This thesis analyses the past and present realities of the rights of Indigenous peoples in Chile and Canada from a comparative perspective. In Chapter I, the author explains the international human rights and Indigenous peoples' law that provide the theoretical framework behind this study. The political and territorial rights that different international forums have acknowledged to these peoples in recent years are identified. The methodology used in the elaboration of this study, which includes the analysis of documentary data, the case study and the interview methods, is explained. The author describes the objective of this study, characterizing it as applied social research aimed at providing information that can be useful for the transformation process in which the peoples that are subject of this study are involved. In Chapters II and III, the author analyses the rights of Indigenous peoples in Chile and Canada respectively from pre-contact until today. The central aspects of their pre-contact cultures and organizations are described. The author also describes main characteristics of the relationships that were established with Indigenous peoples by the Spanish in Chile and by the French and the English in Canada, and later by the states in the two contexts. Special importance is given to those changes recently introduced in the Indigenous-state relationship in both contexts, focusing on their implications for these peoples' rights. In Chapter IV, the author attempts to expand upon the past and present situation of the Indigenous peoples who live in what is now Canada and Chile by including a case study related to each context: the Pehuenche people of the Alto Bio Bio in Chile and the Nisga'a people of the Nass Valley in Canada. In the last Chapter of this thesis (V) the author concludes that, notwithstanding the changes introduced in recent years in the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Chilean and Canadian states, many and significant problems still impede their ability to enjoy the rights they claim. The author acknowledges, nevertheless, that Indigenous peoples in Canada, through different means, including negotiation and litigation, have achieved a much broader recognition of their political and territorial rights today than have the Indigenous peoples in Chile. The legal, political, cultural and economic factors that explain these differences are also highlighted in this final Chapter.

This dissertation attempts to show that Aboriginal peoples' ways of thinking have not been recognized by early colonial European political thinkers. I begin with an examination of Kymlicka's political theory of minority rights and show that, although Kymlicka is a strong advocate of the right of Aboriginal self-government in Canada, he fails to consider Aboriginal ways of thinking within his own political system. From an Aboriginal perspective this is not surprising. However, I claim that Kymlicka opens the conceptual space for the inclusion of Aboriginal voices. The notion of "incorporation" means that Aboriginal peoples became included in the Canadian state and in this process their Aboriginal sovereignty was extinguished. Aboriginal peoples question the legitimacy of such a claim. A consequence of the Canadian government unilaterally asserting its sovereignty over Aboriginal peoples is that Aboriginal ways of thinking are not recognized as valuable within the legal and political discourse of sovereignty. In chapters two through five, respectively, I examine the Valladolid debate of 1550 between the Spanish monk Bartolome de Las Casas and Juan Sepulveda, The Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Confederacy, Thomas Hobbes's distinction between the state of nature and a civil society, and Alexis de Tocqueville's account of democracy in America. Each of the examples, except for The Great Law of Peace, generate a philosophical dialogue that includes judgments about Aboriginal peoples. However, none of these European thinkers considers the possibility that Aboriginal voices could play a valuable role in shaping their political thought. To show the value of an Aboriginal exemplar of political thinking I consider the Iroquois Great Law of Peace. The Iroquois view of political sovereignty respects the diversity of voices found within a political relationship. This was put into practice and enforced in early colonial northeast America until the power dynamic shifted betwe

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Glasgow, 2008. / Ph.D. thesis submitted to the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences, University of Glasgow, 2008. Includes bibliographical references.

