CONSEJO INTERNACIONAL DE TRATADOS INDIOS

Conference Resolution

Commission on International Instruments and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

International Indian Treaty Council Conference

January 18 – 22, 2003

Pu`uhonua o Waimanalo Oahu, Hawaii

A.     The UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

1.      We reaffirm that the rights of Indigenous Peoples are inherent and inalienable.  They were bestowed on us by the Creator, and they have been heroically defended and handed down by our ancestors since time immemorial.  These rights are held in trust by Indigenous Peoples for their future generations.  We therefore reaffirm that in our work at the United Nations we are seeking recognition for these inherent rights.  We do not recognize the authority of the United Nations or its member states to either bestow or remove any rights from our Peoples and Nations.

2.      We reaffirm that the UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in its current text is a minimum standard for the recognition and protection of Indigenous People’s rights worldwide.  We reaffirm our commitment to defend the current text as approved by the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations, the Sub-commission for the Prevention of Discrimination and the Project of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples around the world, and we will continue to reject any attempts by states or other entities to weaken, limit, amend or qualify the rights it now upholds. 

3.      We reaffirm that article 44 of the Declaration states that “nothing in this Declaration may be construed as diminishing or extinguishing existing or future rights Indigenous Peoples may have or acquire.”

4.      We recognize that the Right to Self-Determination as affirmed by Article 3 of the Declaration, in accordance with the exiting international law, includes the full range of options for the free determination of their political status by Indigenous Peoples, including independence. 

5.      As the participants in the 28^th International Indian Treaty Council Conference meeting in Pu`uhonua o Waimanalo Oahu, Hawaii January 18 – 22, 2003, herby formally adopt as our own the Declaration for the Right of Indigenous Peoples as approved by the WGIP, the Sub-commission for the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and hundreds of Indigenous Peoples and Nations around the world.

6.      We call upon other Indigenous Peoples, Nations, Tribes, Organizations, Networks, Societies and Communities to also formally adopt the Declaration in its current text and to begin using it to assert their rights, support their negotiations and advance the adoption of new policies on the local, regional, national and international levels.

7.      We call upon all the affiliates of IITC as well as other Indigenous communities, tribes, Nations, traditional Indigenous authorities and traditional spiritual leaders to send representatives to the next Intersessional Working Group on the Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva in September 2003 to insure that their voices are heard in defense of their inherent rights.  We call upon IITC to provide information and as needed, UN credentials, to facilitate this broad participation.

8.      We call upon IITC and all our affiliates to commit to carrying out a coordinated campaign to disseminate the Declaration on the national level, both to Indigenous Peoples and to non Indigenous civil society organizations and NGOs, in whatever country they live, along with the positions that the country has most recently taken in regards to the Declaration. 

9.      We will reject absolutely and completely the legitimacy of any Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that is adopted by states or by any body within the UN system which fails to uphold without qualification the full range and scope of rights of Indigenous Peoples and our future generations which the current Declaration now affirms, and which could thereby be used against indigenous Peoples in their legitimate struggles for justice, rights and self determination around the world, now or in the future.  We maintain our commitment to work for the adoption of the current text of the Declaration by the United Nations General Assembly and its subsidiary bodies.

10.   We call upon Indigenous Peoples and their organizations to participate in an Indigenous World Summit on the UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples before the end of the International Decade in 2004.   IITC will commit to disseminate this call to other Indigenous organizations, tribes, leaders, communities and Nations and work with them to plan this Summit.  

            B.  Decolonization

We call upon the IITC to explore means to reopen the UN Decolonization process for Indigenous Peoples and Nations who choose to pursue this option.

C.  Working Group on Indigenous Populations

We reaffirm our position as submitted in December 2002 to the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights that the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations continues to be a valuable body for the review of developments and for advancing new standards and studies to protect and recognize the rights of the Indigenous Peoples.  We therefore reject the proposals by some states, especially the US to eliminate this important space with its unique mandate, which complements rather than overlaps with other bodies such as the Permanent Forum and Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples within the international arena.

D.  Treaties

1.      We reaffirm that treaties are sacred living covenants, which guide the relations between Nations and People of this world.  They are international covenants which cannot be subjugated or abrogates by domestic law.  We demand that states uphold their treaty obligations to Indigenous Nations in accordance with their spirit, intent and language as understood by the indigenous Nations and Peoples who freely entered into them.

2.      We reaffirm that non-treaty peoples have not relinquished any of their rights inherent under international and national law.

3.      In keeping with article 36 of the UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, IITC calls upon the UN to authorize a competent international tribunal to examine cases of Treaty violations impacting Indigenous Peoples and Nations, including the Treaties signed by the US and over 30 other countries with the Nation of Hawaii, the Treaty of Ruby Valley with the Western Shoshone Nation and the 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty between the Lakota Nation and the U.S.A.

4.      We call upon the United Nations to initiate effective follow up which includes the full participation of Indigenous Peoples to the UN Study on Treaties, Agreements and Constructive Arrangements between States and Indigenous Peoples, including a Summit this year to determine the next steps for implementation of its conclusions and recommendations.

E.  Full Participation

As Indigenous Peoples, we continue to insist that there be transparency and full participation in all international processes and bodies that affect and address our rights, lands, Peoples, and survival.

F.  Economic Globalization and Indigenous Trade

We reaffirm that economic globalization and the international policies and institutions that promote it, encourage imposed development, resources extrication and the appropriation and contamination of Indigenous People’s lands and territories all over the world.  Furthermore, it directly undermines Indigenous

People’s self determination, means of subsistence and permanent sovereignty over their natural resources as affirmed for all Peoples under international law. The IITC will continue our opposition to imposed development and resource extrication in Indigenous People’s traditional lands and territories by multi-national and transnational corporations, and will also continue to oppose the international trade policies and institutions, which promote and facilitate these destructive activities.

As an alternative to imposed development, IITC will work to promote and support development of Indigenous to indigenous trade, based on sustainability, cultural integrity, environmental protection and the principle of self-determination.

G.   The Organization of American States Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

We reaffirm the resolutions adopted at the 1999, 2000 and 2002 International Indian Treaty Conferences in Bear Butte South Dakota, Xela Guatemala and Wairoa Aotearoa to reject both the process and content of the OAS Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The process, since its inception, has excluded the full and real participation of Indigenous Peoples and it contains provisions which attempt to seriously weaken and undermine the rights of Indigenous Peoples under international law.  IITC will continue to be vigilant regarding the progress of this process and to express our opposition to any attempts it makes to limit or regionalize the full international rights of Indigenous Peoples, or to undermine either the process or content of the UN Declaration for Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

H.  Information Sharing and Capacity Building

IITC will continue to strengthen and expand its programs for informing, creating opportunities and building participation of Indigenous Peoples, especially our youth, in these and other areas of the international world that affect their lives, rights and survival.

Adopted by Consensus, January 22, 2003