UPDATE: UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, May 17 & 18, 2007

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Sixth Session

Thursday, May 17 and Friday, May 18, 2007





Days 4 and 5 focused on Item 4 - Implementation of recommendations of the six mandated areas and on the Millennium Development Goals and Item 5 - Human Rights: Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples. Under Item 4, the topics included: (a) Economic & social development, (b) Environment, (c) Health, (d) Education, (e) Culture, and (f) Human Rights. Statements made by delegates, NGOs and states can be downloaded on the DoCip website.

| Indigenous Youth Caucus Makes Statement |



There were over 50 statements made under Item 4 alone and I’m highlighting the statement made by the Indigenous Youth Caucus under 4(a) – economic & social development. The statement was made by Kiritapu Allan of the Ngati Ranginui peoples and reads:

We, the indigenous youth, makes up 48% of the indigenous peoples around the world. We rally upon the responsibility of the youth to sustain this world for the future generations to inherit. The General Assembly adopted the following statement in 1995 that young people in all countries are a vital human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic growth and technological innovation' therefore I call on any other indigenous youths to stand in solidarity as we present this statement on behalf of the indigenous youths of the world.

We express our specific concerns on the following:

In order to make a more hospitable place for future generations we must consider the cycle of life and that young peoples as much as old peoples have an integral role to play.

Madam Chair and distinguished delegates, we urge you to rise above the economic and political rhetoric. Please focus on the moral and ethical responsibility that you have toward this generation and future ones.

Indigenous cultures inform our approach to youth development. The inter-related nature of life reveals to us the importance for us to be responsible for the generation after us and those that came before us. We urge the forum to help us to support and protect our elders and their traditional knowledge which is essential to sustaining our indigenous livelihood.

We reaffirm our intrinsic responsibilities to future generations in protecting and sustaining the continuity of our collective and unique values, spirituality and principals that spring from our inter-relationship with Mother Earth in line with safeguarding our pride and dignity as Indigenous Peoples;

We urge the UNPFII to recommend that Governments acknowledge the past and ongoing grievances done to Indigenous people. That these grievances have led to the degradation of Indigenous peoples communities social, spiritual, economic and all other types of development and that Governments support Indigenous control over Indigenous social and economic developments and initiatives.

We express our concern that a continued limited participation of Indigenous Youth in decision-making processes locally, regionally and internationally restricts the integration of our perspectives and experiences in decisions impacting our survival;

We call upon other UN Agencies to support and ensure the full and active participation of
Indigenous youth at the Permanent Forum and all decision making process of UN
Agencies impacting Indigenous youths and to recommend to UN inter-agencies and foundations for greater & equitable access to financial and other aids in enhancing our rights as IP youth;

We are in a powerful position because of the shoes we were born into and the voices we carry. The indigenous world is relying on the work that is done here. We are ready to speak with you, if you are.

We encourage the forum to actively engage with us, the indigenous youths, because we are a new generation of peoples mandated by our ancestors to care for mother earth and ask that you, our elders, support us, so our ancestral knowledge will be carried into the
future.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to attend various UN meetings as a delegate of the International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) and noticed the small number of young people attending these gatherings. The limited participation of indigenous youth in international forums remains a concern of all Indigenous leaders as they understand that it is the youth who will carry this work forward. I’ve seen several youth read statements on the floor and I find it inspiring to hear their voices, concerns, and hopes for the future.

| U.N. documents printed in multiple languages for delegates |



One of the biggest challenges that face Indigenous youth is funding – it is expensive to travel to New York (or outside the U.S.) and some Funders do not understand the value of attending these gatherings. Over the years, I’ve been a part of groups that have raised money for youth delegations and when I wasn’t traveling with a delegation, raised the money for my own participation. It is not impossible to do but certainly takes commitment, planning, and sometimes creativity. As I always say, START EARLY!!

Support for my attendance at the UNPFII6 comes from the Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota. I am the recipient of the Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship and am working on a project with IITC that focuses on the planning and content development of a training and capacity-building module for Indigenous Peoples. This training module focuses on expanding awareness of and information use of international mechanisms in support of local struggles and campaigns to defend indigenous peoples rights, cultures, homelands and survival. As part of my Fellowship, I’m attending the UNPFII to gathering information, interview various indigenous leaders, and to learn about the most recent developments within this expert body. In addition, I am writing on proceedings because I am committed to sharing my experience with others, especially youth. It is my hope that the young people reading this blog will be inspired to get involved and take the opportunity to learn about the work being done in international fora.