Magister Legum - LLM / Indigenous peoples constitute at least 5000 distinct peoples with a population of more than 370 million, living in 70 different countries. These peoples are typically subjected to a number of human rights violations (being excluded from decision-making processes and forced to assimilate into dominant groups, among others). The plight of these peoples has recently received worldwide attention. In 1989, the international community adopted the Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Convention 169) to protect the rights of these peoples. In 2007 the UN adopted a Declaration on Indigenous peoples’ Rights. Attention is now focused on implementing indigenous peoples’ rights at the domestic level. Cameroon is not yet a party to Convention No.169 and so cannot be bound under the Convention to protect the rights of its indigenous peoples. Cameroon often denies any duty in this regard. However, Cameroon is party to core human rights instruments like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and Freedom. Cameroon also voted in favour of the adoption of the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples Rights. These international human rights instruments, with the exclusion of the Declaration, are not specifically dedicated to indigenous peoples’ rights. Given this situation, two questions arise: is Cameroon bound by any international legal obligation to protect the rights of its indigenous peoples; and if so, is Cameroon implementing the basic international law principles relating to indigenous peoples’ rights. Using an in-depth study and analysis of various international human rights treaties to which Cameroon is a party, this research will explore the grounds on which Cameroon, though not a party to Convention 169, can be held bound to protect the rights of its indigenous peoples (chapter 2). This research present the situation of the indigenous peoples in Cameroon and provide a brief overview of the legislative and policy measures taken by the government which in some way provide entry points for the protection of the rights of the indigenous people in Cameroon (chapter 3). A critical analysis of these measures highlights some areas of success but also work that remains to be done to ensure that the rights of Cameroon’s indigenous peoples are fully protected (chapter 4). The study concludes with a number of recommendations for further study and legal reform (chapter 5).

This study investigated the survival strategies adopted by the San in Cunene Province in Southern Angola. The study intended first to gain understanding of the economic activities that the San in Cuanhama municipality districts of Kafima Centre and Etale La Mulovi employ to sustain their livelihoods. Secondly, the study explored how accessible the basic social services of education and health were to the San in these communities. Utilising qualitative research methods, face-to-face interviews and focus group research were conducted. From the data collected on education the study findings show that none of the children from both communities were enrolled at any school. To this end, at Kafima Centre the main hindering factors that contributed inter alia included hunger at school, stigmatization by the neighbouring community and poverty among San communities. At Etale La Mulavi San community there was lack of educational facilities near the San habitations, constituting a key hindering factor to accessing education. On health, the closer the public health centre was to the San community the more the San utilised the health services for treatment and management of common diseases like Malaria and cough as well as other diseases. On survival strategies both San communities “okunhanga” ‘go.. and look for..’ (fending for food) was the primary survival strategy the San were involved in for the sustenance of their livelihoods. The findings informed the recommendations in chapter five of this study.

This thesis analyses the past and present realities of the rights of Indigenous peoples in Chile and Canada from a comparative perspective. In Chapter I, the author explains the international human rights and Indigenous peoples' law that provide the theoretical framework behind this study. The political and territorial rights that different international forums have acknowledged to these peoples in recent years are identified. The methodology used in the elaboration of this study, which includes the analysis of documentary data, the case study and the interview methods, is explained. The author describes the objective of this study, characterizing it as applied social research aimed at providing information that can be useful for the transformation process in which the peoples that are subject of this study are involved. In Chapters II and III, the author analyses the rights of Indigenous peoples in Chile and Canada respectively from pre-contact until today. The central aspects of their pre-contact cultures and organizations are described. The author also describes main characteristics of the relationships that were established with Indigenous peoples by the Spanish in Chile and by the French and the English in Canada, and later by the states in the two contexts. Special importance is given to those changes recently introduced in the Indigenous-state relationship in both contexts, focusing on their implications for these peoples' rights. In Chapter IV, the author attempts to expand upon the past and present situation of the Indigenous peoples who live in what is now Canada and Chile by including a case study related to each context: the Pehuenche people of the Alto Bio Bio in Chile and the Nisga'a people of the Nass Valley in Canada. In the last Chapter of this thesis (V) the author concludes that, notwithstanding the changes introduced in recent years in the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Chilean and Canadian states, many and significant problems still impede their ability to enjoy the rights they claim. The author acknowledges, nevertheless, that Indigenous peoples in Canada, through different means, including negotiation and litigation, have achieved a much broader recognition of their political and territorial rights today than have the Indigenous peoples in Chile. The legal, political, cultural and economic factors that explain these differences are also highlighted in this final Chapter. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

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This dissertation investigates the impacts of the mining economy on the lives of indigenous peoples in the city of Calama and Atacameno villages in the Loa River basin in northern Chile. It explores overlapping ethical systems that shape views of fairness and the environment: indigenous communities and mining corporation's views. The central inquiry revolves around reaching an understanding of how different underlying ethical systems and interrelated ideologies influence political decisions regarding what communities and lives will be allowed to persist and which will have to perish. This relationship between economics, politics, and morality will advance knowledge of the status of corporation-community relations and identify the main obstacles to sustainable positive relations in the future.

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