statement on behalf of my
indigenous brothers and sisters, the International Organization of Indigenous Resource
Development and the Grand Council of Crees.
Food as a basic human right, sustainable food security for all, access to safe and
nutritious food, cooperative action, and partnership cannot be discussed without the
inclusion of indigenous peoples. When one looks at the international concerns of the
World Food Summit, the Plan of Action and the seven Commitments, every single aspect
impacts on Indigenous Peoples. When one looks at the problems of poverty, lack of
access to lands, water and natural resources; population growth; loss of arable and nonarable lands; migrations and others, every single aspect involves Indigenous Peoples.
When the majority of over 300 million Indigenous Peoples of the world are among the
poorest of humankind, we can no longer be excluded. When one looks at the spiritual
relationship with our mother earth, it means Indigenous Peoples. We are "Inuwak",
Peoples of the Land.
While we appreciate the efforts of some delegations, we note and draw attention to the
very weak references to Indigenous Peoples in the Rome Declaration and no reference at
all in the Plan of Action, especially when it is the United Nations International Decade of
Indigenous Peoples.
As Indigenous Peoples with a right to self-determination, we too have concerns with
"food for all". We are concerned that trade is expressed as the key to food security and
that emphasis on markets does not recognize indigenous food systems. Non-arable lands
or foods from the "wilderness" are not protected for those Indigenous Peoples who have
been harvesters since time immemorial. There are pressures on Indigenous Peoples not to
go to their lands for wild foods, where it still exists, by environmentalists and/or
developers. The negative impact of tourist development, land conversions and the food
monoculture also erode traditional Indian food systems. The access to lands for
traditional foods must be protected.
Indigenous Peoples have a land-based culture. Food from our mother earth is intrinsically
related to our cultural and spiritual way of life. Food is an essential part of many of our
spiritual ceremonies. Our religious feasts require certain traditional foods like wild
berries and meats, herbs and water. These are integral parts of our culture that are
currently impacted or interrupted in many ways.
Our ancestors in some areas have secured our traditional ways and food systems in
Treaties. These international agreements were signed for "so long as the grass grows, the
rivers flow and the sun shines". For sharing our lands, we were to maintain our
16
"vocations of hunting, fishing, trapping" and gathering through certain tracts. We were to
be able to do these for food at all seasons of the year. In others, we were to be assisted by
Treaty "to be engaged in cultivating the soil" as a right to development. There are other
principles in international covenants which state that "Peoples" may not be denied "their
own means of subsistence".
In conclusion, we would humbly and respectfully urge this World Food Summit to
consider some fundamental and positive recommendations for follow-up implementation:
First, as you commit to food security for all, where state governments have signed
Treaties with Indigenous Peoples, honor and respect those international agreements
according to their original spirit and intent;
Secondly, as food is a basic human right and you commit to the promotion and protection
of all human rights, then actively support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, in particular our right to self-determination as peoples. We
acknowledge Canada's recent lead in this regard at the United Nations;
Thirdly, as you have committed to access to safe and nutritious foods, then ensure
Indigenous Peoples are returned their dispossessed lands and territories;
Lastly, as you commit to cooperative action and partnerships, then ensure Indigenous
Peoples have full and equal participation in decision-making, with informed consent on
all matters that directly affect us.
F.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND TRADE
G.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE
NOTES AND CITATIONS
1.
Martinez Cobo, Jose R. Study of the Problem Against Indigenous Populations
Volume V. Conclusions, proposals, and recommendations. United Nations
Publication (Sales No. E.86 XIV.3). New York United Nations, 198
2.
Id, para.196
3.
Id, para. 197
4.
Id, para. 215
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5.
Mme. Erica-Irene Daes, Special Rapporteur, Human Rights Of Indigenous
Peoples, Indigenous People And Their Relationship To Land,
E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/17.
6.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, General Comment XXIII
on the rights of indigenous peoples, adopted at the Committee’s 1235th meeting
on 18 August, 1997, General Recommendation 4(c).
7.
Id, General Recommendations 4(e) and 5.
8.
Final Report, Mme. Fatma Zohra Ksentini, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights
and the Environment, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/9. Commission On Human Rights SubCommission on Prevention of Discrimination and protection of Minorities Fortysixth session.
9.
Rodolfo Stavenhagen, E/CN.4/1989/22, annex III C, para. 3. United Nations
Seminar on the effects of racism and racial discrimination on the social and
economic relations between indigenous peoples and States. Geneva, Switzerland
16-20 January 1989.
10.
The realization of the right to development, Global Consultation on the Right to
Development as a human Right, United Nations publication, (HR/PUB/91/2).
11.
World Conference Against Racism Declaration, paragraph 24. On the United
Nations Human Rights website, http://www.hchr.ch,
12.
Id, para.43.
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