Self-Determination (1961-Present) V::

Contemporary Strategies of Indigenous Peoples Within the US

One of the bases upon which contemporary indigenous resistance rests is the argument that indigenous peoples are sovereign nations with internationally binding treaties that the government is obliged to respect. Furthermore, groups such as AIM assert that indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination, not as narrowly defined by government, but as defined by international standards.

AIM has brought Indian issues into the international arena, by taking them to the United Nations. AIM formed an international diplomatic arm called the International Indian Treaty Council (the IITC), whose aim was to hold the United States internationally accountable for the treaty violations. By 1979, the UN had established the Working Group on Indigenous Populations under the Commission on Human Rights, "an entity dedicated to the formulation of international law concerning the rights and status of indigenous nations vis a vis nation-states which had subsumed them" (Churchill 1988-89:47).¹ The Working Group provided a forum through which Native Americans and other indigenous peoples could air their concerns internationally and show how their basic national rights were being infringed by their governments.

Since then the indigenous movement has grown internationally and has gained much support within the United Nations. No binding international agreements have been passed as yet for indigenous peoples, and time will tell how successful the IITC will be in gaining the UN's support in the form of such agreements.

But it is fair to say at this juncture, that the recent developments - particularly the UN forums being opened up for indigenous peoples within the international community - have helped in bringing US Indian policy into sharp focus in recent years.

Notes::

• 1 - Ward Churchill. 1988-1989. "The Black Hills are not for Sale: A Summary of the Lakota Struggle for the 1868 Treaty Territory" in Critical Issues in Native North America, Ward Churchill, ed., pp. 37-54. Copenhagen: IWGIA Document 62.