Indigenous Rights in Americas

Catalog description

Indigenous, Aboriginal and First Nations peoples are the poorest, most marginalized groups in the Americas. Trapped in a cycle of exclusion, discrimination and underdevelopment as a consequence of colonial conquest, atrocity crimes-including genocide, dispossession of lands, and forcible transfer of populations-and assimilationist policies, indigenous peoples have fought for their survival as nations and way of life as peoples. Much of this struggle has centered on sovereignty, land rights and security of tenure as a large percentage of indigenous groups rely on land for access to food, livelihoods, housing and development. In addition to economic security, land is significant for maintaining their identities, religious practices, and for cultural reproduction. Although international and domestic legal frameworks have been advancing toward indigenous rights protections, discriminatory practices and competing interests persist, contributing to continued systematic dispossession of indigenous traditional territories and violations of fundamental rights of indigenous peoples throughout the region. This seminar will cover the historical evolution and contemporary issues surrounding international, regional and domestic law frameworks designed to protect the rights of indigenous peoples in the Americas. It will apply critical human rights and atrocity prevention lenses to examine the main threats and challenges to indigenous peoples' continued survival as peoples, and we will draw upon historical and contemporary case studies' from the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance at Standing Rock to the land claims of the Guarani-Kaiowa peoples in the high courts of Brazil-to provide context and enrich discussions. This seminar will meet weekly for 2 hours. Class will be a mix of mini-lectures, group discussions, and small group work. Class attendance and readings are mandatory.