Closely related to, and often overlapping with religious freedoms, is the topic of indigenous peoples’ cultural rights. Violations of American Indian cultural rights include the taking of lands and children, the outlawing of languages, dances, ceremonies, and traditional subsistence practices, the relocation, attempted assimilation, cultural appropriation, and degradation of sacred places, and the desecration of burial grounds.

Numerous articles of the Declaration directly address the protection and promotion of indigenous cultures, including Articles 8 and 9, Articles 11 to 17, and Article 31. Other relevant articles include Article 18 (indigenous peoples’ right to participate in decision-making in matters that may affect their rights) and Article 19 (states’ obligation to obtain indigenous peoples’ free, prior, and informed consent before adopting measures that may affect them).

While there is much work to be done, efforts to implement the Declaration’s cultural rights provisions in the U.S. are not starting from a blank slate. Existing federal laws, such as the NHPA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), and the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA), already provide some protections for tribes’ tangible and intangible cultural property, sacred sites, and other aspects of tribal cultures.

Resources:

Colorado Law Hosts UNPF Meeting on Indigenous Peoples in a Greening Economy

Colorado Law Hosts UNPF Meeting on Indigenous Peoples in a Greening Economy

Manuel Heart, Chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, provides a welcome and blessing for participants.Photo credit: University of Colorado ...
Join Us At NCAI's 80th Annual Convention and Marketplace For Our Breakout Sessions This November

Join Us At NCAI’s 80th Annual Convention and Marketplace For Our Breakout Sessions This November

We hope you can join us in New Orleans this month for our two sessions at the National Congress of ...
Webinar Series Addresses Indigenous Rights Through Intellectual Property Lens

Webinar Series Addresses Indigenous Rights Through Intellectual Property Lens

Informational flyer circulated to promote the webinar series. The University of Colorado Law School, the Native American Rights Fund, and ...
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation's Statement on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ...
EMRIP Study on Indigenous Languages

EMRIP Study on Indigenous Languages

This study outlines international and regional standards on indigenous peoples’ rights to language and culture, describes the relationship between indigenous ...
The Politics of Inclusion: Indigenous Peoples and U.S. Citizenship

The Politics of Inclusion: Indigenous Peoples and U.S. Citizenship

This Article explores the dynamics of U.S. citizenship and indigenous self-determination to see whether, and how, the two concepts are ...
Defend the Sacred

Defend the Sacred

From North Dakota’s Standing Rock encampments to Arizona’s San Francisco Peaks, Native Americans have repeatedly asserted legal rights to religious ...
UNESCO - Indigenous Peoples

UNESCO – Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous peoples live in all regions of the world and own, occupy or use some 22% of global land area ...
UBC Hosts Seminar on Implementing the Right to Repatriation under the Declaration

UBC Hosts Seminar on Implementing the Right to Repatriation under the Declaration

The United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), held a meeting at the First Nations House ...
Guide: Know Your Rights! United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for Indigenous Adolescents

Guide: Know Your Rights! United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples for Indigenous Adolescents

https://un-declaration.narf.org/wp-content/uploads/un-adolescents-guide2013.pdf The text for Know Your Rights! (written for adolescent boys and girls, aged 13 –18 years) was prepared by ...
British Columbia becomes 1st Canadian province to pass UN Indigenous rights declaration

British Columbia becomes 1st Canadian province to pass UN Indigenous rights declaration

British Columbia has become the first jurisdiction in Canada to pass legislation implementing the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples ...