The Definition of Indigenous Peoples and its Applicability in China

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linzhu Wang
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Ethnic Minorities ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
International Norms ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Indigenous Status ◽  
Historical Continuity ◽  
Definition Of

This article considers the applicability of the concept of indigenous peoples in China, in accordance with the definitions developed in international law. It examines different approaches to define indigenous peoples in international law, and explores how those definitions may relate to Chinese ethnic groups. In particular, the article looks at possibilities for Chinese minorities to claim indigenous status, based on the standards of ‘the priority of settlement’ and ‘distinctiveness arising from historical continuity and attachment to a specific land’. It argues that the uncertainty of the definition, the complexity of the ethnic situation, and the reluctance of the Chinese Government make the application of indigenous rights in China unclear at the present. The Chinese minority/indigenous argument, to a certain extent, depends on the elaboration of international norms on indigenous rights, as well as the clarification of Chinese terms in relation to ethnic minorities.

scholarly journals Indigenous Peoples, International Law, and Extractive Industry Contracts

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 220-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ibironke T. Odumosu-Ayanu
Keyword(s):  
Informed Consent ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Transnational Corporations ◽  
International Norms ◽  
Extractive Industry ◽  
Global Industry

The extractive industry has contributed to the development of international law since colonial times. Contracts between states and extractive companies largely drive this global industry. This essay situates extractive industry contracts involving Indigenous peoples, long term actors who have significantly informed the development of international law, within the context of international law. While these contracts are usually analyzed from domestic perspectives, they are impacted by international norms and, as developing transnational practices, even have the potential to show ways ahead in international law. As regards engagement with Indigenous peoples, contracts, which are typically regarded as private instruments, have significant public ramifications. This is especially the case where states, Indigenous peoples, and transnational corporations (TNCs) are involved and where internationally recognized principles relating to Indigenous rights, notably free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) are implicated.

Indigenous Peoples

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russel Lawrence Barsh
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Cultural Property ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
International Labour Organisation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

This article first treats the emergence of indigenous peoples' rights in international law in its historic context. Subsequently, it addresses conceptual issues related to the position of indigenous peoples in international law. These issues concern critical distinctions and assumptions related to the definition of what constitutes an ‘indigenous people’ and, especially, the distinction between minority and indigenous peoples' rights and the collective representation of indigenous peoples. The article also explores the role of indigenous peoples in international environmental law with a focus on distinctively indigenous rights and responsibilities. Indigenous rights, and especially substantive rights, relate to the environment, regardless of whether they are pursued in the context of the International Labour Organisation or the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). The article also looks at community rights and partnerships, rights to land and the environment, political rights, intellectual and cultural property rights, and the right to external self-determination.

Excluded Uses: Indigenous Rights to Water

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Cosens
Keyword(s):  
Water Resource ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Nation State ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Terra Nullius ◽  
European Settlement ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

Indigenous rights to water follow diverse trajectories across the globe. In Asia and Africa even the concept of indigeneity is questioned and peoples with ancient histories connected to place are defined by ethnicity as opposed to sovereign or place-based rights, although many seek to change that. In South America indigenous voices are rising. In the parts of the globe colonized by European settlement, the definition of these rights has been in a continual state of transition as social norms evolve and indigenous capacity to assert rights grow. From the point of European contact, these rights have been contested. They have evolved primarily through judicial rulings by the highest court in the relevant nation-state. For those nation-states that do address whether indigenous rights to land and water exist, the approach has ranged from the 18th- and 19th-century doctrines of terra nullius (the land (and resources) belonged to no one) to a recognized right of “use and occupancy” that could be usurped under the doctrine of “discovery” by the conquering power. In the 20th and 21st centuries the evolution of the recognition of indigenous rights remains uneven, reflecting the values, judicial doctrine, and degree to which the contested water resource is already developed in the relevant nation-state. Thus, indigenous rights to water range from the recognition of cultural and spiritual rights that would have been in existence at the time of European contact, to inclusion of subsistence rights, rights sufficient for economic development, rights for homeland purposes, and rights as guardian for a water resource. At the forefront in this process of recognition is the right of indigenous peoples as sovereign to control, allocate, develop and protect their own water resources. This aspirational goal is reflected in the effort to create a common global understanding of the rights of indigenous peoples through declaration and definition of the right of self-determination articulated in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous Rights: Recent Developments in International Law

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-310
Author(s):  
Julie Debeljak
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Land Holdings

“Indigenous peoples have been deprived of vast land holdings, and access to life sustaining resources, and they have suffered … activ[e] suppress[ion of] their political and cultural institutions. As a result indigenous people have been crippled economically and socially, their cohesiveness as communities has been damaged or threatened, and the integrity of their cultures has been undermined.”

Abuja Peoples of Nigeria as Indigenous Peoples in International Law

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvanus Gbendazhi Barnabas
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Child Rights ◽  
International Child ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
Diverse Cultures ◽  
Agreed Definition

There is no agreed definition of indigenous peoples (IPs) as the international community has not agreed to any. However, an examination of international instruments and literature on the subject presents a picture. This article examines the definition of IPs and its relevance to Africa. The case study of Abuja, Nigeria is used as a vehicle to challenge the existing descriptions of IPs. It argues that international law should expand its definition of IPs to include collectives of peoples with diverse cultures in Africa. Analogical insights are drawn from international child rights law to advance the argument that international law on IPs’ rights can learn from the evolution of international children’s rights law.

