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World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Launches New Chapter in International Advocacy The United Nations General assembly adopted, by consensus, an outcome document at the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples Sept. 22, 2014 in New York City. The outcome document includes establishment of a mechanism to monitor and encourage implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, measures...

In October 2004, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued its final decision in a case we filed in 1998 on behalf of the Maya of Southern Belize. The Commission affirmed that the Government of Belize is violating the human rights of the Maya communities by failing to protect their rights to property, equality, and a fair trial. The Commission...

1. U.S. law treats federally recognized tribes differently from other indigenous groups in the United States. Is this practice consistent with the Declaration? The United States' process for recognizing Indian and Alaska Native tribes is, as a general matter, consistent with the UN Declaration. There are various definitions of indigenous peoples that are widely accepted in the international community and...

Our many years of work with the Independent Traditional Seminole Nation of Florida has culminated in a unique intersection of human rights and environmental protection. Several years ago, the traditional Seminoles were forced off of their ceremonial grounds because of agriculture development. The Center made a commitment to help this unique traditional community maintain their culture and their ceremonies, and...

For many years, the Center has worked with the indigenous communities of Nicaragua for demarcation of their lands and to stop widespread, destructive logging in their territories by others. Our work culminated in a precedent-setting ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights stating that 1) the Awas Tingni Indian community in Nicaragua has collective rights to their traditional lands...

In its April 26, 1999 ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit upheld the National Park Service’s accommodations of American Indian religious practices at Devils Tower National Monument ( see full text of decision). In March of 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the plaintiffs appeal of the 10th Circuit ruling, thus upholding the appellate court’s...

Coastal Communities, Culture and Conservation Without Borders The Sitka Tribe of Alaska, the Douglas Indian Association, Ecotrust Canada, and the Center organized a roundtable in May of 2000 for indigenous leaders to discuss indigenous cultural and subsistence activities in the temperate rain forest region of Alaska and Canada. The tribes and First Nations attending the roundtable discussed the possibility of...