| Delegates listen to proceedings of the PF |



This brings me to a question that was posed to me by an individual who has been reading my blogs. The question deals with participation in the UNPFII – specifically how can young people attend a gathering such as this? UNPFII credentials are given to NGOs with consultative status with ECOSOC, organizations of indigenous peoples and academic institutions. Organizations that meet this criteria can pre-register and after the status of the organizations has been checked, individuals associated with the organization can be registered online. It is important to note that this is not a conference – it is “an organ made of experts whose main responsibility is to advise ECOSOC on issues relating to the situation of indigenous populations,” therefore, I encourage individuals who have never attended to connect with an organization or individual who has attended to get a better sense of the format of the gathering as well as the process for making statements. More information about the credentialing process can be found here.

| In the halls, delegates meet with Julian Berger, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Human Rights) |





As mentiond previously, over 50 statements were made under Item 4 and over 30 on Item 5. I have listed some of the statements under Agenda Item 4 that readers might want to read as it pertains to the North American region (not a complete list). These statements, and those made under Item 5, can be downloaded on the DoCip website.

Item 4 (a) Economic and social development

• Chief Ed John, Representing the North American Regional Caucus (ENG)

• Chief Colleen Sisk Franco, Representing the Winnewen Winto Tribe and La Red Xicana Indigena, Pueblo sin fronteras South Central Farmers, Cetilizhi Nanhcampa (ENG)

Item 4 (b) Environment

• Ms. Faith Gemmill, Representing the Indigenous Environmental Network (spoken not received)

• Ms. Tia Oros, Representing the Collective Statement of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development (ENG)

Item 4 (c) Health

• Ms. Dea Thiele, Representing the Joint Statement of the National Native Title Council, NSWALC, MSHR, HREOC, NACCHO, ALRM, FARA, National Aboriginal Community, Controlled Health Organization (ENG)

Item 4 (e) Culture

• Ms. Andrea Carmen, Joint Statement; International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Information Network, and CHIRPAC (ENG)

• Ms. Andrea Carmen, Representing the Joint Statement of the International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Environment Network, CHIRAPAQ, Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations (ENG)

Item 4 (f) Human Rights

• Ms. Beverly Jacobs, President of Native Women's Association of Canada, speaking for the North American Regional Caucus (ENG)

In solidarity –

Alyssa

Alyssa Macy, reporting on behalf of the International Indian Treaty Council.


Want more information on the UNPFII6?

There are a few resources that can be accessed to get more information on the UNPFII6 and to access statements made by agencies, governments and indigenous organizations. On the UNPFII website, statements submitted to the Secretariat can be downloaded under "documents". In addition, Indigenous Peoples' Center for Documentation, Research and Information, also known as DoCip, is uploading statements made throughout the duration of the gathering. Finally, some statements have been videotaped by the Seventh Generation Fund and can be accessed on their website. Seventh Generation Fund has also interviewed a number of indigenous leaders and you can listen to audio or watch the video on their website.

The full collection of images taken at the UNPFII by Alyssa Macy (Indigenius Media) can be accessed on the on Flickr, a photography sharing website. This blog is posted on several sites including: Indigenius Media website under blogs and several myspace sites including: Treaty Council myspace, Indigenous Environmental Network myspace, and Alyssa Macy's myspace.

| Seventh Generation media team interviews delegate |

UPDATE: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, May 15 & 16, 2007

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Sixth Session

Tuesday, May 15 and Wednesday, May 16, 2007



The theme of the sixth annual United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is “Territories, lands and natural resources”. The theme provides a framework for the proceedings of the meeting. Indigenous delegates, Nations, and NGOs are encouraged to craft their interventions in accordance with the annual theme, however, this does not mean that other issues are cannot be addressed. With the large number of Indigenous delegates and organizations and the limited amount of time, the Chairperson of the Permanent Forum has strongly encouraged delegates to keep their comments germane to the topic.

Day 2 and Day 3 of the United Nations Permanent Forum focused on dialogue with agencies, indigenous peoples, and governments on Agenda item 3, the special theme of this years’ gathering. A closed session was held on Wednesday morning. Over 100 Indigenous organizations signed up to make statements under this agenda item and by the close of Day 3, roughly 2/3 of the statements had been made on the floor.

| View of UNPFII6 |






Jorge Skinner-Klee (Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the UN) spoke on Tuesday and talked about the growth of indigenous participation in the political structure of the country and in Latin American in general. In his statement he talked about the historical significance of Rigoberta Menchu, an indigenous Guatemalan of the Quiché-Maya ethnic group and a Nobel Peace prize receipent, who is running for President of Guatemala (AP Interview with Rigoberta on her campaign, click here). Her candidacy follows the recent 2005 election of Bolivian President Evo Morales, who became country's first indigenous head of state since the Spanish Conquest over 470 years ago. Indigenous peoples political power continues to grow but many of the challenges remain. It is because of leaders such as this and many whose names we may never know, that hope grows in many communities that our rights as Indigenous Peoples will be recognized and upheld.

