Great News on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples!

On April 19, 2010 at the opening of the Ninth Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at UN Headquarters in New York the government of New Zealand announced the endorsement of the Declaration. Then on April 20, 2010 U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice announced that they would start a process of examining its position on the Declaration with a view to its endorsement. A similar statement had been made by Canada in March. Australia had previously adopted the Declaration. You may recall that the 4 countries that voted against the Declaration in 2007 were Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Two countries (Columbia and Samoa) who had abstained from voting on the Declaration have reversed their positions and indicated their support for it. We thank the governments of these countries for their endorsement and support for rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Sandy Sheridan

Sunray UN/NGO Representative

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State Department Consultations on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

• July 7, 2010 : Tribal Leaders Consultation, Washington, DC
• July 8, 2010 : Meeting with Nongovernmental Organizations, Washington, DC

The State Department is currently reviewing the United States' failure to endorse the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As part of this formal review, the State Department is holding consultations with Indian and Alaska Native nations and NGOs to discuss the upcoming review process and receive comments. The State Department wants to receive comments from Indian and Alaska Native nations, NGOs and individuals.

IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND THE CONSULTATIONS please submit written comments to the State Department by email to declaration@state.gov or by mail to S/SR Global Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW., Suite 1317, Washington, DC 20520. Please send written comments by July 15, 2010 to ensure that they can be given due consideration in the review.

More information on the consultations can be found on the State Department website here.