Indigenous Societies In International Law: Analytical Focus On The Legitimacy Of Land Owndership Rights Of The Native Hawaiian People

Slowly, it appears that the political wheels have been turning in attempts to acknowledge the plight of the many indigenous societies around the world who have been denied their economic, cultural, political, and personal well-being. International legal organizations and scholars are turning to pre-existing norms, precepts, and accepted customs of international law as the basis for their arguments which establish the legal rights entitled to the indigenous peoples. The fIrst step in examining the fundamental legitimacy of an indigenous society's basis for existence lies in fully understanding the concept of sovereignty. Sovereignty, as we know it today, has taken on a "double" aspect in that its relativity is inclusive of aspects pertaining to both internal powers as well as to certain external relations