| Andrea Carmen, Executive Director, IITC, reads the North American Region Caucus Statement |






The North American Region Caucus statement was read by Andrea Carmen (IITC) and summarized the report from the North American Region Preparatory Meeting held in Minneapolis, April 21-22, 2007. Participants at the Preparatory Meeting identified cross-cutting areas of fundamental importance that they wanted to be addressed at the UNPFII6 that included: Treaties, Agreements and Constructive Arrangements, Permanent Sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples over their Territories, Lands and Natural Resources and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the full report is available as a Conference Room Paper, E/C.19/2007/CRP.7).

The North American region made several recommendations to the UNPFII6 on Treaties, Agreements and Constructive Arrangements that included:

• Endorse the conclusions and recommendations of the 1st UN Expert Seminar on Treaties, Agreements and other Constructive Arrangements between States and Indigenous Peoples, held in Geneva, 15-17 December 2003.

• Endorse the conclusions and recommendations of the 2nd UN Expert Seminar on Treaties, Agreements and Constructive Arrangements hosted by the Maskwacîs Cree First Nations in Treaty 6 Territory, Alberta, Canada, 14-17 November 2006.

• Review the recommendations from both of these UN seminars, in particular focusing on steps taken by Indigenous Peoples, States, and the United Nations system to ensure their implementation.

• Formally submit the recommendations from these two UN seminars, in its capacity as a United Nations body under the Economic and Social Council, to The Hague, utilizing the appropriate protocols and requesting an advisory opinion from the World Court.

• Endorse the conclusions and recommendations from the Report on the Expert seminar on indigenous peoples’ permanent sovereignty over natural resources and their relationship to land, Chairperson Tom Calma, Rapporteur, Andrea Carmen (E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/2006/3, 5 May 2006) held from 25 to 27 January 2006. (UN Expert Seminar Report on Permanent Sovereignty).

The North American Regional statement also called for the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on June 29, 2006 by the UN General Assembly. Progress of the Draft was slowed down when member States in the Third Committee voted to defer the adoption by the General Assembly to “allow time for further consultations” (See Resolution A/C.3/61/L.18/R.1, adopted as corrected and amended by L.57/Rev.1, 28 November 2006, results of vote 82/67/25). This delay, led by the African delegation, has been of significant concern to Indigenous Peoples worldwide. It is the hope of IITC and others that the Draft will be adopted by the close of this year’s session of the Human Rights Council.

Finally, the North American region statement acknowledged the final recommendations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Concluding Observations on Canada’s 17th and 18th Periodic Reports to the CERD. The statement stressed the importance of the paragraphs pertaining specifically to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (paragraph 27) and to territories, lands and natural resources, specifically regarding Canada’s extinguishment approach to land claims and Canada’s responsibility to take appropriate legislative and administrative measures to protect Indigenous Peoples from Canadian transnational corporations, (paragraphs 22 and 17, respectively) and called upon the UNPFII to request the government of Canada to report on its compliance and implementation with regard to these provisions at the UNPFII 7th Session (Note that the Canadian government made a statement regarding this issue raised by the North American Regional caucus and others. Statement made by Mr. Daniel Watson, Canadian Senior Assistant Deputy Minister. Document is available on the DoCip website).

| Oren Lyons of the Haudenausaunnee Nation |






Oren Lyons (Haudenausaunnee Nation) read an Intervention on Treaties on behalf of the Haudenausaunee. In his statement, he discussed the great civilizations that resided on this land and the understanding of “Natural Law and Peace” – a law which was based on the respect for lands and the forces of nature. It was through this understanding that indigenous peoples of this hemisphere practiced democracy and a way of life in harmony with the natural world. He discussed the Doctrine of Discovery and papal bulls that were used to diminish the status of indigenous nations and to “our standing as human beings” and the result of these actions on the indigenous peoples of this continent.

