Indigenous Rights

Running head: INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
Indigenous Rights
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1INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), has
been approved by the UN General Assembly in the year 2007. From the very beginning, the
drafting process of the Declaration has been proceeded with keeping in consideration the
collaboration between the States and the NGOs in yielding a document for the purpose of
recognizing and protecting the rights of the Indigenous people (Carpenter & Riley, 2014). The
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has been promoting
an alternative vision of human rights. The nature of the alternative vision is such that, it has
created a dichotomy between individual human rights and the sovereignty rights of the
independent states (Chisholm, Tulich & Blagg, 2017). It is noteworthy to mention in this regard,
that, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) have been
supporting worldview principles and in such process has incorporated collective human rights for
the individuals in order to protect their interests and self-determination without emphasizing
much upon independent statehood. The power and significance of the United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has been far reaching with distinct
perspectives in limiting extend of its legal approaches.
It is evident that, indigenous people are recognized as the most vulnerable and
disadvantaged group. The individuals belonging to the indigenous group have unique and
distinctive cultural background with varied languages, legal frameworks and traditions. It is
worthwhile to refer here that, most of these indigenous people are emotionally connected to their
environment and the lands on which they are living (Ford et al., 2016). These indigenous people
has been sharing their legacies regarding the fact that, how they were removed from their
traditional lands and territories (Lenzerini, 2016). History has clearly evidenced that how these
indigenous communities were removed, subjugated and discriminated by causing destruction and

2INDIGENOUS RIGHTS
violation to their traditional territories. Throughout the centuries, the people belonging to the
indigenous communities have suffered as a result of non-recognition of their political and
cultural institutions. The integrity of their cultural background has been undermined under
various circumstances (Lenzerini, 2017). It is worth mentioning that, as a result of these ongoing
processes, it created unfavorable impact upon the developmental patterns of the indigenous
communities which posed as a grave threat to their political and cultural existence.
In response to the violation of human rights, indigenous people and their organization;
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) have addressed
these underlying issues in both domestic and international spheres. As a result of constant
intervention on the part of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP) in protecting the indigenous rights of the First Nations people is of utmost
significance (MacMillan, MacMillan & Rigney, 2016). This is due to the reason that, as a result
of such intervention, the indigenous communities have gained social and political visibility and
could argue their statements in both national and international forums. The United Nations
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) for the purpose of addressing the
issues regarding indigenous and tribal groups has established the International Labor
Organization (ILO) which later on gained international cooperation and recognition (Nagel,
Johnson & Hall, 2015). The International Labor Organization (ILO) has been in existence and
operated efficiently for the purpose of protecting and promoting the rights of the indigenous
communities since the beginning of the 1920s. It is worthwhile to mention here that the,
International Labor Organization (ILO) has formulated two distinct international instruments in
regard to the protection of the interests of the indigenous people categorized as- the Indigenous