Executive Summary

Indigenous issues began to be considered at the United Nations in the context of racial discrimination. A "Study on the Problem of Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations " was authorized in 1971. An international concern with Indigenous peoples developed in the 1960s and '70s, with the formation of non-indigenous support organizations and international organizations of Indigenous peoples. State interest developed, particularly on the part of Norway, the Netherlands and other like-minded states. In 1982 the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations was established, as a pre-sessional working group of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, an expert body. Each year the Working Group conducts a review of developments, during which Indigenous peoples from various parts of the world air their concerns. The Working Group has no power to investigate or adjudicate on allegations made by Indigenous representatives. It does not question governments or comment on specific cases. In 1985 the Working Group began drafting a declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples, which it completed in 1993. The United Nations Human Rights Commission began consideration of the draft declaration at its regular session in February-March 1995. The Commission, a political body, is expected to establish a new working group to consider the document. After consideration by the Human Right