Issue 2, 2008

 
Native Land Law Project aims to reform unjust laws

Federal law about Indian and Alaska Native lands has long been unjust and unworkable; and it has made it almost impossible for tribes to sustain themselves. To change this, we are working with Native leaders to reform the law and create an entire framework of legal principles that is consistent with the Constitution, with Indian treaties, and with universal concepts of fairness and human rights.  (More...)

Professor Lindsay Robertson hosted the second Native Land Law Seminar at the University of Oklahoma, where a panel of Indian law experts and tribal leaders discussed reforming discriminatory land laws.  Tonawanda Seneca Chief Darwin Hill (right) was among the Native leaders who contributed recommendations.  Photo by Lucy Simpson.
 
 The People's Summit gives voice to Indigenous rights

LIMA, Peru - Nearly 3,000 representatives attended the four-day People's Summit held at Lima's National University of Engineering to discuss poverty, global warming, commerce and environmental degradation affecting their communities.  It was billed as a parallel forum to the Fifth Latin America, Caribbean and European Union Summit being held simultaneously.   (More...) 

 

 

Opening Ceremonies. Photo by Leo Crippa

  
 Presidential candidates pledge to honor Native rights

   
HELENA, Mont. - Recognizing the power of the Native vote, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are courting Indian Country in unprecedented ways.   (More...)  

Clinton photo by Alexia Beckerling, New West; Obama photo by Mike Roselli, CNN

 
 Scant Progress on the OAS Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The development of an American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the Organization of American States (OAS) has been underway for more than 20 years.

In recent months, the OAS draft American Declaration process has slowed significantly.  (More...)

 

 

Indigenous representatives at the OAS included Six Nations Chiefs Stuart Patterson and Karl Hill. Photo by Juan Manuel Herrera - OAS/OEA 
 

  
 United Nations Permanent Forum

NEW YORK - More than 3,300 indigenous peoples attended the seventh session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues which convened from April 21 to May 2, 2008.  The special theme for the session was "Climate change, Bio-cultural Diversity and Livelihoods: the Stewardship Role of Indigenous Peoples and New Challenges."  The Permanent Forum hailed the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and pledged to make it a "living document."  (More...)

 
Innu Nation: No compensation, no hydroelectric project

HELENA, Mont. - Last year the Center's executive director, Tim Coulter, was part of an international fact-finding mission led by Innu attorney and human rights activist Armand MacKenzie to gather information about Canada's violations of Innu land rights in order to seek interventions from United Nations human rights bodies.  (More...)

 

 

 

Innu elders Ulderick MacKenzie and Marie Aster

 
 

If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Valerie Taliman, Director of Communications, at vtaliman@indianlaw.org