In 2007, the United Nations adopted a landmark resolution for indigenous issues, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. After twenty years of preparation, there were, however, still problems. Four countries with significant indigenous populations declined to sign: the United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. All four refused to do so over the contentious issue of land claims and some uncertainty about the definition of 'indigenous'. Examining these national systems for land claims and national museums through an anthropological perspective will help identify central issues in indigenous relations. All four nations recognize a form of indigenous land rights, but their infrastructure for recognizing and redressing these rights is often problematic. The Declaration is an important step toward finding solutions to disputes with indigenous peoples, especially now when in a globalized world multiple threats confront these groups. These four nations have a significant influence on how indigenous issues are being dealt with internationally, and without their support this declaration will be unable to make a real difference. Understanding the differences in evidentiary standards among the four nations will help suggest ways in which anthropological research can better work to support indigenous rights and actualize the aspirations of the Declaration.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04162009-173712 |
| Date | 29 April 2009 |
| Creators | Nichols, Teresa A |
| Contributors | Sandra L. Olsen, Katheryn M. Linduff, Bryan K. Hanks, J. Daniel Rogers |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04162009-173712/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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