Recent Books on Human Rights and Groups Review Essays International Law and the Evolution of Indigenous Rights

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-131
Author(s):  
Stephen Allen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Critical Stage ◽  
Conditions Of Possibility ◽  
Supranational Level

AbstractThe recent adoption of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has reinvigorated the discourse on indigenous rights. This essay reviews three books – Xanthaki's Indigenous Rights and United Nations Standards: Self-Determination, Culture and Land; Gilbert's Indigenous Peoples' Land Rights Under International Law: From Victims to Actors; and Rodriguez-Pinero's Indigenous Peoples, Postcolonialism and International Law: The ILO Regime (1919–1989) – that illustrate the way in which indigenous rights have evolved at the supranational level. Moreover, in their different ways, these important books highlight the conditions of possibility for indigenous peoples at a critical stage in the development of indigenous rights in international law.

scholarly journals Indigenous Title and its Contextual Economic Implications: Lessons for International Law From Canada’s Tsilhqot’in Decision

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 215-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dwight Newman
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Indigenous Land Rights ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
Indigenous Land

International law on the rights of Indigenous peoples has developed rapidly in recent decades. In the latest phase of this development, international instruments on the rights of Indigenous peoples have increasingly offered universalized statements. However, the reality remains that the implementation of Indigenous rights must take place in particular circumstances in particular states. The form of domestic implementation of Indigenous rights may or may not connect closely to international law statements on these rights, and there may be good reasons for that. This essay takes up a particular example of Indigenous land rights and a significant recent development on land rights in the Supreme Court of Canada.

Global Indigenous Rights and Responses

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat Lauderdale ◽  
Nicholas D. Natividad
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
International System ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Real Change ◽  
The Individual

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues estimates that there are over 370 million indigenous people spread across 70 countries worldwide. Practicing unique traditions, they retain social, cultural, economic, and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live. Dialogue and political negotiations with indigenous peoples has a long history that began at least a half a millennium ago when the notion of an inter-national” community and the concept of the nation-state became dominant. Since that time, the concepts of sovereignty, self-determination, rule of law, and human rights have led to the establishment of the frameworks and structures of organization that are now referred to collectively as modern international law. But unlike most modern international human rights law, which emphasizes rights of the individual, indigenous peoples generally think in terms of collective rather than individual rights. Because indigenous peoples’ “law” suggests the importance of collective rights, it renders a culture of responsibility and accountability to the collective. At present, international indigenous rights are a type of superficial bandage, giving the appearance of propriety to the crisis faced by the hegemonic “international system of states.” Therefore, indigenous rights standards propagated by organizations such as the UN currently are largely symbolic. However, they could potentially lead to real change if they are coupled with widespread acknowledgment of the fact that diverse societies exist throughout the world with different forms of social organization and diverse conceptions of law.

Contours of an Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Water in Latin America under International Law

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Parriciatu ◽  
Francesco Sindico
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Customary Laws ◽  
The One ◽  
Definition Of

This article critically assesses the nature and the content of a possible human right to water for Indigenous People in the Latin American context. On the one hand, after introducing the deliberately unclear definition of Indigenous People, the article considers that a human right to water is embedded in Indigenous Peoples’ customary laws, which, according to legal pluralism, are to be considered as a legitimate source of law. The article then moves to the content of a possible human right to water for Indigenous People in the Latin American context. The importance of the jurisprudence of the Inter American Court of Human Rights is highlighted, and the obligation for States to consult with Indigenous People when dealing with their water resources is hailed as one of the key elements of a human right to water.

scholarly journals Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-141
Author(s):  
Garth Nettheim
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Unfinished Business ◽  
Marked Contrast ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Reconciliation Process

The paper begins by noting the low level of reference to Indigenous Australians in the Commonwealth Constitution at the start of Federation, and goes on to discuss the limits to what was achieved by the 1967 amendments. The situation represents a marked contrast with the USA and Canada in terms of treaties and constitutional recognition. In Australia, particularly during the period of the ‘Reconciliation’ process in the 1990s, important steps were taken by Indigenous Australians to identify items of ‘unfinished business’ in a ‘Statement of Indigenous Rights’. But there has been limited progress to meet these aspirations. And Australian law still lacks a tradition of recognition of human rights generally, let alone Indigenous rights. International law, too, largely lacked recognition of human rights, generally prior to the adoption in 1945 of the Charter of the United Nations. The brief references in the Charter were subsequently developed in a range of declarations and of treaties. These applied to people generally, with scant reference to Indigenous peoples. But, since the 1970s, there has been growing international recognition of the rights of Indigenous peoples under existing declarations and treaties. Since the 1990s, in particular, the UN system has established specific mechanisms for addressing such issues. On 13 September 2007, the General Assembly finally adopted a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document