Cayuga Chief Deskaheh's Great Granddaughter Addressed United Nations in Geneva

September 20, 2017. Karla General (Akwesasne), Attorney at the Indian Law Resource Centre, along with Dalí Anger, Coordinator of Red de Jovenes Indigenes de America Latina, were panelists on the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN's annual half-day discussion on the rights of indigenous peoples under the theme "Tenth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." The moderator of the discussion was Albert Kwokwo Barume, Chair-Rapporteur of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

General highlighted the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a historic achievement and the most significant development in international human rights law in decades. She noted many challenges remained ahead stressing that in 2017, authentic and representative indigenous voices were still denied access to the United Nations.

"Without Indigenous voices, decisions made in international forums would not be responsive to the lived realities of indigenous peoples at home", Ms. General stressed.

Dalí Anger, Coordinator of Red de Jovenes Indigenes de America Latina, stated that the main concern of indigenous youth was to determine what it meant to be an indigenous young person, and their feeling of non-representation. The question of migration was also important, as many young people were simply moving to the cities. Indigenous education was also an important topic as it had to be centered on the history, not just to be translated content. Another important issue was the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous peoples, particularly adolescents.

Albert Kwokwo Barume, Chair-Rapporteur of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and panel moderator, said that the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was a unique human rights instrument as it was one of the first decisions made by the Human Rights Council. It was appropriate to reflect on it due to the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Kate Gilmore, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, in her opening remarks, outlined that a decade after the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, many indigenous children and youth continued to live on the margins, deprived of opportunity, esteem and protection.

'Infant and maternal mortality, alcohol and substance abuse remained high; their access to education, employment and healthcare persistently low. Much of that suffering stemmed from the deeply rooted trauma that was forced assimilation.

In their discussions, speakers underlined that the full participation of indigenous peoples was essential for progress in the implementation of rights for those communities, and urged all States to put in place mechanisms that would ensure their full participation. They also wondered how the Sustainable Development Agenda could assist in combatting institutional discrimination of indigenous peoples. Many stated it was important to ensure that indigenous women and children enjoyed full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination. Some speakers noted that self-determination was an absolute prerequisite for the recognition of indigenous rights, and they expressed concern about the lack of financing for the empowerment of indigenous peoples.

Kate Gilmore reminded of the arrival in Geneva of the Cayuga Chief Deskaheh of the Iroquois nation in 1923. He had sought to address the League of Nations on the rights of indigenous peoples in Canada, having witnessed the cruel deprivation of those rights in his homeland. For a year he had remained in Geneva, seeking a noble hearing of his petition, only to be met with what he had later called "cruel indifference." Nevertheless, the legacy of his rights-based expectation and demand had not been silenced by the passage of time into irrelevance and redundancy. Ninety-four years later and a decade on from the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Chief Deskaheh's great granddaughter, Karla General, was present in Geneva for the annual panel. The Declaration had informed constitutions, statutes, and regional and national laws. But how did an indigenous child or youth view the past and future implementation of the Declaration? Were their lives materially different from that of their foremothers and forefathers? How should implementation proceed to better reflect indigenous concerns in the rapidly changing and interconnected world? In this, human rights mechanisms had an important role to play. The Convention on the Rights of the Child had been the first of the core human rights treaties to include specific references to indigenous peoples, reaffirming that indigenous children had the right to enjoy their cultures, religions, languages, and had the right to education. The Committee on the Rights of the Child had highlighted the impacts of exploitation on indigenous children working in extractive industries. Reflecting the global struggle for the realization of the rights of indigenous peoples, the human rights mechanisms, including other treaty bodies, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and the Universal Periodic Review were actively engaged for implementation of the Declaration.

Many indigenous children and youth nowadays continued to live on the margins, deprived of opportunity, esteem and protection. Infant and maternal mortality, alcohol and substance abuse remained high; their access to education, employment and healthcare persistently low. Much of that suffering stemmed from the deeply rooted trauma that was forced assimilation. By what means could the international community ensure that young indigenous women and men, boys and girls were free to exercise their desire to live in harmony with their identity: to exercise their equal rights to live in dignity? First, indigenous children and youth had to be partners of equal dignity when it came to implementing their rights under the Declaration. In addition to lifting up the voices of indigenous children and youth, quality, sufficient and appropriate data had to be collected and analyzed if policies affecting indigenous peoples' lives were to be based on sound evidence. The collection of data was essential to the comprehensive assessment of the extent and range of challenges confronting indigenous peoples today. The Sustainable Development Goals made explicit reference to indigenous peoples and to the imperative of their sustained and inclusive development. Most importantly, decisive rights-based action was needed and that was owed to indigenous peoples all over the world. Myriad recommendations for implementation of the Declaration had been issued and evidence had been gathered. The new mandate of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples specifically emphasized follow-up with States on implementing recommendations from all human rights bodies, and that was an opportunity not to be squandered,' Ms. Gilmore concluded.

Half-day panel discussion on the rights of indigenous peoples under the theme "Tenth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples."

Later in the day the panelists were asked for ways to ensure better protection to indigenous women, children, youth, persons with disabilities and those forcibly displaced or in violent conflict.

General said it was important to learn on the ground the realities of indigenous peoples. Increased attention and emphasis was needed, as well as the utilization of the expertise of the United Nations, including its Special Rapporteurs. The Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples had the ability to provide technical assistance, and that could be paired with help from the treaty bodies, which had issued many reports. One was the review of the Universal Periodic Review, which would help create equilibrium between the world human rights agenda and the lived reality on the ground. Another question which had been mentioned was the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but in tandem with the United Nations Declaration, it had required almost 30 years of debate. The right to protection and security in armed conflict was especially important for women and children.

Her concluding remarks included that 10 years had gone by with very little quantifiable improvement in the lives of indigenous peoples, but on the positive side a lot of good work was happening on the community and international levels. The challenge of the current generation was to bring those two together. Indigenous peoples should be allowed to exercise their rights such as hunting and fishing practices without being sued. A lot of good practices had been discussed, especially through decision-making institutions. The international community should be able to monitor the declaration because States would never do it on their own, they had to be nudged. National human rights institutions were key in that respect. The role of indigenous youth could not be overlooked.