closely with UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria
Tauli-Corpuz. When the rapporteur learned about the Tribe and Law Clinic’s
efforts, she asked that a parallel event be coordinated at the 30th session of the
UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva to showcase their work.
On September 22, Cultural Survival, Tebtebba, and the American Indian Law
Program hosted “Indigenous Operationalization and Implementation of UNDRIP’s
Free, Prior and Informed Consent.” Indigenous participation in the UN has been
challenging, but the panel—the only side event for Indigenous Peoples during the
two-week session—helped increase awareness of Indigenous issues. Working
together, Cultural Survival and the American Indian Law Programs’ continued
advocacy on behalf of tribes and other Indigenous groups worldwide will further
help Indigenous Peoples realize the implementation of rights expressed in the
Declaration. And the Spokane Tribe’s crucial work in bringing the right to FPIC into
tribal law will serve as a model for Indigenous groups throughout the world.
—Carla Fredericks is an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara
Nations and is director of the American Indian Law Clinic and American Indian Law
Program at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder.
CSQ Issue:
39-4 Tradition Informing Our
Futures