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The Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service

 
 

The Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Contemporary World

SONY DSCOn February 12th 2015, James Anaya spoke at WSU Spokane on the rights of indigenous people. Anaya, who is the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People, discussed the recent UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous People.

The UN Declaration for Indigenous People has been battling an implementation gap, meaning that although the declaration lays out the rights for indigenous people it has not yet been put into effect. Anaya explored multiple factors as to why this implementation gap exists. According to Anaya the attitude toward indigenous people is a major factor that has been an issue for centuries. Indigenous people are portrayed as a stoic Indians or bloodthirsty savages, these ideals have extremely negative impacts on their indigenous rights and the issues of implementation of the UN Declaration.

Historically indigenous people have been deprived of their natural rights, especially their land rights. Anaya who was one of the authors of the UN Declaration for Indigenous Rights, believes that the this implementation gap will take time to close due to the negative views and lack of rights indigenous people have had in the past.

Although the first steps have been taken for the rights of indigenous people, Anaya believes there is a long road ahead in order to gain more rights for indigenous people and to implement UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous People.

Watch the lecture here