United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 61/295: The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on September 13, 2007. This declaration affirms that “indigenous peoples are equal to all other peoples, while recognizing the right of all peoples to be different, to consider themselves different, and to be respected as such”. The resolution contains 46 articles.

On November 12, 2010, Canada endorsed this Declaration in Ottawa. John Duncan, the Minister of Indian and Northern Development at the time stated that endorsement of the declaration will “further reconcile and strengthen our relationship with Aboriginal peoples in Canada”.

On December 16, 2010, the United States announced they would lend its support to the declaration after opposing the original United Nations resolution in 2007. Canada, New Zealand and Australia also opposed the resolution at the time.

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