Sovereignty and Indigenous People
Words that shape our narrative.
The words we use shape the reality to which we see and subject ourselves. Companies, states, and organizations often hide behind words, using terms that make it seem like what they do is different than what it is.
What is sovereignty?
Sovereignty is the absolute power an entity or a person has over a land and its people. Sovereignty is vital to understand because it is what states claim to justify their right to make decisions on their claimed territory. When a nation tries to stop something from happening on its territory, it challenges the state’s sovereignty. Most of our struggles are rooted in this fundamental contradiction.
What is “divide and conquer”?
Divide and conquer is a tactic colonizers use to take over indigenous lands. By creating conflicts within and between our communities, colonizers can more easily infiltrate our decision-making processes and get what they want. It is a common tactic that, if successful, prevents us from aligning with each other and pursuing the same goals.
What is vertical integration?
Vertical integration is a business strategy through which one company expands into different sectors of the same production chain.For example, instead of a company only mining for lithium, they would also own a refinery and a company to assemble a battery. An example of such a company is the Chinese company Shenhua.
What is the difference between a nation and a state?
A nation is a group of people with common origins and culture, who live on a land and aim at passing on their culture to future generations. A state is a legal construction, originated in 16th century Europe. Unlike nations, states can be created and dismantled.
In order for a state to be consider a state it has to have all these characteristics:
- It must claim central government within its borders;
- It needs to exercise universal law;
- It needs to claim power of the people;
- It needs to be recognised by other states.
- It claims a monopoly on the use of violence.
What do I need to know about UNDRIP?
Although the United Nations Declaration on the right of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is a milestone of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, it has one big downside: States are not obliged to enforce it. This means that although they may have signed the document at the United Nations, nobody will punish them if they don’t respect what it says. Because of this, UNDRIP’s efficiency has been continually compromised by the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Russia — the same states were also the most prominent opponents to the passage of UNDRIP by the United Nations.
What are “indigenous people” in state law?
For nations, indigenous means that they are the original inhabitants of a land who are autonomous and sovereign from the state.
However, states view “indigenous” communities with little regard for their native origins within regions and distinct traditional social, cultural, and economic political structures. Instead, indigenous groups are treated according to state law as a minority group that is subject to the state’s control and authority.
Inherited rights vs legal rights, what’s there to know?
Although all people have inherited rights, in order for them to be respected, they need to be legislated into state law. For example, state based laws do not automatically recognize the right of a community over the land.
If the state needs access to a tribe’s territory for “the greater good” of the state and its people, then they have the right to remove people and carry on with their process.
What is development?
The meaning of development changes depending on the people who speak about it. Although things like schools and access to health care are what a community would want, often there is another face to development that companies enforce.
The jobs they promise will only be valuable as long as their operations last. For example, if a lot of cash and many supermarkets enter a community, the preexisting food chains may be compromised, and once the company leaves so too will the jobs they brought.. The land and expertise that was previously used for such purposes will be destroyed.
What is the importance of enforcement?
Enforcement is the key word to understand concerning why so many of the promises about indigenous rights in international law are not respected: no one is checking.
A law without enforcement is like a parent promising to punish a child without actually punishing them. It’s an empty promise, and a way for states to hide from their commitments.
Is FPIC the only framework which is not respected by companies and States?
As you probably can guess, no, FPIC is not a stand alone case in international law which is subject to this dynamic. In general, it’s important to remember that the United Nation does not have enforcement powers for any of its work. When States agree to commitments through UN declarations, they take on themselves the responsibility to translate it into State law, but if they don’t, the UN has no power to “punish them” effectively.
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