After 20 years of debates and discussion, the Declaration of Native Peoples was recently adopted by a majority of members of the General Assembly of the United Nations.  This was above all a symbolic victory for the some 370 million indigenous people in the world.  In effect, if on the one hand this Declaration constitutes a not insignificant sign recognising the existence of these peoples, on the other hand it is only that, as it has been stripped of any restrictive power at the legal level.  Nevertheless it does signal progress for the indigenous peoples of Latin America, where the memory of the pre-Colombian past appears to have resurfaced on the political landscape. 

 

The only countries to have voted against the Declaration are Australia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand.  In these countries, the centuries old battle with indigenous peoples seems set to continue for who knows how much longer. 

 

How could a text with no legal power so worry these four States, whose reputation has been tarnished by their refusal to recognize it?  One might attribute this attitude to the fact that in Canada, for example, power is held at the moment by the conservative right; since its arrival in government, it has established a systematic opposition to the Declaration.  The government prior to it supported it.  The right-wing conservatives are banking on an electorate that opposes aid to indigenous peoples, which is seen to be costly charity and contrary to a meritocracy.  Of course, it is not said in return that these minorities are excluded from the beginning from such a meritocracy, because of their condition.   Yet these right wing politicians have power in three of the four States opposed to the Declaration.  In New Zealand, the right makes up a strong opposition, forcing the government to rule within a coalition of parties.  The recent formation of the Maori Party in this country constitutes progress in the evolution of the political landscape, however clearly this young party is not going to be able to soften the government’s position. 

 

The indigenous peoples and several of their leaders have learned over time the meaning of persistence and resistance.  None of them will have the same thoughts as Chief Deskaheh, of the Iroquois League of Six Nations, who came to the League of Nations in Geneva in 1923 in order to have his people recognised as a nation at the international level.  Hehad no success.  However his action was admired.  He was a sort of precursor to those who are able to say today that their determination demands respect.  In this sense, the adoption of the Declaration is, one hopes and believes, a promising sign for the future. 

 

 

Sources :

Text of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/indigenous/docs/draftdeclaration.pdf

 

ONU : Déclaration sur les droits des peuples autochtones approuvée
http://www.latinreporters.com/onuPeuplesAutochtones14092007.html (in French only)

 

The promise of human rights
http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2005/english/ch3/

 

« Pourquoi le gouvernement conservateur du Canada a-t-il chanté les louanges du premier ministre australien John Howard »
http://www.mondialisation.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=2512 (in French only)

 

Le Parti maori
http://www.maoriparty.com/

 

« Les Autochtones, l'autre solitude »
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20070629PACTUALITES/706290615/5050/CPPRESSE (in French only)

 

The Aboriginals of Australia
http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/pr/ra/ipf/aau_e.html

 

Chief Deskaheh
http://www.mcmaster.ca/indigenous/SixNationsLandClaim.htm

 

Image :extrait de la page couverture de l'ouvrage «Les peuples autochtones et leur relation originale à la terre : Un questionnement pour l'ordre mondial », Par Frédéric Deroche, Éditions l'Harmatan

http://www.editions-harmattan.fr/index.asp?navig=catalogue&obj=livre&no=26071