Mr. Lyons elaborated on the challenges that the indigenous peoples face today regarding the intepretation of our treaties by the U.S. government and other nation states. He pointed to the U.S. Constitution, Article VI, paragraph 2 (also known as the Supremacy Clause) as the basis for the correct understanding of treaties. It states: “and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”

Yet, despite the fact that the Treaty Clause is outlined in the Constitution, he pointed that, “there remains no process or forum within the United States, or the rest of the Americas, for that matter, to address or redress our treaty issues.” He noted that the lack of a forum to address treaties was the impetus for indigenous peoples to leave their communities and travel to the United Nations in 1977. Mr. Lyons also discussed the Cherokee Nation v. Georgia case wherein Chief Justice John Marshall coined the term “domestic dependent nations” and how this terminology has been used to retroactively change the “perception that our treaties are not international in status and significance”. He referenced work conducted by the Working Group on Indigenous Populations including the Martinez Treaty Report [U.N. Document E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/27], and the First Expert Meeting on Treaties convened in Geneva, Switzerland December 15-17th, 2003 [U.N. Economic and Social Council document E/CN.4/Sub.2/AC.4/2004/4 1 June 2004].

The Haudenausaunnee concluded by requesting the “Sixth Session of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to advance the Martinez Treaty Study of 1995 and the First Expert Meeting on Treaties of 2004, to be taken before the International Court of Justice at the Hague, for an opinion regarding the international status of our treaties.”

| Carrie Dann, Western Shoshone, reads Intervention |






Carrie Dann (Western Shoshone) read a joint statement by the Indigenous Environmental Network/International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous World Association, and the Western Shoshone Defense Project on Wednesday as well. In her statement also addressing Agenda Item 3, she discussed the “entire national legal systems and economic and environmental protection regimes [that] have been built around allowing non-indigenous access to our resources for private profit and/or non-indigenous benefits to the detriment of the health of Indigenous Peoples and protection of our lands and water resources.” She discussed how these systems have displaced peoples and undermined traditional laws resulting in negative impacts of all six of the mandated areas of the UNPFII.

The intervention recommended the following that the Permanent Forum designate a representative to attend an Expert Seminar that will look at the impacts of the extractive industries on Indigenous Peoples with specific case study reviews and a written report which would be reported to the 7th Session of the Permanent Forum and that Permanent Forum facilitate the participation of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and other representatives from appropriate agencies to attend as observers. This global Expert Seminar will be held on New Sogobe (Western Shoshone Territory) at the 14th Indigenous Environmental Network Protecting Mother Earth Conference, July 17-20, 2008, hosted by the Western Shoshone Defense Project. For more info, visit the Indigenous Environmental Network Website.

| Delegates hard at work |





Numerous other statements were also made on Tuesday and Wednesday by regional caucuses, Indigenous organizations and member states. These statements can be can be downloaded from the Indigenous Peoples' Center for Documentation, Research and Information website.

In solidarity –

Alyssa

Alyssa Macy, reporting on behalf of the International Indian Treaty Council.


Want more information on the UNPFII6?

There are a few resources that can be accessed to get more information on the UNPFII6 and to access statements made by agencies, governments and indigenous organizations. On the UNPFII website, statements submitted to the Secretariat can be downloaded under “documents”. In addition, Indigenous Peoples' Center for Documentation, Research and Information, also known as DoCip, is uploading statements made throughout the duration of the gathering. Finally, some statements have been videotaped by the Seventh Generation Fund and can be accessed on their website. Seventh Generation Fund has also interviewed a number of indigenous leaders and you can listen to audio or watch the video on their website.

The full collection of images taken at the UNPFII by Alyssa Macy (Indigenius Media) can be accessed on the on Flickr, a photography sharing website. This blog is posted on several sites including: Indigenius Media website under blogs and several myspace sites including: Treaty Council myspace, Indigenous Environmental Network myspace, and Alyssa Macy’s myspace.


Images from the Cultural Celebration
Tuesday, May 15, 2007


| Rebang Dewan shares some words on Tuesday night |





From the UNPFII website: The Bureau of the Permanent Forum has chosen the artwork made by Rebang Dewan, a Chackma child from Bangladesh, 11 years old as the visual identifier of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

At the Second Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (held in 2003) where Indigenous Children was the special theme, the Forum adopted a series of recommendations on indigenous children and also decided to organize an indigenous youth art competition for the design of a logo for the Forum and announced it at the sixth session.

| Azteca Performer |





| Michael Paul Hill shares Apache creation song |

PHOTOS from UNPFII6 - Quick update

Hello all - I hope this finds you in good spirits and health. I have talked with a number of individuals here at the UNPFII regarding photos that I have been taking. I am including some photos in updates but there are a lot more that have been uploaded on my flickr site. To access them, please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/indigenousflygirl/

What's currently uploaded on Flickr are web friendly photos - if you are interested in photos for print or publication, please send me an email or leave a comment. If you use my photos, I would appreciate you credit them to: Alyssa Macy, Indigenius Media.

Thank you,

Alyssa