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The Center's Native Land Law Project has prepared a framework of 15 General Principles of Law concerning Native Lands that would recognize that Indian nations have the full legal rights of ownership of their lands and resources. Three expert seminars were held in Seattle, Oklahoma City and Minneapolis. This project is supported by the Indian Land Tenure Foundation. Photo by...

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...

HELENA, Mont. - Recognizing the power of the Native vote, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are courting Indian Country in unprecedented ways. During multiple visits to Montana and other key states with large Native populations, they pledged to uphold treaty rights, increase funding for education and health care, and appoint Native people to high-level positions in the White House...

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. Some of the delay is due to differences in opinion regarding how to proceed following the adoption of...

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...

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 document information about Canada's violations of Innu land rights in preparation for interventions from United Nations human rights bodies. Without the consultation or consent of the Innu people, Canada unilaterally extinguished...

Innu People Struggle for Survival In the 1970s, Canada was building the controversial James Bay hydroelectric project that flooded vast portions of Innu, Cree and Inuit homelands. In order to build the dams, Canada negotiated a land claims settlement with the Cree and Inuit, but the Innu people chose not to participate, because they objected to provisions in the land...