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UN SPECIAL | 3.23.21

You always know when the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has come to New York. The Sámi are typically the most resplendent to stand out on the city streets. Their gákti, or traditional dress, is hard to miss - the bluest blues and richest reds. They’re also 100 percent there to get down to work; I mean, a lot of folks are. But the Sámi - particularly those from Norway who have their own parliament established by the King - well let’s just say they are pros at inserting themselves into colonized spaces. I learn so much from them every year.

The UNPFII happens for about two-weeks each April at UN headquarters in New York. Last year, the coronavirus canceled the international gathering and this year, things picked up where they left off, although mostly online. The theme, “Peace, justice and strong institutions,” marks twenty years since this premier conference for global Indigenous rights began. Its mandate is to address Indigenous affairs at the global level by ensuring Indigenous inclusion is met across the greater UN framework. That may sound simple enough - but it’s not.

This week’s cover art is emblematic of the slow but steady strides the Indigenous rights movement has made in the last century. Poor Chief Deskaheh. He sailed to Geneva for unprompted nation-to-nation talks with the League of Nations, waited some 18-months to be heard but, ultimately was turned away. At some point, he called it for what it was: 'cruel indifference.” And it would seem his French friends felt the same way.

Inclusion. Indigenous Peoples at the UN, the predecessor to the League, are still fighting for a seat at the table. So often, they have dragged their own chairs to such high-level talks with the hopes of inching the Indigenous rights movement along. It’s been working.

A couple of years ago when Greta Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic just as Chief Deskaheh had nearly 100 years earlier, Tuntiak Katan of the Ecuadorian Shuar people managed to get two whole minutes to speak at the UN Climate Summit. Some saw this pinch in time as absurd - just two minutes? But for those who’ve been at this struggle for a good while, it was a big deal. Two minutes of having representation where there had been none, and regarding an issue so dear to Indigenous Peoples - protecting the planet - it nudged the needle, even if only slightly. And it didn’t hurt Katan’s visibility either that he got to share the stage with Bill Gates and Sheikh Hassina of Bangladesh.

The UN can be a heavy space to navigate even without Indigenous nuances adding to the mix. But it is a vital human rights arena for Indigenous Peoples, especially where the climate crisis is concerned. The Paris Climate Agreement is a perfect example.

Article 7, Section 5 of the Agreement reads something like this:

“Parties acknowledge that [climate] adaptation action should…be based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems.”

The underlining is my own. But the concern over such language is of deep concern to a caucus of Indigenous Peoples who have had absolutely minimal say, at least in a formal capacity, for what happens to their most precious knowledge systems - their ancient ways of knowing. Instead, they’ve been given a “platform.” It’s about as modernly colonial as it gets.

I love going to the UNPFII each year; I learn so much. In recent sessions, Indigenous journalists like myself have started to promote our own inclusivity at the UN after many of us were being turned away because of affiliations with small or foreign presses, or in my case - freelance status. We formed the Indigenous Media Caucus a couple of years ago in the spirit of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) - Article 16, Indigenous Peoples right to media. Next Thursday, we’ll be sharing our recent report: “Are Indigenous Voices Being Heard?” Details and sign up here.

As for some links:

• In the spirit of Chief Deskaheh, here’s one from the archives from the late Gale Courey Toensing. She wrote for Indian Country Today for years and filed a fine overview of the day the hard-earned UNDRIP was adopted in 2007. It’s a great entry point for anyone looking to learn.

• For fun, I’ve also pulled a piece from my stacks - also from Indian Country Today. It’s a 2012 interview with then-UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya upon his official field trip across Indian Country. Also a good doorway for learning.

• If you haven’t clicked on it by now, here’s the UNDRIP - essentially the ideal rule book for how to treat Indigenous Peoples.

• And finally, here’s an important but long read to skim or take in for as many days: The State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2021 - v. 5

This week’s Index has more rabbit holes to explore, especially when it comes to lands and language. I’ve had my head down for days in some deep writing and so this weekend’s newsletter was a welcome break away. Hope you enjoy.

Have a great weekend!

Jenni 🌍

THE INDIGENOUS INTERNET

INDIGENOUSLY INDEX

Estimated population of Indigenous Peoples worldwide: 476M

Total percentage Indigenous Peoples comprise of the world’s population: 5%

Total percentage of the world’s poor: 15%

Total number of countries where Indigenous Peoples live: 90

Estimated percentage of Earth’s lands managed by the Indigenous, per UN DESA: 25%

Percentage of human rights workers out of 304 killed in 2019 over land defense: 40%

Number of times the Paris Climate Agreement mentions Indigenous Peoples: 5

Number of articles in the Agreement that address traditional knowledge: 1

Exact number of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change: 196

Total Indigenous parties with full and effective participation within the UNFCCC: 0

Total years since the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted: 14

Number of articles in the UNDRIP defending Indigenous language preservation: 3.5

Estimated number of languages spoken by Indigenous Peoples: 4,000

Estimated total of K’iche’ speakers, Guatamala’s most spoken Mayan language: 1.5M

Approximate crowd size for Int’l Indian Treaty Council’s launch at Standing Rock: 5K

SIGNAL BOOST

I skimmed the syllabus and realized the speakers, the texts, the video presentations - they bring such a timely, modern lens to a movement that’s been inching along for decades. I could use a refresher. Also, I can’t say enough about Elsa - she was the first Chief Secretariat of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2003 and it was an honor to study under her during my time at Columbia.

Classes started Friday, but it’s at your own pace. Oh, and plan to dole out $50!.

Photo: Bernie Whitebear with Sen. Henry M. Jackson, 1971 (Seattle Municipal Archives)

FEEDBACK

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Leonardo, the Internet

I love these emails. Thank you for this reinforcement, Leonardo. I start my incubator the first week in May. Indigenously’s one-year anniversary is that following month! How’d that happen so quickly? More soon.

QUOTE

The Indigenously newsletter is produced by Jenni Monet (Laguna Pueblo)

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