by Mark Todd and Kym O'Connell-Todd
This month, indigenous representatives to the United
Nations, including the Teton Sioux, Apache and
Haudenosaunee delegates, submitted to Geneva the final
report of their work to help formulate standards of
protection for indigenous peoples.
The document soon goes before the General Assembly
for approval and is still opposed by the U.S.
Government.
The 11th session of the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations, which met July 19-31, concentrated mostly
on drafting the Universal Declaration on Indigenous
Rights. According to the final report, the Working Group
hopes the United Nations will adopt this document,
which goes to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights next
February in a final draft form.
Present at the Working Group was U.S. delegate Kathy
Skipper, who stated that the U.S. Government was not
ready to endorse the Declaration because of excessive
use of the word "rights," which required more definition.
She also commented that the United States has concerns
about current property rights of other citizens.
Of particular concern to Teton Sioux Nation represen-
tatives Tony Black Feather and Burdell Blue Arm was
the addition of wording in the Declaration that allowed
the U.S. Government to refuse the conditions of
arbitration over treaty disputes.
Shipper stated formally at the Working Group that the
United States must give precedence to the "collective
rights" of its citizenry over the demands of special-
interest groups such as those asserted by the Native
American delegation at the session.
In a prepared rebuttal, the Teton Sioux representatives
responded: "Historically, language which has been unclear
and open to interpretation has provided the United
States with a way to violate our legal treaties with them.
The addition of this language will continue this unjust
system and maintain nation-state violations of the
sacredness of treaties with the Lakota nation and all
Indigenous nations."
Chief Oren Lyons of the Haudenosaunee also responded to
the U.S. position: "It was with surprise and regret that we
listened to the statement of the United States of America.
President Clinton assumed office with the promise of
change toward a heightened commitment to the promo-
tion and protection of human rights.
"The statement, however, is best characterized by its
continuity with past administrations. It restates in an
abridged form many of the previous positions hostile to
Indigenous interests and viewpoints."
During the session, Black Feather made clear the Teton
Sioux position: "We demand the unfettered opportunity to
exercise our inherent right to be a self-determining people
once again; and to form and establish a national govern-
ment and body of law which is exclusively of our own
design and free from any interference or influence by the
U.S. Government or any of its agents."
Black Feather's statement also announced the Teton Sioux
Nation's intentions to renounce U.S. citizenship, reestablish
the legally agreed upon territorial boundaries of the
Lakota Nation (as defined by the 1868 Fort Laramie
Treaty) and to completely disengage from further control
or supervision by the U.S. Government.
Native American delegates plan to attend the February
1994 gathering of the Commission on Human Rights.
According to the report, "this meeting will be at least as
important as the Working Group, especially where the
future for Indigenous Peoples within an international
forum is concerned."
The delegates currently seek support and funds to attend
this February meeting.
-30-